Molotov, Vyacheslav Mikhailovich

Born in the suburb of Kukarka, Kukarskaya volost, Yaransky uyezd, Vyatka province ( now Sovetsk Kirov region ), he was the sixth child out of seven in the Skryabin family. Father - Mikhail Prokhorovich Scriabin (1860-1923), from the townsfolk of the city of Nolinsk , was a clerk in Kukarka. Grandfather - Prokhor Naumovich (1823-1908 or 1909) Nolinsky tradesman. Mother - Anna Yakovlevna Nebogatikova (1863-1921) from the merchant family of the city of Nolinsk. The family had ten children (Mikhail, Victor, Nikolai (he is the composer Nolinsky ), Zinaida, Vladimir, Vyacheslav, Sergey), three more died at an early age ^[1] .

While studying at school, Vyacheslav Scriabin played the violin and wrote poetry. From 1902, together with his older brothers, until 1908, he studied at the Kazan First Real School ^[2] . During these years, most of the Kazan youth was very radical. Vyacheslav joined one of the circles of self-education in the study of Marxist literature. There he became friends with the son of a wealthy merchant and the heir to a large estate, Viktor Tykhomirnov, ^[3] who joined the Bolshevik group in Kazan in 1905.

In the summer of 1906, Vyacheslav, following Tikhomirnov, joined the RSDLP . He took part in the creation of an illegal revolutionary organization of students ^{[4] [5]} .

In 1909 he was arrested for revolutionary activities and was sent into exile in Vologda ^[4] . Released in 1911. Having passed the external examinations for a real school, in the same year he entered the St. Petersburg Polytechnic Institute and, according to his own recollections, was enrolled in the shipbuilding department, but almost immediately transferred to economics, where until 1916 he graduated to the fourth year: “I have very little I did, but my personal work, inside me, meant a lot, ”he recalled ^[6] . He led the party work in St. Petersburg and Moscow .

In 1912, the first legal Bolshevik newspaper Pravda began to be published. To work in the newspaper Vyacheslav Scriabin attracted Tikhomirnov, who donated a large sum of money to the newspaper ^[4] . There, V. M. Molotov worked as an editorial secretary from 1912 to 1913. During the preparation of the publication, Pravda met one of the leaders of the Bolsheviks, Joseph Stalin . Stalin became the first of the leaders of the Bolshevik underground, with whom Scriabin personally met ^[7] .

From the fall of 1914, he worked in Moscow to re-create the party organization, which was closed at the beginning of the First World War . However, in 1915 he was arrested and exiled for three years to the Irkutsk province , but in 1916 he fled. In the same year he became a member of the Russian Bureau of the Central Committee of the RSDLP ^[5] and entered its leading troika.

During the war years he avoided recruitment in the army in every possible way, living under other people's names: “There was no need for photographs at that time, the picture was not so developed, but it was necessary that the age corresponded. War, and I myself such a draft age. Why am I released? Here is a hunchback. So, he was released under the article of such and such ... For the tuberculosis, too, the article was. So I met the February revolution by Alexander Stepanovich Potekhin. And then I had to straighten my passport ” ^[8] .

In 1915, Vyacheslav Scriabin began to use the party pseudonym Molotov (at the beginning of the twentieth century, the same pseudonym had the leader of the international social democratic movement and the employee of the Iskra and Zarya newspapers Alexander Parvus ^[2] ).

The grandson of Molotov, historian and political scientist V. A. Nikonov, noted that the taking of such a pseudonym was due to the fact that :

... Molotov - it sounded quite proletarian, industrialized, which should have appealed to workers who disliked party members from the intelligentsia. The second reason is quite prosaic. It was easier for grandfather to pronounce it. In Scriabin's word, the first three consonants made him stutter, especially when he was worried.

- ^[9]

On the night of February 27, 1917, at the meeting of the Petrograd Soviet, he spoke for the first time as Molotov ^[10] . On March 4 of the same year, by the decision of the Russian Bureau of the Central Committee of the RSDLP, Vyacheslav Molotov was introduced to the editorial board of Pravda; in March of the same year he was elected a deputy and a member of the Executive Committee of the Petrograd Council, a member of the Petrograd Committee of the RSDLP (b). During the February Revolution, Molotov spoke in favor of deepening the revolution and against the assistance of the Provisional Government . Stalin often called him Molotoshvili ^[11]

Participant (from the Petrograd Organization) VII (April) All-Russian Conference of the RSDLP (b) held April 24-29, 1917 ^{[12] [13]} . He was nominated to the Central Committee (No. 21, without discussion), but was not elected ^[12] . He was a delegate (from the Petrograd Organization) VI Congress of the RSDLP (b) , held from July 26 to August 3. At a meeting on July 31, he spoke in favor of the need for an armed uprising. In October 1917 he was a member of the Petrograd Military Revolutionary Committee .

With the introduction of the party cards after the October Revolution in the RCP (B), Vyacheslav Molotov was awarded the party membership card with the sequence number 5 ^[10] .

In 1918, he was appointed chairman of the Council of National Economy ( SNH ) of the Northern Region , while he was one of the closest employees of Grigory Zinoviev .

From 1919, he worked as an authorized representative of the Central Committee of the RCP (b) and the SNK of the RSFSR in the Volga region and chairman of the Nizhny Novgorod Provincial Executive Committee. Kommunar (fighter) CHON . ^[14] In the same year, the first pamphlet by Vyacheslav Scriabin, entitled “How Workers Learn to Build Their Economy”, signed by the pseudonym “Molotov”, was published in Petrograd ^[15] . In the summer of 1919, while sailing on the propaganda steamer "Red Star", he met Nadezhda Krupskaya (he met V. I. Lenin as early as April 1917 ) ^[4] .

From September 1920 he worked as secretary of the Donetsk regional committee of the RCP (b), and from November 1920 to March 1921 - secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party (b) of Ukraine ^[15] .

Soon, Vyacheslav Molotov began to have sharp conflicts with local leaders ^[4] . In this regard, he is transferred to work in the party apparatus. From March 16, 1921 to December 21, 1930, Molotov served as secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU (b) ^[7] (from 1921 he was a responsible secretary, but on April 3, 1922, for this post, called the “general secretary”, at the suggestion of Lenin, ^{[16 ]} Stalin was appointed).

Member of the commission for organizing the funeral of Lenin . After the death of Lenin, Vyacheslav Molotov began to actively support Stalin in the fight against his political opponents - Lev Trotsky , Grigory Zinoviev, Lev Kamenev, “ right deviators ” ^[5] .

