The " Four Policemen " was a postwar council with the Big Four that US President Franklin Roosevelt proposed as a guarantor of world peace . Their members were called the Four Powers during World War II and were the four major Allies of World War II : the United Kingdom , the United States , the Soviet Union , and China . Roosevelt repeatedly used the term "Four Policemen" starting in 1942.
131-855: The Four Policemen would be responsible for keeping order within their spheres of influence : Britain in its empire and Western Europe, the Soviet Union in Eastern Europe and the central Eurasian landmass, China in East Asia and the Western Pacific; and the United States in the Western Hemisphere. As a preventive measure against new wars, countries other than the Four Policemen were to be disarmed. Only
262-656: A United Nations Security Council veto power , which would override any UN resolution that went against the interests of one of the Big Four. However, the State Department had compromised with the liberal internationalists. Membership eligibility was widened to include all nation states fighting against the Axis powers instead of a select few. Roosevelt had been a supporter of the League of Nations back in 1919–1920, but
393-480: A "very close friend" of a Socialist Revolutionary , Alexander Arosev , who shared his exile in Vologda. In 1937, fearing arrest, Arosev tried three times to ring Molotov, who refused to speak to him. He was arrested and shot. In the 1950s, Molotov gave Arosev's daughter his signed copies of her father's books, but later wished he had kept them. "It appears that it was not so much the loss of his 'very close friend' but
524-405: A Moscow communist party conference on 23 February 1929, Molotov emphasised the need to undertake "the most rapid possible growth of industry" both for economic reasons and because, he claimed, the Soviet Union was in permanent, imminent danger of attack. The argument over how fast to expand industry was behind the rift between Stalin and the right, led by Bukharin and Rykov, who feared that too rapid
655-556: A bomb never seen before, Stalin relayed the conversation to Molotov and told him to speed up development. On Stalin's orders, the Soviet government substantially increased investment in the project. In a collaboration with Kliment Voroshilov , Molotov contributed both musically and lyrically to the 1944 version of the Soviet national anthem . Molotov asked the writers to include a line or two about peace. The role of Molotov and Voroshilov in
786-466: A debating society, and a poor one at that!". Roosevelt criticized the League for representing the interests of too many nations. He came to favor an approach to global peace secured through the unified efforts of the world's great powers , rather than through the Wilsonian notions of international consensus and collaboration that guided the League of Nations. The idea that great powers should "police"
917-412: A failed coup against Khrushchev in 1957, after which he was dismissed from all of his positions. Molotov was sent to Mongolia as an ambassador before being expelled from the party in 1961. He continued to defend Stalin's legacy until his own death in 1986. Molotov was born Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Skryabin in the village of Kukarka , Yaransk Uyezd , Vyatka Governorate (now Sovetsk, Kirov Oblast ),
1048-405: A formal alliance does not necessarily mean that one country lies within another's sphere of influence. High levels of exclusivity have historically been associated with higher levels of conflict. In more extreme cases, a country within the "sphere of influence" of another may become a subsidiary of that state and serve in effect as a satellite state or de facto colony . This was the case with
1179-609: A formal non-aggression treaty. Although the treaty is known as the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact , it was Stalin and Hitler, not Molotov and Ribbentrop, who decided the content of the treaty. The most important part of the agreement was the secret protocol, which provided for the partition of Poland, Finland and the Baltic States between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union and for the Soviet annexation of Bessarabia (then part of Romania, now Moldova ). The protocol gave Hitler
1310-549: A hug and said: 'Be well. If everything goes well with you, it will go well for all Jews everywhere.' " Zhemchuzhina was imprisoned for a year in the Lubyanka and was then exiled for three years in an obscure Russian city. She was sentenced to hard labour, spending five years in exile in Kazakhstan. Molotov had no communication with her except for the scant news that he received from Beria, whom he loathed. Zhemchuzhina
