Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Molotov

Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Molotov , 1890-1986, Soviet political leader. A Communist from 1906, he changed his name from Skriabin to Molotov [the hammer] to escape the imperial police. He was, however, arrested and exiled in 1909. He returned (1911) to St. Petersburg, and when the Bolshevik daily Pravda was founded in 1912, he became acting editor. On the eve of the February Revolution of 1917, Molotov was one of the few leading Bolsheviks actually in Russia, and after the October Revolution he rose rapidly in the party and was a strong supporter of Stalin. He was chairman of the council of people's commissars (i.e., premier of the USSR) from 1930 to 1941, when that post was assumed by Joseph Stalin and Molotov became vice chairman. In 1939 he succeeded Maxim Maximovich Litvinov as commissar of foreign affairs (a title later changed to foreign minister), and in this capacity he negotiated with Joachim von Ribbentrop the Russo-German nonaggression pact, signed at Moscow in Aug., 1939. After the German invasion (1941) of Russia Molotov helped to strengthen the Soviet alliance with the West, shared in the founding of the United Nations, and took part in all major international conferences until 1949, when Andrei Vishinsky succeeded him as foreign minister. As a diplomat Molotov gained a reputation for personal inflexibility and unswerving adherence to Soviet policies. After Stalin's death (1953) he was again foreign minister until 1956. An opponent of Nikita Khrushchev , he was expelled from the central committee of the Communist party in 1957 after having unsuccessfully tried to oust Khrushchev. He subsequently held minor posts. From 1957 to 1960 he served as ambassador to Mongolia; he was then transferred to Vienna, where he represented (1960-61) the USSR in the International Atomic Energy Agency. In 1964, it was revealed that he had been expelled from the Communist party. He was reinstated to party membership in 1984.

Molotov, Vyacheslav Mikhailovich (1890–1986) Soviet statesman, premier (1930–41) and foreign minister (1939–49, 1953–56). A loyal ally of Stalin, he became a full member of the Politburo in 1926. As foreign minister, one of Molotov's first acts was to sign the Nazi-Soviet Pact (1939) with von Ribbentrop. His enthusiastic use of the veto in the UN Security Council contributed to the Cold War. He lost favour under Nikita Khrushchev, and was demoted and expelled from the Communist Party in 1962. Molotov was readmitted in 1984.

Molotov, Vyacheslav (Mikhailovich) (born Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Skryabin) (1890–1986) Soviet statesman. Born in Russia, he was an early member of the Bolsheviks and a staunch supporter of Stalin after Lenin's death. As Commissar (later Minister) for Foreign Affairs (1939–49; 1953–56), he negotiated the non-aggression pact with Nazi Germany (1939) and after 1945 represented the Soviet Union at meetings of the United Nations, where his frequent exercise of the veto helped to prolong the cold war. He was expelled from his party posts in 1956 after quarrelling with Khrushchev.