In 1924-1927, member candidate, in 1929-1931 - member of the Presidium of the CEC of the USSR . Since 1927, he was a member of the Presidium of the Central Executive Committee .

From 1928 to 1929 he worked as First Secretary of the Moscow City Party Committee, replacing one of the leaders of the right-wing opposition Nikolay Uglanov . In the Moscow city committee he carried out a “purge”: 4 out of 6 heads of departments of the city committee, 4 out of 6 secretaries of district committees, 99 out of 157 members of the Moscow committee lost their posts ^[2] .

On December 19, 1930, by the decision of the joint plenum of the Central Committee and Central Control Commission of the CPSU (b), Molotov was appointed chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR and the Council of Labor and Defense ^[1] (in April 1937, the Council of Labor and Defense was dissolved) instead of the opposition member AI Rykov . In the early 1930s, a standing Defense Commission was established under the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR (from 1937, the Defense Committee), which was headed by Molotov until 1940. In 1937–1939, he served as Chairman of the Economic Council (EcoSo) of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR ^[17] .

The time spent by Vyacheslav Molotov as chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR is usually associated with an era of high gross domestic product growth and the state’s defense, construction, industrialization , urbanization and modernization , and mass enthusiasm during the first five-year plans ^[18] . They coincided with the search for effective instruments for the development of the country and models for managing the national economy for further centralization and the creation of a monolithic society in the conditions of hostile attitudes of other states. This search was associated with contradictions, negative phenomena in political life, which were associated with both protective tendencies and left-wing administrative and administrative excesses against the background of growing espionage activities ^[19] . Molotov worked hard during the first and second five-year plans, but in many respects he did not get along with his main assistants — the people's commissars, including the USSR people's heavy industry commissar, G. K. Ordzhonikidze . In such cases, Stalin almost always supported the chairman of the CPC ^[4] .

In the years 1931-1932, along with other top party leaders, Molotov, as an emergency commissioner, was involved in forcing grain procurements in southern Ukraine. In December 1931, at a meeting of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Communist Party (B) U, Vyacheslav Mikhailovich noted the extreme dissatisfaction with the fulfillment of the grain procurement plan and the direct threat they posed. He demanded the use of “special measures” and an increase in “Bolshevik vigilance against the class enemy” ^[4] .

In 1936, Molotov almost found himself in the dock, speaking out against the open trial of Lev Kamenev and Grigory Zinoviev ^[4] .

However, Molotov soon ceased to object to the repression, moreover, he took the most active part in organizing mass terror of 1937-1938 ^[4] .

Soon, the members of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee closest to I. Stalin began to sign the most important decrees related to repression, as well as execution lists for top party and state apparatuses, which were compiled to deal with cases in a closed and simplified manner. On account of V. Molotov, their largest number is 372 , which is higher than that of I. Stalin (for comparison, the minimum number of S. V. Kosior is 5).

N. P. Starostin, a well-known former Spartak footballer, told an exceptional case for Molotov's biography: L. Beria was accused of creating a terrorist organization among sportsmen against the Starostins brothers, Commissar of Internal Affairs of the USSR, L. P. Beria . However, Molotov did not sign the arrest warrant ^[4] .

In 1937, Molotov had to face attacks on Stalin’s side:

The documents show that at the end of the 1930s, Stalin put more pressure on Molotov on the official line, repeatedly reprimanding him of certain decisions of the Council of People's Commissars. For example, on January 28, 1937, Molotov appealed to the Politburo with a request for approval of additional capital investments for the NKVD. Stalin responded to this with a sharp resolution: “t. Molotov. Why it was impossible to foresee this case when considering title lists? Did you miss it? Need to discuss in PB. ” The very next day, the proposal of the Council of People's Commissars was accepted, and this also indicates that Stalin’s irritation was caused, most likely, not by business reasons. October 17, 1937 Molotov appealed to the Politburo with a request for approval of additional investments for two enterprises of the chemical industry. Stalin put the resolution on the letter: “t. Chubar Who made this note? Who checked the numbers? It is difficult to vote for the proposal of T. Molotov. " Such an appeal of Stalin to Chubar over the head of Molotov (which, judging by the Politburo protocols, was at that time in Moscow) was a demonstrative violation of the existing subordination, an attack against Molotov, and, possibly, an attempt to add additional tension to the relationship between Chubar and Molotov. Chubar, although he was the deputy chairman of the CPC and the people's commissar of finance, was subordinate to Molotov, and the fact that the letter to the Politburo was signed by Molotov meant that at the Council of People's Commissars the issue was agreed and finally resolved. Despite this obvious circumstance, Stalin again repeated his attack in a few days. October 20, 1937 Molotov appealed to the Politburo with a request to approve the allocation of 40 million rubles from the SNK reserve fund. to replenish the working capital of the system of the Commissariat of Internal Trade, and Stalin reiterated the resolution on the letter: “What does Comrade Chubar think about it?” And in that, and in the other case, the decision was finally made. This meant that Stalin was not against the resolutions themselves, but, rather, arranged some political demonstrations. Examples of the Stalinist attacks on Molotov on the decisions of the Council of People's Commissars can be continued.
Molotov was put in a rather humiliating position during the work of the XVIII Congress of the CPSU (b). On March 14, 1939, he delivered a report on the next (third) five-year plan for the development of the national economy of the USSR at the congress. The content of the report was nothing special, and its main provisions were agreed in advance and approved by the Politburo. However, the very next day, March 15, the Politburo, no doubt, on the initiative of Stalin (the Stalin revision remained on the original resolution), adopted the resolution “On the Report of Comrade Molotov at the XVIII Congress of the CPSU (b) on the Third Five-Year Plan”. It said: “1) To recognize as incorrect that Comrade Molotov, in his report ... did not dwell on the outcome of the discussion and on the analysis of the main amendments and additions to the theses. 2) Offer t. Molotov to correct this situation. " In carrying out this decision of the Politburo, Molotov in his closing speech on March 17 set forth the main content of the pre-Congress “discussion”, while recognizing (naturally, without reference to the Politburo resolution of March 15), which corrects the “omission” made in the report.