1441-406: A larger sphere of influence. For example, the software company Microsoft has a large sphere of influence in the market of operating systems ; any entity wishing to sell a software product may weigh up compatibility with Microsoft's products as part of a marketing plan. In another example, retailers wishing to make the most profits must ensure they open their stores in the correct location. This
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#17327763946261572-568: A map of the Pacific Ocean as a large "bubble" surrounding the islands of Japan and the Asian and Pacific nations it controlled. According to a secret protocol attached to the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of 1939 (revealed only after Germany's defeat in 1945), Northern and Eastern Europe were divided into Nazi and Soviet spheres of influence: Another clause of the treaty stipulated that Bessarabia , then part of Romania , would join
1703-698: A pace would cause economic dislocation. With their defeat, Molotov emerged as the second most powerful figure in the Soviet Union. During the Central Committee plenum of 19 December 1930, Molotov succeeded Alexey Rykov as the Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars , the equivalent of a Western head of government . In that post, Molotov oversaw the implementation of the First Five-Year Plan for rapid industrialisation. Despite
1834-672: A period of transition under the governance of an international trusteeship prior to their independence. China was brought in as a member of the Big Four and a future member of the Four Policemen. Roosevelt was in favor of recognizing China as a great power because he was certain that the Chinese would side with the Americans against the Soviets. He said to British Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden , "In any serious conflict of policy with Russia, [China] would undoubtedly line up on our side." As it
1965-522: A postwar international body, aware of the risk that the American people might reject his proposals, and he did not want to repeat Woodrow Wilson 's struggle to convince the Senate to approve American membership in the League of Nations. Roosevelt's proposal was to create a new international body led by a "trusteeship" of great powers that would oversee smaller countries. In September 1941, he wrote: In
2096-545: A second front against Germany. After signing the Anglo–Soviet Treaty of 1942 on 26 May, Molotov left for Washington . He met US President Franklin D. Roosevelt and agreed on a lend-lease plan. Both the British and the Americans only vaguely promised to open a second front against Germany. On his flight back to the Soviet Union, his plane was attacked by German fighters and later mistakenly by Soviet fighters. There
2227-584: A short document which later came to be known as the Declaration by United Nations and the next day the representatives of twenty-two other nations added their signatures. President Roosevelt initiated post-war plans for the creation of a new and more durable international organization that would replace the former League of Nations. Roosevelt's Four Policemen proposal received criticism from liberal internationalists who wanted power to be more evenly distributed among nations. Internationalists were concerned that
2358-405: A small-minded intriguer and accomplice in terror. Molotov was succeeded in his post as premier by Stalin. At first, Hitler rebuffed Soviet diplomatic hints that Stalin desired a treaty; but in early August 1939, Hitler allowed Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop to begin serious negotiations. A trade agreement was concluded on 18 August, and on 22 August Ribbentrop flew to Moscow to conclude
2489-588: A sphere of influence by seizing a part of Ukraine, maintaining large numbers of forces on its borders, and demanding, as Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov recently stated, that "Ukraine cannot be part of any bloc." Criticising Russia in November 2014, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that "old thinking about spheres of influence, which runs roughshod over international law" put the "entire European peace order into question." In January 2017, British Prime Minister Theresa May said, "We should not jeopardise
2620-406: A wild-eyed internationalist dream of a world state.... It is based virtually on a four-power alliance." Eventually this proved to be both the potential strength and the actual weakness of the future UN, an organization theoretically based on a concert of great powers whose own mutual hostility, as it turned out, was itself the greatest potential threat to world peace. Spheres of influence In
2751-477: Is also true for shopping centers that, to reap the most profits, must be able to attract customers to their vicinity. There is no defined scale measuring such spheres of influence. However, one can evaluate the spheres of influence of two shopping centers by seeing how far people are prepared to travel to each shopping center, how much time they spend in its vicinity, how often they visit, the order of goods available, etc. Corporations have significant influence on
