Vyacheslav Molotov

Vyacheslav Molotov
Вячеслав Молотов
Molotov in 1945
3rd Premier of the Soviet Union
In office 19 December 1930 – 6 May 1941
Leader	Joseph Stalin
Preceded by	Alexei Rykov
Succeeded by	Joseph Stalin
3rd First Deputy Premier of the Soviet Union
In office 16 August 1942 – 29 June 1957
Premier	Joseph Stalin Georgy Malenkov Nikolai Bulganin
Leader	Joseph Stalin Georgy Malenkov Nikita Khrushchev
Preceded by	Nikolai Voznesensky
Succeeded by	Nikolai Bulganin
3rd People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs
In office 3 May 1939 – 15 March 1946
Premier	Joseph Stalin
Leader	Joseph Stalin
Preceded by	Maxim Litvinov
Succeeded by	Himself (as Minister of Foreign Affairs)
1st and 3rd Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office 15 March 1946 – 4 March 1949 5 March 1953 – 1 June 1956
Premier	Joseph Stalin Georgy Malenkov Nikolai Bulganin
Leader	Joseph Stalin Georgy Malenkov Nikita Khrushchev
Preceded by	Himself (as People's Commisar for Foreign Affairs) Andrey Vyshinsky
Succeeded by	Andrey Vyshinsky Dmitri Shepilov
Additional positions 1st Second Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Acting April 1922 – December 1930 General Secretary Joseph Stalin Preceded by Position established Succeeded by Lazar Kaganovich Responsible Secretary of the Russian Communist Party (Bolshevik) In office 16 March 1921 – 3 April 1922 Leader Vladimir Lenin Joseph Stalin Preceded by Nikolay Krestinsky Succeeded by Joseph Stalin (as General Secretary) Full member of the 14th, 15th, 16th, 17th, 18th, 19th, 20th Presidium In office 1 January 1926 – 29 June 1957 Candidate member of the 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th Politburo In office 16 March 1921 – 1 January 1926 Full member of the 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th, 16th Secretariat In office 16 March 1921 – 21 December 1930 Full member of the 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th, 16th Orgburo In office 16 March 1921 – 21 December 1930
Personal details
Born	Vyacheslav Mikhaylovich Skryabin (1890-03-09)9 March 1890 Kukarka, Russian Empire (present day Sovetsk, Kirov Oblast, Russia)
Died	8 November 1986(1986-11-08) (aged 96) Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Resting place	Novodevichy Cemetery, Moscow
Political party	RSDLP(b) (1906–1918) CPSU (1918–1961)
Spouse	Polina Zhemchuzhina ​ ​ (m. 1920; died 1970)​
Relatives	Vyacheslav Nikonov (grandson)
Awards	Order of the Badge of Honour
Signature

Vyacheslav Mikhaylovich Molotov^[a] (né Skryabin;^[b] 9 March [O. S. 25 February] 1890 – 8 November 1986) was a Russian and later Soviet politician and diplomat, an Old Bolshevik, and a leading figure in the Soviet government from the 1920s onward. He served as Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars from 1930 to 1941 and as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1939 to 1949 and from 1953 to 1956. He is considered to be one of the greatest diplomats in history.^[1]

During the 1930s, he ranked second in the Soviet leadership, after Joseph Stalin, whom he supported loyally for over 30 years, and whose reputation he continued to defend after Stalin's death. As People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs in August 1939, Molotov became the principal Soviet signatory of the German–Soviet non-aggression pact, also known as the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact. He retained his place as a leading Soviet diplomat and politician until March 1949, when he fell out of Stalin's favour and lost the foreign affairs ministry leadership to Andrei Vyshinsky. Molotov's relationship with Stalin deteriorated further, and Stalin criticised Molotov in a speech to the 19th Party Congress.

Molotov was reappointed Minister of Foreign Affairs after Stalin's death in 1953 but staunchly opposed Nikita Khrushchev's de-Stalinization policy, which resulted in his eventual dismissal from all positions and expulsion from the party in 1961 (after numerous unsuccessful petitions, Molotov was readmitted in 1984).^[2] Molotov defended Stalin's policies and legacy until his death in 1986 and harshly criticised Stalin's successors, especially Khrushchev.

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