In general, there was nothing unusual in the requirement to supplement the report with the materials of the pre-Congress discussion. The formula of this demand was unusual: a demonstrative decision of the Politburo, an official statement of Molotov's mistake. All this was strikingly different from similar situations that arose in the 1920s and the first half of the 1930s. On November 7, 1926, for example, Stalin wrote to Molotov about the publication of their speeches at the XV conference: “... I now only understood the awkwardness then that I did not show anyone my report. Your perseverance about the amendments (amendments to Molotov’s speech before its publication. - O. Kh.), Doesn’t she say that I was mistaken without sending my speech (to the members of the Politburo. - O. Kh.)? I already feel embarrassed after the day before yesterday disputes. And now you want to kill me with your modesty, again insisting on watching the speech. No, I'd rather refrain. Print better as you see fit. ” The surviving letters show that, at least until 1936, Stalin pointedly endorsed the quality of Molotov’s public speaking. “Today I read the international part. It turned out well ... ", - he wrote in January 1933 about the upcoming Molotov report at the session of the USSR CEC. “I looked. It turned out quite well ... ", - this is how Stalin estimated the preliminary text of the Molotov report on the Soviet constitution in February 1936. If Stalin had any comments at that time, he expressed them to Molotov privately. “The chapter on“ dumping ”is good. The chapter on "forced" labor is not complete, insufficient. See remarks and amendments in the text, ”Stalin wrote to Molotov about the draft report of the latter at the Congress of Soviets of the USSR in March 1931.

- ^[20]

Vyacheslav Molotov himself about the period responded as follows:

Of course, we broke wood. To say that Stalin did not know anything about it is absurd, to say that he alone is responsible for this is wrong. If you blame Stalin alone, then he built socialism alone and won the war. And you name the one who is less, than Stalin, was mistaken? Our party careerism has played its role - everyone holds on to his place. And then if we have some kind of campaign, it is carried out persistently, to the end. And the scale and opportunities are big. The control over the organs was inadequate. There is no revolution without sacrifices.

- ^[21]

Speaking about the degree of his responsibility for political repression, Molotov said:

No, I never considered Beria to be the main person responsible, but I always considered the person responsible who was Stalin and us, who approved, who were active, and I was active all the time, was in favor of taking measures. I never regretted and never regret that I acted very coolly ^[22] .

In December 1935, Molotov wrote to Academician I. P. Pavlov :

... the Soviet authorities will gladly correct the mistakes that were actually made at the scene, and proper verification will be carried out in respect of the persons you have indicated. But, on the other hand, I must tell you directly that in some cases the matter is not at all as simple and harmless as it sometimes seems on the basis of ordinary everyday experience, old meetings, previous acquaintances, and so on. we had to be convinced of this, especially in the complex and rich with abrupt changes in the political situation of our time.

On May 3, 1939, as USSR Commissar for Foreign Affairs Maxim Litvinov, he replaced Vyacheslav Molotov, who retained the post of Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR .

“The forced withdrawal of Soviet diplomacy from the pre-war policy aimed at ensuring collective security in Europe to attempts to resolve the country's security issue independently is connected with his name,” the Essays on the history of the Russian Foreign Ministry noted. 1802-2002. T. 3. M., 2002. p. 355.

Having entered the new position, Molotov made personnel changes in the Commissariat, in particular, on May 4, a group of employees closest to Litvinov was arrested, but Litvinov himself was not arrested ^[4] . On July 23, 1939, the NKID meeting adopted a resolution, which in particular stated: “During this short period of time, a great work was done to clean the NKID from unfit, doubtful and hostile elements . ”

Molotov put forward Andrei Gromyko and a number of other young specialists for responsible diplomatic work, who later became widely known in the field of foreign policy.

Nonaggression Pact between the USSR and the Third Reich

In the summer of 1939, Molotov actively participated in the Anglo-French-Soviet negotiations in Moscow , and after their failure negotiated and prepared the conclusion of the Non-Aggression Pact with Germany , which was ratified by the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on August 31, 1939 ^[2] .

On September 28, 1939, Molotov signed the new German-Soviet Treaty of Friendship and Border . As a result of the new Soviet-German agreements, the eastern provinces of Poland with a predominantly Ukrainian and Belarusian population were annexed to the Ukrainian SSR and the BSSR, and the Vilna region with the city of Vilno became part of the then independent Lithuania ^[1] .

He was a direct participant in the Soviet-Finnish negotiations on changing the border, which lasted only two months. In a speech on the radio dated November 29, 1939, he substantiated the need for war with the “ Finnish government entangled in its anti-Soviet ties with the imperialists, ” and announced that the non-aggression pact was broken ^[23] . According to some reports, after the start of the “ Winter War ” and accusations of the use of cluster bombs in the Helsinki bombardment of Helsinki by Soviet aircraft, Molotov said that Soviet aircraft dropped baskets of bread to the starving residents of the Finnish capital ^[24] . On March 29, 1940, at the end of the Winter War, he called it: “the clash of our troops not only with Finnish troops, but with the united forces of the imperialists ”. First he announced unrealistic data about the “Mannerheim Line”, losses, the size of military assistance from Western countries, and announced the facts of the dismemberment of Soviet prisoners and other atrocities ^[25] .

The arrival of Vyacheslav Molotov in mid-November 1940 to Berlin for the purpose of negotiations was a return visit to Ribbentrop’s two visits to Moscow. During the three-day stay of the Soviet delegation in Berlin, talks were held with Adolf Hitler and two official meetings with Joachim Ribbentrop, but as a result of these negotiations, the parties did not come to a compromise: the Soviet side did not join the Triple Alliance . In addition, the People’s Commissariat for Foreign Affairs expressed discontent of the Soviet Union with the presence of German troops in Romania and Finland, as well as the threat of their introduction into Bulgaria ^[15] .

On March 8, 1940, in connection with the 50th anniversary of V. M. Molotov, by a decree of the Presidium of the USSR Supreme Soviet , Perm was renamed to Molotov and Perm Region - to Molotovskaya ^{[26] [27]} (both names will be returned in October 1957 ^[28] ).

On April 5, 1941, a treaty of friendship and non-aggression was signed with Yugoslavia (one day before the beginning of the German aggression against this country), then the Soviet-Japanese neutrality pact was signed. Molotov, as the head of the foreign affairs agency, was directly involved in these diplomatic activities.

On May 6, 1941, Molotov was dismissed from the post of head of government “due to repeated statements that it was difficult for him to perform duties along with his duties as a people's commissar” ^[29] , the SNK was personally led by Stalin , and Molotov himself was appointed his deputy.

The period of the Great Patriotic War

Early in the morning at 4 o'clock on June 22, 1941, after artillery and aviation training, German troops crossed the USSR border . Already after this, at 5:30 (according to V. Molotov himself, the German ambassador arrived earlier, at about 3 am) ^[30] in the morning, the German ambassador to the USSR, V. Schulenburg, came to Molotov and made a statement, the content of which was that the Soviet government pursued a subversive policy in Germany and in the countries it occupied, as well as a foreign policy directed against Germany, and "concentrated all its troops on the German border in full combat readiness." The statement ended with the following words: "The Fuhrer therefore ordered the German armed forces to counter this threat with all the means at their disposal" ^{[1] [31]} .