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#17327763946262882-440: Is no evidence that Molotov ever persuaded Stalin to pursue a different policy from that on which he had already decided. Volkogonov could not find one case where any of the elite in government openly disagreed with Stalin. There is some evidence that, although Stalin realised he needed Molotov, Stalin did not like him. Stalin's one-time bodyguard, Amba, stated: "More general dislike for this statesman robot and for his position in
3013-410: Is not about spheres of influence. The difference is that these countries themselves opted to join." In corporate terms, the sphere of influence of a business , organization, or group can show its power and influence in the decisions of other businesses/organizations/groups. The influence shows in several ways, such as in size, frequency of visits, etc. In most cases, a company described as "bigger" has
3144-638: The 20th Congress of the Communist Party. Khrushchev attacked Stalin over the purges of the 1930s and the defeats of the early years of the Second World War, which he blamed on Stalin's overly-trusting attitude towards Hitler and the purges of the Red Army command structure. Molotov was the most senior of Stalin's collaborators still in government and had played a leading role in the purges, so it became evident that Khrushchev's examination of
3275-456: The 20th Party Congress in 1956, Khrushchev told delegates that Stalin had plans for "finishing off" Molotov and Mikoyan in the aftermath of the 19th Congress. Following Stalin's death, a realignment of the leadership strengthened Molotov's position. Georgy Malenkov , Stalin's successor in the post of General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, reappointed Molotov as Minister of Foreign Affairs on 5 March 1953. Although Molotov
3406-566: The Founding Act on Mutual Relations, Cooperation and Security , stating the "aim of creating in Europe a common space of security and stability, without dividing lines or spheres of influence limiting the sovereignty of any state." On August 31, 2008, Russian president Dmitri Medvedev stated five principles of foreign policy, including the claim of a privileged sphere of influence that comprised "the border region, but not only". Following
3537-524: The Great Wall , in addition to the previous tax exemption for trade in Mongolia and Xinjiang , economic powers similar to Germany's over Fengtian , Jilin , and Heilongjiang provinces. France gained a sphere over Yunnan , as well as most of Guangxi and Guangdong provinces; Japan over Fujian province; and the British over the whole Yangtze River valley (defined as all provinces adjoining
3668-593: The Katyn massacre . In November 1940, Stalin sent Molotov to Berlin to meet Ribbentrop and Hitler. In January 1941, British Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden visited Turkey in an attempt to get the Turks to enter the war on the Allies' side. The purpose of Eden's visit was anti-German, rather than anti-Soviet, but Molotov assumed otherwise. In a series of conversations with Italian Ambassador Augusto Rosso, Molotov claimed that
3799-598: The Lansing-Ishii Agreement . In 1910, the great powers, Britain, France, Germany, United States, and later, Russia and Japan, ignored the Open Door Policy to form a banking consortium , consisting of national banking groups backed by respective governments, through which all foreign loans to China were monopolised, granting the powers political influence over China and reducing economic competition between foreigners. This organisation controlled
3930-468: The Manhattan Project and its importance, Stalin handpicked Molotov to be the man in charge of the Soviet atomic bomb project . However, under Molotov's leadership, the bomb and the project itself developed very slowly, and he was replaced by Beria in 1944 on the advice of Igor Kurchatov . When Roosevelt's successor as U.S. President Harry S. Truman told Stalin that the Americans had created
4061-764: The Moldovan ASSR and become the Moldovan SSR under the control of Moscow. The Soviet invasion of Bukovina on 28 June 1940 violated the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, as it went beyond the Soviet sphere of influence as agreed with the Axis . The USSR continued to deny the existence of the Pact's protocols until after the dissolution of the Soviet Union when the Russian government fully acknowledged
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4192-630: The Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact with Nazi Germany , and during the Second World War was deputy chairman of the State Defense Committee and Stalin's main negotiator with the Allies . After the war, he began to lose favour, losing his ministership in 1948 before being criticized by Stalin at the 19th Party Congress in 1952. Molotov was reappointed foreign minister after Stalin's death in 1953, but his staunch opposition to leader Nikita Khrushchev 's de-Stalinization policy led him to join
4323-638: The Monroe Doctrine to tout the United States as the region's preferred trade partner over other nations such as China . For Siam ( Thailand ), Britain and France signed an agreement in 1904 whereby the British recognised a French sphere of influence to the east of the River Menam's ( Chao Phraya River ) basin; in turn, the French recognised British influence over the territory to
4454-604: The Politburo in 1921 and held the office of Responsible Secretary . Alexander Barmine , a minor communist official, visited Molotov in his office near the Kremlin while he was running the secretariat, and remembered him as having "a large and placid face, the face of an ordinary, uninspired, but rather soft and kindly bureaucrat, attentive and unassuming." Molotov was criticised by Lenin and Leon Trotsky , with Lenin noting his "shameful bureaucratism" and "stupid behaviour". On
4585-570: The Rhineland . Derek Watson believed that it was Molotov's statement on foreign policy that offended Stalin. Molotov had made it clear that improved relations with Germany could develop only if its policy changed and stated that one of the best ways for Germany to improve relations was to rejoin the League of Nations . However, even that was not sufficient since Germany still had to give proof "of its respect for international obligations in keeping with
4716-641: The Russian Civil War , which had broken out. Since he was not a military man, he took no part in the fighting. In summer 1919, he was sent on a tour by steamboat of the Volga and Kama rivers, with Lenin's wife, Nadezhda Krupskaya to spread Bolshevik propaganda. On his return, he was appointed chairman of the Nizhny Novgorod provincial executive, where the local party passed a vote of censure against him, for his alleged fondness for intrigue. He
4847-583: The Russian Federation 's 'sphere of influence', according to a statement by Boris Yeltsin , dated September 1994. According to Ulrich Speck, writing for Carnegie Europe , "After the breakup of the Soviet Union, the West's focus was on Russia. Western nations implicitly treated the post-Soviet countries (besides the Baltic states) as Russia's sphere of influence." In 1997, NATO and Russia signed
4978-674: The Russian Social Democratic Labour Party in 1906 and was arrested and internally exiled twice before the October Revolution of 1917. He briefly headed the party's Secretariat before supporting Stalin's rise to power in the 1920s, becoming one of his closest associates. Molotov was made a full member of the Politburo in 1926 and became premier in 1930, overseeing Stalin's agricultural collectivization (and resulting famine ) and his Great Purge . As foreign minister from 1939, Molotov signed
5109-522: The Sino-Soviet split and Tito–Stalin split —the People's Republic of China and the People's Federal Republic of Yugoslavia , among other countries at various times. Meanwhile, United States was considered to have a sphere of influence over Western Europe , Oceania , Japan , South Vietnam and South Korea , among other places. However, the level of control exerted in these spheres varied and
5240-502: The Soviet Union and its Eastern Bloc after World War II. The system of spheres of influence by which powerful nations intervene in the affairs of others continues to the present. It is often analyzed in terms of superpowers , great powers , and/or middle powers . Sometimes portions of a single country can fall into two distinct spheres of influence. In the 19th century, the buffer states of Iran and Thailand , lying between
5371-623: The United Nations was officially established later in 1945, France was in due course added as the fifth permanent member of the Security Council because of the insistence of Churchill. After World War I , the United States pursued a policy of isolationism and declined to join the League of Nations in 1919. Roosevelt had been a supporter of the League of Nations but, by 1935, he told his foreign policy adviser Sumner Welles : "The League of Nations has become nothing more than
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5502-606: The suzerainty of the great power . Many areas of the world are joined by a cultural influence inherited from a previous sphere of influence, even if they are no longer under political control. Examples include Anglosphere , Arab World , Persosphere , Eurosphere , Francophonie , Françafrique , Germanosphere , Indosphere , Hispanidad , Latin Europe / Latin America , Lusophonie , Turkosphere , Sinosphere , Slavisphere , Malay world , Post-Soviet States and many others. Alexander Hamilton , first U.S. Secretary of