At 12 o'clock on the same day, Molotov spoke on the radio with a historical message for the Soviet people about the beginning of the war , ending this speech with the famous words: “ Our cause is right . The enemy will be defeated. Victory will be ours".

Finland did not allow Germany to strike directly from its territory, and the German units in Petsamo and Salla were forced to refrain from crossing the border. There were only episodic exchanges of fire between the Soviet and Finnish border guards, but in general the situation remained calm on the Soviet-Finnish border. However, starting from June 22, German Luftwaffe bombers began using Finnish airfields as a refueling base before returning to Germany. These data became known much later, and on June 23 Molotov summoned the Finnish charge d'affaires Hünninen and asked only what Hitler’s speech of June 22 meant, which referred to German troops who “in alliance with the Finnish comrades ... defend the Finnish the earth. " The Finnish ambassador was unable to explain what Hitler said. Molotov demanded that Finland clearly define its position in relation to the USSR ^[32] .

On June 26, Molotov wrote to the Soviet ambassador to the US, Konstantin Umansky : “You should immediately go to Roosevelt or Hull and ask what is the attitude of the American government to this war and to the USSR. Questions about assistance should not be raised now. ” ^[2] On July 12, Molotov and Ambassador Cripps signed an agreement between the governments of the USSR and Great Britain on joint actions in the war against Germany. The result of this agreement was that cooperation was established with the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition , and diplomatic relations were restored with the governments of European states occupied by Nazi Germany who were in emigration in London ( Belgium , Norway , Poland , Czechoslovakia , etc.).

On June 30, 1941, with the formation of the State Defense Committee (GKO), V. M. Molotov was approved by his deputy, Stalin .

On August 14, Molotov told the Soviet ambassador to Turkey, Sergei Vinogradov , that the Soviet government agreed to establish official relations with Charles de Gaulle as the leader of the French anti-fascists.

From September 29 to October 1, 1941, a conference was held in Moscow, in which the USSR, the USA and Great Britain took part; The conference agreed on military supplies to the Soviet Union . Speaking at the closing meeting, the head of the Soviet delegation, Molotov, said that “from now on, a powerful front of freedom-loving peoples headed by the Soviet Union, England and the United States of America” was created ^[15] . In October 1941, the USSR Commissariat for Foreign Affairs, together with the diplomatic corps, was evacuated to Kuibyshev , but Molotov, like Stalin, remained in Moscow. In Moscow, he paid attention to military supplies from Great Britain and the United States and the opening of a second front in Europe ^[15] .

In October 1941, during the catastrophe near Vyazma, Vyacheslav Molotov was for the only time sent to the front, but the main decisions were made by the accompanying A. Vasilevsky ^[5] .

In late May - early June 1942, Molotov visited the Allies with a diplomatic mission: Great Britain and the United States. The flight to Great Britain on the Pe-8 aircraft under the control of the pilot Endel Pusep passed through the front line and then through the territory occupied by German troops ^[33] , landing in Scotland. On May 26, Molotov, together with Anthony Eden, signed the Anglo-Soviet Union Treaty in London. Winston Churchill highly appreciated the “state wisdom and understanding” shown by the People's Commissar in the negotiations ^{[15] [to clarify ]} . Then there was a no less risky flight to the United States, where negotiations at the White House ended on June 1. On the way back, landing again in Britain and another negotiations. On June 12, the delegation returned to Moscow. ^[34]

He signed a decree of the CPC on the production of incendiary bottles, which received the unofficial name " Molotov cocktail " (according to one of the versions, this name was given by the Finns - "Molotov cocktails"). On August 16, 1942, Molotov was promoted to First Deputy Chairman of the SNK. Vyacheslav Molotov took part in the Tehran , Yalta , Potsdam conferences, which laid the foundations for a post-war peace settlement.

In addition to diplomatic work, Vyacheslav Molotov was responsible for the production of tanks ^[5] . In addition, it was originally Molotov, in 1942, who was entrusted with the leadership of the Soviet "atomic project" —the work on the creation of atomic weapons in the USSR. However, according to the memoirs of Academician I. V. Kurchatov, because of his routine thinking, Molotov could not thoroughly penetrate into all the details of this project, all the work on the bomb because of this was “trampled on the spot”, as a result of which some years.

By Decree No. 79 of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of September 30, 1943, for special services to the Soviet state in the development of the tank industry during the Great Patriotic War, Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Molotov was awarded the title Hero of Socialist Labor with the award of the Sickle and Molot medal ^[5] .

In addition to military issues, Molotov oversaw questions of science, including the work of Moscow State University . His archive has correspondence associated with a letter from 14 academicians to the Chairman of the All-Union Committee on Higher School Affairs Sergei Kaftanov , and documents related to the further development of this situation. A letter from four academicians , written on behalf of Abram Ioffe , was addressed personally to him. Vyacheslav Molotov intervened in the situation of confrontation between the so-called “academic” and “university” physics and resolved this issue ^[35] .

In addition, on the initiative of Molotov, in order to train personnel for diplomatic institutions of the USSR, on October 14, 1944, the Moscow State Institute of International Relations was established on the basis of the Faculty of International Relations of Moscow State University.

Post-war period

In the early postwar years, Molotov often traveled abroad as head of Soviet foreign policy: he participated in a conference in San Francisco , at which the United Nations was created. Molotov also headed the Soviet delegations at most sessions of the Council of Foreign Ministers - the USSR, the USA, Britain, France and China , at the Paris Peace Conference of 1946, where he actively defended the territorial interests of Albania , Bulgaria and Yugoslavia .

March 19, 1946 SNK was transformed into the Council of Ministers; accordingly, Molotov became First Deputy Chairman of the USSR Council of Ministers ^{[2] [36]} . In this post he oversaw education, science and law enforcement. When an American businessman came to Moscow, Molotov, walking with him through the Museum of New Western Art, took a picture of Van Gogh's “Red Cafe” and presented it to an American ^[37] .

Recalling the development of the Soviet position in June 1947 on the US proposal for assistance to European countries , Molotov said:

“At first, we at the Foreign Ministry wanted to invite all socialist countries to participate, but we quickly guessed that this was wrong. They were dragging us into their company, but a subordinate company, we would have depended on them, but we would not get anything properly, but we would certainly depend on it. But if in the West they think that it was our mistake, that we abandoned the Marshall Plan, then we did the right thing. ”

Molotov actively supported the idea of ​​creating the state of Israel , while all other countries were against it, including the United States and Great Britain ^[1] .