5633-590: The " century of humiliation "), Great Britain , France , Germany , Russia , and Japan held special powers over large swaths of Chinese territory based on securing "nonalienation commitments" for their "spheres of interest"; only the United States was unable to participate due to their involvement in the Spanish–American War . These spheres of influence were acquired by forcing the Qing government to sign " unequal treaties " and long-term leases. In early 1895,
5764-561: The ' Monroe Doctrine ', was formalized under President James Monroe , who asserted that the New World was to be established as a Sphere of influence, removed from European encroachment. As the U.S. emerged as a world power, few nations dared to trespass on this sphere (A notable exception occurred with the Soviet Union and the Cuban Missile Crisis .). As of 2018, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson continued to refer to
5895-536: The 2008 Russo-Georgian War , Václav Havel and other former central and eastern European leaders signed an open letter stating that Russia had "violated the core principles of the Helsinki Final Act , the Charter of Paris ... all in the name of defending a sphere of influence on its borders." In April 2014, NATO stated that, contrary to the Founding Act , Russia now appears to be attempting to recreate
6026-725: The Americas without prior approval from the Soviet Union. With the end of the Cold War , the Eastern Bloc fell apart, effectively ending the Soviet sphere of influence. Then in 1991, the Soviet Union ceased to exist , replaced by the Russian Federation and several other ex-Soviet Republics who became independent states. Following the fall of the Soviet Union , the countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States that became independent in 1991, were portrayed as part of
6157-476: The Big Four, an enforcement branch composed of the same four great powers acting as the Four Policemen or Four Sheriffs , and an international assembly representing other nations. As a compromise with internationalist critics, the Big Four nations became the permanent members of the UN Security Council , with significantly less power than had been envisioned in the Four Policemen proposal. When
6288-556: The Chinese market should the country be officially partitioned. Although treaties made after 1900 refer to this " Open Door Policy ", competition among the various powers for special concessions within China for railroad rights, mining rights, loans, foreign trade ports, and so forth, continued unabated, with the US itself contradicting the policy by agreeing to recognise the Japanese sphere in
6419-440: The Communist Party. In 1962, all of Molotov's party documents and files were destroyed by the authorities. In retirement, Molotov remained unrepentant about his role under Stalin's rule. In 1968, United Press International reported that Molotov had completed his memoirs but that they would likely never be published. The first signs of Molotov's rehabilitation were seen during Leonid Brezhnev 's rule, when information about him
6550-501: The Congress of Soviets "We have never refuted the fact that healthy prisoners capable of normal labour are used for road building and other public works. This is good for society; it is also good for the peasants themselves." The famine caused by the disruption of agricultural output and the emphasis on exporting grain to pay for industrialisation, and the harsh conditions of forced labour killed an estimated 11 million people. Despite
6681-631: The Four Policemen could lead to a new Quadruple Alliance . A new plan for the United Nations was drafted by the State Department in April 1944. It kept the emphasis on great power solidarity that was central to Roosevelt's Four Policemen proposal for the United Nations. The members of the Big Four would serve as permanent members of the United Nations Security Council . Each of the four permanent members would be given
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#17327763946266812-640: The Four Policemen proposal in early 1942. This would not preclude the eventual formation of a worldwide organisation of nations "for the purpose of full discussion" provided "management" was left to the Four Policemen. He presented his postwar plans to Soviet foreign minister Vyacheslav Molotov , who had arrived in Washington on May 29 to discuss the possibility of launching a second front in Europe. The President said to Molotov that "he could not visualize another League of Nations with 100 different signatories; there were simply too many nations to satisfy, hence it
6943-404: The Four Policemen would be allowed to possess any weapons more powerful than a rifle. Initially, Roosevelt envisioned the new postwar international organization that would be formed several years after the war. Later, he came to view creating the United Nations as the most important goal for the entire war effort. His vision for the organization consisted of three branches: an executive branch with