Vyacheslav Molotov often traveled to the United States to participate in the work of the United Nations, and because of his intransigent position, as well as the frequent use of the “ veto ” right, he was nicknamed “Mr. No” in diplomatic circles ^[4] .

In 1947, Molotov was delegated the authority of Stalin on the atomic project : on February 8, 1947 at a meeting of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the CPSU (b), it was decided that the work of the Special Committee under the Council of Ministers of the USSR was reported either directly to the Chairman of the Council of Ministers I. Stalin or his first deputy, V. M. Molotov ^[36] From 1947 to 1949, Molotov headed Soviet foreign intelligence as chairman of the Information Committee at the Council of Ministers of the USSR .

In 1949, he was a member of the Permanent Commission for the conduct of open trials on the most important cases of former soldiers of the German army and German punitive bodies, convicted of atrocities against Soviet citizens in the temporarily occupied territory of the Soviet Union. He participated in organizing trials of German and Japanese war criminals.

March 4, 1949, was removed from his post as Minister of Foreign Affairs ( Andrei Vyshinsky became Minister of Foreign Affairs), and his wife was arrested the same year. As J. Medvedev notes, “the conspiracy against Molotov was planned very skillfully, but also very cruelly. It included the murder of Mikhoels , the arrests and executions of members of the EAK , including Lozovsky , and the arrest of Pauline Pearl. The conspiracy against the Leningrad party-state group was less subtle, but no less cruel. By the end of 1949, Malenkov and Beria had almost completely cleared their way to power . ”

In October 1952, at the post-Congress ( XIX Congress of the CPSU ) Plenum of the Central Committee, Molotov, although he was elected to the Presidium of the Central Committee , but did not become part of its leading bureau; at the same plenum of the Central Committee he and Anastas Mikoyan were subjected to destructive criticism by Stalin ^{[38] [4]} .

On March 5, 1953, after Stalin’s death, Molotov was again appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs and at the same time First Deputy Chairman of the USSR Council of Ministers ^[15] . He supported Nikita Khrushchev in the decision to arrest Lavrentiy Beria and remove Georgy Malenkov from his post as Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR . In 1955, Molotov was appointed chairman of the commission for the revision of open trials and closed trial of military commanders.

Subsequently, Molotov and Khrushchev began to disagree on many issues. Molotov objected to the complete withdrawal of Soviet troops from Austria , was skeptical about the normalization of relations with Yugoslavia , considering necessary criticism of the anti-Soviet speeches of the Yugoslav leadership, the differences also related to the expediency of the excessive and accelerated development of virgin lands , the inclusion of Crimea in the USSR. .

In March 1956, a series of manifestations under the slogans “Down with Khrushchev!” And “Molotov - at the head of the CPSU” took place in Tbilisi , the demonstrations were dispersed by the army. On June 1, 1956, under the pretext of a wrong Yugoslav policy, Molotov was dismissed from the post of Minister of Foreign Affairs ^[39] , but on November 21, “in compensation,” he was appointed Minister of State Control of the USSR ^[5] .

In 1957, Molotov led the so-called " anti-party group " against Khrushchev ^[2] . Teaming up with Lazar Kaganovich and Georgy Malenkov, Molotov attempted to displace Khrushchev. At a meeting of the Presidium of the Central Committee, Molotov's group criticized the work of Khrushchev in the post of First Secretary of the Central Committee (the main complaints were violations of the rules of “collective leadership” by Khrushchev, as well as in disputes surrounding economic and foreign policy problems). party organ ( Kliment Voroshilov , Nikolay Bulganin , Mikhail Pervukhin , Maxim Saburov , Dmitry Shepilov ). Khrushchev was supposed to be appointed Minister of Agriculture, and the post of First Secretary would be handed over to Molotov or abolished altogether. But supporters of Khrushchev managed to quickly assemble a Central Committee Plenum, in which the "anti-Party group" was defeated. Recognizing that practically the entire Presidium of the CPSU Central Committee, all top leaders of the country, including the head of state - the chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Council and the head of the government - chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR - spoke out against Khrushchev, the plenum decided to leave the first deputy chairmen of the Council of Ministers - Malenkov, Kaganovich, Molotov and the minister Foreign Affairs Shepilova. On June 29, 1957, Molotov was removed from all posts “for belonging to an anti-party group,” removed from the Presidium of the Central Committee of the CPSU and from the Central Committee of the CPSU. The three cities named after him were renamed in 1957.

In 1957, Vyacheslav Molotov was appointed USSR Ambassador to Mongolia . From 1960 to 1961, he led the Soviet mission at the headquarters of the UN Atomic Energy Agency ( IAEA ) in Vienna . At the XXII Congress of the CPSU, held in October 1961, Khrushchev and his allies for the first time declared the direct personal responsibility of Molotov, Kaganovich and Malenkov for the lawlessness committed under Stalin, and demanded their exclusion from the party ^[40] . In mid-November 1961, Molotov was recalled from Vienna, removed from his post and expelled from the party. On September 12, 1963, Molotov was sent into retirement ^[41] .

According to the memoirs of the chief editor of the newspaper " Izvestia " Alexei Ajubey , after the XXII Congress of the CPSU, Molotov's wife obtained a reception from Khrushchev. “In response to her request to reinstate her husband in the party, Nikita Sergeevich showed her a document with the Molotov resolution on the execution of the wives of Kosior , Postyshev and other senior officials of Ukraine, then asked if, in her opinion, it was possible to talk about rebuilding Molotov in the party or to attract him to court " ^[42] .

Despite the disgrace, Molotov continued his active lifestyle, constantly working at home or in the library. He did not write memoirs, but he expounded his views on certain events in public life in notes sent to the CPSU Central Committee . For several years he sought to restore party membership and in 1984, with the support of the chief editor of Kommunist magazine R.I. Kosolapov, Molotov was reinstated to the party. General Secretary K. U. Chernenko personally presented him with a party card ^{[2] [7]} . However, the decision to restore Molotov in the party was carried out without an announcement in the party press. With the restoration of the party with the preservation of party party since 1906, he became its oldest member. In 1986, he managed to give an interview to the Moscow News newspaper, in which he said: “I have a happy old age. I want to live to be 100 years old . ”

Most [Molotov] worried that he was expelled from the party. And all the time he wrote letters to the Central Committee, the Party Control Committee with requests for restoration. For himself in material terms, he did not ask for anything.

He lived in a small wooden cottage in Zhukovka, which we [Sovmin] assigned him. Up to ninety years, went to the clinic by train. He always sat there in the general line, although everyone, of course, offered to skip it.

Somehow my friend, who lived in a country house next to Molotov, told me that Vyacheslav Mikhailovich and his wife are in poverty. He had a pension of 300 rubles a month, but from it they fully paid for the dacha, coal, the stoker and the woman who helped them with the housework, and as a result they had practically nothing left. We made a decision to increase the pension with him and Kaganovich by 50 rubles, we were exempted from the dacha and coal. The stoker and sister-mistress were given a salary ...

The last time I saw [Molotov] at the funeral of Bulganin [1975]. He stood aside, alone. I came up, I said: "Vyacheslav Mikhailovich, let's get closer, we say goodbye." He was very touched by this display of attention.

- from the memoirs of Mikhail Smirtyukov , assistant to the deputy chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR

Unlike the names of Malenkov and Kaganovich , the name of Molotov and after his resignation and expulsion from the party continued to be freely mentioned in literature, press, cinema, articles about him were placed in the encyclopedia. The image of Molotov repeatedly appeared in feature films, he played, mainly Nikolai Zasukhin (previously, in the 1940s - Maxim Strauch ).

In the 1970s and 1980s, the poet and journalist Felix Chuev often stayed in the Molotovs' house, made records, on the basis of which the books were later published - “One hundred and forty conversations with Molotov” ^[43] and “Semi-Term Ruler” ^[44] .

In June 1986, Molotov was hospitalized at the Kuntsevskaya hospital in Moscow , where he died on November 8 at 12 55 hours. During his long life, V.M. Molotov suffered 7 myocardial infarctions, but he lived up to 96 years. Vyacheslav Molotov was buried in Moscow at the Novodevichy Cemetery ^[5] , next to his wife. On November 11, 1986, the death of the politician was reported by the Izvestia newspaper ^[4] . A number of articles appeared in the Western press. In Albania, state mourning was declared in connection with the event. After opening the will of Molotov, they found a savings book with 500 rubles in the account ^[10] .

In 1921, Vyacheslav Molotov married Polina Pearl . According to their grandson: “They were very fond, even adored each other, although they were different people: he was so simple, in her she was inner aristocratic” ^[45] . In 1949, Polina Zhemchuzhina was arrested at the Plenum of the Central Committee of the CPSU, when she was taken out of the candidates for membership in the Central Committee. Molotov, the only one who voted for, abstained from voting. Shortly before her arrest, the spouses fictitiously parted and parted ^[45] . “Molotov passionately loved Polina Semyonovna all his life - writes L. Mlechin. - When he went somewhere, he always took a photo of his wife and daughter with him. His wife’s arrest was a tremendous tragedy for him. ” Shortly before Stalin's death, Zhemchuzhina was arrested in exile and transferred to Moscow, where she was interrogated in preparation for a new process. Immediately after Stalin’s death in March 1953, during the days of his funeral, she was released by Beria and returned to Molotov.

The Molotovs had a single daughter — Svetlana (1926–1989) —a research associate at the Institute of World History .

The first son-in-law is a test pilot V. S. Ilyushin , the son of an aircraft designer S. V. Ilyushin .

The second son-in-law, Alexei Dmitrievich Nikonov (1917-1992), worked as an employee of the NKVD , a professor at MGIMO , then as an employee of the Institute of World Economy and International Relations , and editor of the journal Kommunist .

Grandchildren: Larissa Alekseevna Nikonova, Lyubov Alekseevna Nikonova, Vyacheslav Alekseevich Nikonov (b. 1956) is a well-known Russian political scientist, co-founder of the Politika Foundation.

Vyacheslav Molotov was a great-uncle of the popular actor Boris Chirkov and was a friend of the youth of the VKP (b) activist, the prose writer Alexander Arosev , the father of actress Olga Aroseva .

The nature and personal qualities of Molotov in different sources are interpreted differently. His perseverance and cabinet efficiency are unanimously noted, for which, at the beginning of his career, he received the nickname “Stone Ass” from the Bolsheviks of the first generation ^[46] . Winston Churchill spoke of Molotov: “I did not see a person who would more fully present the modern concept of a robot” ^[47] .

[The derogatory characteristics: “iron ass”, “chief party clerk,” “an uncomplaining executor of Stalin’s instructions”] were thought up by people who had never worked with Molotov, and more often than not had never seen him. I worked with him for many years and I know that Molotov was not always an obedient executor of instructions. It varied depending on the circumstances. Nor was he a primitive clerk, as he is now [2000] often painted ...

[The most powerful side of Molotov-politics was] the ability to accurately assess their capabilities. Molotov always knew that in any business there is a border, which even he cannot cross. In addition, Vyacheslav Mikhailovich was a very strong organizer. Hereby ... Decisions were made quickly ... Molotov did not tolerate wordiness at all ...

Molotov generally tried to speak less and less. He stuttered and, as it seemed to me, was shy about it ...

If we talk about the features of Molotov, I must say that he constantly had the desire to improve everything. Maybe because it is peculiar to most pedantic people. But it is also possible that Molotov’s engineering talent remained unrealized: because of participation in underground party work, he did not graduate from the St. Petersburg Polytechnic Institute ...

Everyone knew that Molotov did not tolerate any untidiness. Neither in work nor in clothes. He himself was always dressed modestly, but neatly. And demanded the same from others.

- from the memoirs of Mikhail Smirtyukov , assistant to the deputy chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR

Lenin called you “the stone well ...” - “They would know if Lenin called others!” ^[48]

According to Zhores Medvedev , Molotov, “the former head of the Soviet government for more than ten years, and in the most difficult period of collectivization, industrialization and terror, was a man of weak-willed. Molotov was subjectively honest, exceptionally efficient, intelligent and had no noticeable vices . ” Moreover, as noted by Medvedev, he "was the only member of the Politburo, apart from Stalin, who was popular among the people and especially among the intelligentsia . " Molotov "tried to expand international cooperation and reduce the omnipotence of censorship" ^[49] .

Konstantin Simonov in his "Reflections on J. V. Stalin" emphasized:

At the same time, Molotov always existed as a constant, used — I am afraid to use these loud, too significant words, although in this case they are close to the truth — in our environment, among my generation, the most firm and constant respect and priority.

Having a reputation as an executive, obligatory and diligent worker, strictly obeying party discipline, Molotov "fully relied on the will of Stalin and therefore fulfilled all his instructions and directives with extraordinary punctuality and speed" ^[49] . In addition, according to some reports, until the end of his days, Molotov remained faithful to his friendship with Stalin and, already a widower, proclaimed unchanged three toasts: “For Comrade Stalin! For Polina! For communism! ” ^[50] .