7074-519: The French laid claim to a sphere in Southwest China . By December 1897, German Kaiser Wilhelm II declared his intent to seize territory in China, precipitating the scramble to demarcate zones of influence in China . The Germans acquired, in Shandong province, exclusive control over developmental loans, mining, and railway ownership, while Russia gained a sphere over all territory north of
7205-532: The Great Purge, he approved 372 documented execution lists, more than any other Soviet official, including Stalin. Molotov was one of the few with whom Stalin openly discussed the purges. When Stalin received a note denouncing the deputy chairman of Gosplan , G.I.Lomov , he passed it to Molotov, who wrote on it: "For immediate arrest of that bastard Lomov." Before the Bolshevik revolution, Molotov had been
7336-507: The Kremlin could scarcely be wished and it was apparent that Stalin himself joined in this feeling". A party was silenced by Molotov's arrival, the merriment resuming when he had left. Stalin could be rude to Molotov. In 1942, Stalin took Molotov to task for his handling of the negotiations with the Allies. He cabled Molotov on 3 June stating how displeased he was and how Molotov had failed to provide details of his actions while talking to Churchill and Roosevelt. When Beria told Stalin about
7467-463: The Moscow Communist Party and held that position until 15 August 1929. Trotsky and his supporters underestimated Molotov, and the same went for many others. Trotsky called him "mediocrity personified," and Molotov himself pedantically corrected comrades referring to him as "Stone Arse" by saying that Lenin had actually dubbed him "Iron Arse." However, that outward dullness concealed a sharp mind and great administrative talent. He operated mainly behind
7598-414: The Soviet Union . Molotov was responsible for telling the Soviet people of the attack when he, instead of Stalin, announced the war. His speech, broadcast by radio on 22 June, characterised the Soviet Union in a role similar to that articulated by Winston Churchill in his early wartime speeches. The State Defence Committee was established soon after Molotov's speech. Stalin was elected chairman and Molotov
7729-429: The Soviet Union, and China. US President Franklin D. Roosevelt considered his most important legacy the creation of the United Nations, making a permanent organization out of the wartime Alliance of the same name. He was the chief promoter of the United Nations idea. The Big Four were the only four sponsoring countries of the San Francisco Conference of 1945 and their heads of the delegations took turns as chairman of
7860-406: The Soviets would soon be faced with an Anglo–Turkish invasion of the Crimea . The British historian D.C. Watt argued that on the basis of Molotov's statements to Rosso, it would appear that, in early 1941, Stalin and Molotov viewed Britain, rather than Germany, as the principal threat. The Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact governed Soviet–German relations until June 1941, when Hitler turned east and invaded
7991-428: The Stalin years. In 1960, he was appointed Soviet representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency , which was seen as a partial rehabilitation. However, after the 22nd Party Congress in 1961, during which Khrushchev carried out his de-Stalinisation campaign, including the removal of Stalin's body from Lenin's Mausoleum , Molotov, along with Lazar Kaganovich , was removed from all positions and expelled from
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#17327763946268122-513: The State Department by mid-October, which was delivered to the President in late December. The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941 led to a change in Roosevelt's position. He transformed his trusteeship proposal into a proposal for Four Policemen – the United States, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, and China – to enforce the peace after the war for several years while other nations, friend and foe, would be disarmed. Roosevelt made his first references to
8253-449: The Treasury , aimed for the United States to establish a sphere of influence in North America . Hamilton, writing in the Federalist Papers , harboured ambitions for the US to rise to world power status and gain the strength to expel European powers from the Americas , taking on the mantle of regional dominance among American nations, although most of the New World were European colonies during that period. This doctrine, dubbed
8384-425: The Tsarist regime – it being thought that the old name sounded too German. Molotov became a member of the Bolshevik Party's committee in Petrograd in 1916. When the February Revolution occurred in 1917, he was one of the few Bolsheviks of any standing in the capital. Under his direction, Pravda took to the "left" to oppose the Provisional Government formed after the revolution. When Joseph Stalin returned to