Stalin is a man covered in blood. I saw his resolutions, which he signed with packs together with Molotov, Voroshilov , Kaganovich and Zhdanov . This is the top five was the initiative. Molotov always added: “replace 10 years for execution”

- Said by Gorbachev words in the program "Times" by V. Pozner

“... as a symbol of all of them (police officers) lives on Granovsky Street, 3 is smug, stupid, still not convinced by Molotov, all soaked in our blood, and the pavement goes nobly into the long wide car” - Alexander Solzhenitsyn "The Gulag Archipelago" (Volume 1).

Winston Churchill recalls: "He was obviously a sensible and carefully polished diplomat" ^[1] .

The phrase, said by Molotov, is well known: “There is no such love between a man and a woman, for the sake of which one could change the Motherland!” ^[44] .

• Hero of Socialist Labor (September 30, 1943);
• 4 orders of Lenin (1940; September 30, 1943, 1945; 1950) ^[51] ;
• Order "Badge of Honor" ;
• Honorary Academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences (November 29, 1946)
• medals

• He was the most long-lived government leader among the heads of government of the Soviet Union and Russia.
• According to the testimony of his grandson, V. Molotov was especially respected by W. Churchill from world politicians after I. V. Stalin ^[45] .
• In honor of Molotov, the simplest incendiary grenade was named “ Molotov cocktail ”.
• The GAZ-51 truck delivered abroad was called the Molotovka.
• V.M. Molotov, like his predecessor as the Chairman of the USSR SNK, A. I. Rykov, was stuttering.
• His wife, relatives, and friends called V. Molotov, Vache - abbreviated on behalf of Vyacheslav ^[52]

The merits of V. M. Molotov were honored for a short time during his lifetime as a prominent leader of the Communist Party. In 1957, after the defeat of the anti-Khrushchev plot, many of the objects named after him were renamed.

Geographical names

• Molotov glacier - about. Komsomolets , Severnaya Zemlya Archipelago (name is saved)
• Molotov Glacier - Pamir , Tajik SSR
• Cape Molotov - Cape Arctic , Fr. Komsomol member , Severnaya Zemlya archipelago
• Molotov Peak - Russia, Pamir , Tajik SSR Peak

Subjects of the Federation

• Molotov Region - Perm Region , RSFSR from 1940 to 1957

Cities and regions of regional subordination

• Molotov - the name of the city of Perm from 1940 to 1957
• Molotov (byd. Sudostroy) (1938–1957) - the city of Severodvinsk , Arkhangelsk Region
• Molotovsky District (formerly Izylbashsky) - Irtyshsky District, Omsk Region
• Molotovsky (rural) district - Volzhsky district Samara region
• Molotovsky District - Nolinsky District, Kirov Region
• Molotovsky District - Krasnogvardeysky District, Stavropol Territory
• Molotovsky District (formerly Pokrovsky) - Oktyabrsky District, Primorsky Territory
• Molotov district - Balkashinsky (now Sandyktau district ), Tselinograd region , Kazakh SSR

Municipal settlements of district subordination

• Molotovsk (1940–1957) - the town of Nolinsk , Kirov Region
• named after V.Molotov - Oktyabrsky settlement, Gorky Region
• grain farm named after Molotov - settlement Russian Orenburg region
• Molotovabad - village Uch-Korgon Osh region , Kyrgyz SSR
• Molotovabad - village Dusti Tajik SSR
• Molotov (former Rosenberg) - Trialeti settlement Georgian SSR
• Molotov (byv. Izylbashsky) - settlement Irtysh Omsk Region
• Molotov - settlement Uchkuprik , Fergana region , Uzbek SSR
• Molotov (byv. Yangiturmish) - Avangard village, Tashkent region , Uzbek SSR
• Molotovsky - included in the town of Novoshakhtinsk , Rostov Region
• Molotovsky - Kaindy village, Kyrgyz SSR
• Molotov (formerly Medvezhye, Evdokimovskoye) - the village of Krasnogvardeiskoe , Stavropol Territory
• Molotov - Oktyabrkand village (now Khachav village), Azerbaijan SSR
• Name Molotov (byv. Osinniki) - Gorky village, Altai Territory
• Molotov - the village of Orlovka Bashkir ASSR
• Molotov - the village to them. May 1 (now Berlik) Taldy-Kurgan region , Kazakh SSR
• Molotov - the village of Rodino, Altai Territory
• Molotov (byv. Dryazgi) - the village of October Lipetsk region
• Molotov - village Nikolsky Ryazan region
• Molotov - the village of Sribnoe Stalin Oblast , Ukrainian SSR
• Molotov - the village of Pershotravnevoe Poltava region , Ukrainian SSR
• Molotov - farm Grape Rostov region
• Name Molotov (byv. Maglinovsky) - Victory Farm, Krasnodar Territory

Urban areas

• Molotovsky District - Sovetsky District of Samara
• Molotovsky District - Sovetsky District, Ufa
• Molotovsky district - Leninsky district of Kirov
• Molotovsky District - October District of Omsk
• Molotovsky District - Central District of Novokuznetsk
• Molotovsky district - Shevchenkovsky district of Kiev
• Молотовский район — вошёл в состав Пролетарского района г. Москва

Улицы

• Улица Кольцевая в Уфе до 1957 года носила имя Молотова
• Улица Ленинградская в Ворошиловск-Коммунарск-Алчевске до 1957 года носила имя Молотова

Учреждения образования

• Вологодский государственный педагогический институт имени В. М. Молотова
• Военно-морское авиационно-техническое училище имени В. М. Молотова, г. Пермь (1936—1958) , 24 апреля 1958 года имя В. М. Молотова снято
• Военная академия тыла и снабжения Красной армии имени В. М. Молотова (1935—1956; с 1939 Военно-хозяйственная академия РККА имени В. М. Молотова), она и Военно-транспортная академия с 1 июня 1956 года объединены в единую — Военную академию тыла и транспорта
• Всесоюзная плановая академия имени В. М. Молотова при Госплане СССР. Ликвидирована в 1941 г.
• Всесоюзная промышленная академия лёгкой индустрии имени В. М. Молотова
• Горьковское училище зенитной артиллерии имени В. М. Молотова, носило имя В. М. Молотова 1940—1956
• Ереванский государственный университет имени В. М. Молотова
• Куйбышевский краевой коммунистический университет журналистики имени В. М. Молотова
• Казахский медицинский институт имени В. М. Молотова
• Ленинградская Краснознамённая ордена Ленина Высшая офицерская бронетанковая школа Красной армии имени В. М. Молотова
• Ленинградский технологический институт им. В. М. Молотова, ныне Санкт-Петербургский государственный технологический университет растительных полимеров
• Московский государственный библиотечный институт имени В. М. Молотова Наркомпроса РСФСР
• Московский институт механизации и электрификации сельского хозяйства имени В. М. Молотова
• Московский энергетический институт имени В. М. Молотова. Ныне Московский энергетический институт
• Ростовский государственный университет имени В. М. Молотова. Ныне Ростовский государственный университет
• Саратовский автомобильно-дорожный институт имени В. М. Молотова
• Смоленское военно-политическое училище имени В. М. Молотова (1940—1956)
• Томский государственный медицинский институт имени В. М. Молотова. Ныне Сибирский государственный медицинский университет
• Школа авиационных техников имени В. М. Молотова (Пермь)
• Школа № 23 имени В. М. Молотова (Вологда)

Заводы и предприятия

• Горьковский автомобильный завод (ЗИМ)
• Детский костно-туберкулёзный санаторий имени Молотова Наркомздрава СССР
• Днепропетровский завод стальных конструкций и мостов
• Железная дорога (1936—1943), затем вновь Забайкальская
• Завод «Красный гидропресс» (г. Таганрог)
• Завод № 62 стальных самолётов ГУ ГВФ Завод имени Молотова (бывший завод «Красный гвоздильщик», Ленинград)
• Кень-Аральский зерносовхоз
• Киевский Дворец пионеров
• Минский радиозавод
• Никитский ботанический сад (Крым)
• Первый государственный завод бактериальных удобрений (Московская обл.)
• Пионерский лагерь «Артек» с 1938 по 1957 гг.
• Полиграфический комбинат (Москва)
• Ташкентский канал
• Харьковский станкостроительный завод

Equipment

• Крейсер «Молотов» , крейсер проекта 26-бис. В 1957 году несколько курьёзно переименован в «Слава»
• Крейсер «Молотовск» , проекта 68-бис. В 1957 году переименован в «Октябрьскую революцию»
• Океанский лайнер «Вячеслав Молотов» , построен в Нидерландах в 1940 году, во время Великой Отечественной войны военный транспорт ВТ-509. В 1957 году судно переименовано в «Балтика»
• Ледокол-пароход «В. Молотов» , проект 51, в период с августа по декабрь 1941 года на Балтийском заводе ледокол «В. Молотов» переоборудован во вспомогательный крейсер. В 1958 году ледокол переименован в «Адмирал Макаров»
• Танкер «Молотов», относится к танкерам типа «Ленин», с 1957 г. переименован в «Герой Мехти»
• Речной грузо-пассажирский пароход «Молотов», проект СБ-7А. Во время Великой Отечественной войны мобилизован 23.06.1941 г. и вошёл в состав Пинской флотилии в качестве госпитального судна. Входил в состав Днепровского отряда речных кораблей. Расформирован 16.08.1941 г. и 16.09.1941 г. затоплен в оз. Лезерень
• Речной круизный теплоход «Вячеслав Молотов», относится к речным теплоходам типа «Иосиф Сталин» построен на заводе «Красное Сормово» в 1937 году. 27 августа 1957 года переименован в «Михаил Калинин»
• Тепловоз «ВМ» (Вячеслав Молотов)

Памятники

• Бюст в Никитском ботаническом саду . Был установлен в 1930-х годах, когда сад носил его имя. В 1957 году бюст был снесён и заменён бюстом Ленина. В 2008 году бюст Молотова был восстановлен рядом с бюстом Ленина. Долгое время бюсты обоих деятелей стояли в центре сада, у бассейна. В 2012 году они были перенесены к зданию музея истории Никитского ботанического сада, а на их место воздвигнута статуя богини Флоры.

1943 — Миссия в Москву — Джин Локхарт
1949 — Падение Берлина ; Сталинградская битва — Максим Штраух
1973 — Семнадцать мгновений весны — Валерий Даньшин
1974 — Выбор цели — Николай Засухин
1985 — Битва за Москву — Николай Засухин
1991 — Ближний круг — Виктор Балабанов
1993 — Ангелы смерти — Николай Засухин
2017 — Смерть Сталина — Майкл Пейлин
2017 — Власик. Тень Сталина — Виктор Балабанов

• Жемчужина, Полина Семёновна — жена В. М. Молотова
• Никонов, Вячеслав Алексеевич — политолог, внук и биограф В. М. Молотова
• Коктейль Молотова
• Линия Молотова
• Уродливое детище Версальского договора
• Пакт Молотова-Риббентропа
• Нет, Молотов
• Тепловоз «Вячеслав Молотов»

• Молотов, Вячеслав Михайлович / Аксютин Ю. В. // Меотская археологическая культура — Монголо-татарское нашествие. — М. : Большая российская энциклопедия, 2012. — С. 697. — ( Большая российская энциклопедия : [в 35 т.] / гл. ред. Ю. С. Осипов ; 2004—2017, т. 20). — ISBN 978-5-85270-354-5 .
• Медведев Р. А Окружение Сталина — М.: Молодая гвардия , 2010. — ( Жизнь замечательных людей ).
• Никонов В. А. Молотов. Молодость. М.: — Вагриус . — 2005.
• Никонов В. А. Молотов. Наше дело правое. В 2 книгах (комплект). М.: — Молодая гвардия , 2016.
• Никонов В. А. Молотов. — М.: Молодая гвардия, 2017. — ( Жизнь замечательных людей ).
• Чуев Ф. И. Сто сорок бесед с Молотовым
• Чуев Ф. И. Молотов. Полудержавный властелин.
• Чуев Ф. И. Из бесед в В. М. Молотовым // От оттепели до застоя. — М.: Советская Россия , 1990. — Тираж 50 000 экз. — С. 36 — 77

• Molotov, Vyacheslav Mikhailovich on the " Rodovide ". Tree of ancestors and descendants
• Molotov, Vyacheslav Mikhailovich (Rus.) . The site " Heroes of the country ."
• Biographies of Molotov // Chronos
• Molotov, Vyacheslav Mikhailovich on the official website of the Russian Academy of Sciences
• Vyacheslav Nikonov . Molotov remembers. From home archive. // NG-Political Economy . - 2000. - № 8 (8) March 4th . (not available link from 10/12/2016 [1017 days])
• Zhores Medvedev . Solomon Lozovsky, Polina Zhemchuzhina and Vyacheslav Molotov. Stalin and the Jewish problem. New Analysis // Skepsis
• “Have mercy on our homeland and us” ... Correspondence of academician I. P. Pavlov with the chairman of the SNK V. M. Molotov

Audio

• Listen to the announcement of the beginning of World War II
• Record of the conversation of the People’s Commissar of Foreign Affairs of the USSR V. M. Molotov with the Japanese ambassador to the USSR S. Togo // Runivers