8515-547: The Yangtze river as well as Henan and Zhejiang provinces), parts of Guangdong and Guangxi provinces, and part of Tibet . Only Italy 's request for Zhejiang province was declined by the Chinese government. These do not include the lease and concession territories where the foreign powers had full authority. The Russian government militarily occupied their zone, imposed their law and schools, seized mining and logging privileges, settled their citizens, and even established their municipal administration on several cities,
8646-409: The advice of Molotov and Nikolai Bukharin , the Central Committee decided to reduce Lenin's work hours. In 1922, Stalin became General Secretary of the Bolshevik Party with Molotov as the de facto Second Secretary . As a young follower, Molotov admired Stalin but did not refrain from criticising him. Under Stalin's patronage, Molotov became a full member of the Politburo in January 1926. During
8777-518: The agreement, would not be reliable allies against German expansion. That made him decide instead to seek to conciliate Nazi Germany . In May 1939, Maxim Litvinov , the People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs, was dismissed; Molotov was appointed to succeed him. Relations between Molotov and Litvinov had been bad. Maurice Hindus in 1954 stated that Molotov "always detested Litvinov" and resented both his fluency in languages and his ease with foreigners. Litvinov had no respect for Molotov, regarding him as
8908-401: The allied powers successively liberated other states. The wartime spheres lacked a practical definition and it had never been determined if a dominant allied power was entitled to unilateral decisions only in the area of military activity, or could also force its will regarding political, social and economic future of other states. This overly informal system backfired during the late stages of
9039-418: The capital, he reversed Molotov's line, but when Lenin arrived, he overruled Stalin. However, Molotov became a protégé of and a close adherent to Stalin, an alliance to which he owed his later prominence. Molotov became a member of the Military Revolutionary Committee , which planned the October Revolution and effectively brought the Bolsheviks to power. In 1918, Molotov was sent to Ukraine to take part in
9170-416: The chief mechanism to resolve any major issues that arose among the great powers, all of whom would have a veto. Roosevelt was especially interested in international protection of human rights, and in this area his wife played a major role as well. The Dumbarton Oaks Conference convened in August 1944 to discuss plans for the postwar United Nations with delegations from the United States, the United Kingdom,
9301-437: The combined "population of our nations and friends was well over a billion people". Roosevelt also believed China was the only Asian nation strong enough to be one of the Policemen (as Japan could not be included due to being an Axis member) and this was necessary to help avoid dividing his vision of a new global order along racial lines (Roosevelt also viewed the inclusion of what he saw as the "part-Asian" Soviets as important for
9432-465: The death of Franklin D. Roosevelt, Molotov engaged in talks with the new American President Harry S. Truman ; these talks, despite not being hostile, came to be mythologised decades later as an early crack in US-Soviet relations, presaging the Cold War. From 1945 to 1947, Molotov took part in all four conferences of foreign ministers of the victorious states in the Second World War. In general, he
9563-492: The defendants – who had been forced to confess to crimes of which they were innocent – said that they had conspired to kill Stalin and seven other leading Bolsheviks, but not Molotov. According to Alexander Orlov , an NKVD officer who defected to the west, Stalin personally crossed Molotov's name out of the original script. In May 1936, Molotov went to the Black Sea on an extended holiday under careful NKVD supervision until
9694-404: The editorial staff of a new underground Bolshevik newspaper, Pravda , and met Joseph Stalin for the first time in association with the project. That first association between the two future Soviet leaders proved to be brief, however, and failed to lead to an immediate close political association. Molotov worked as a so-called "professional revolutionary" for the next several years, wrote for
9825-570: The empires of Britain , France and Russia , were divided between the spheres of influence of those three international powers . Likewise, after World War II , Germany was divided into four occupation zones , three of which later consolidated into West Germany and the remaining one became East Germany , the former a member of NATO and the latter a member of the Warsaw Pact . Many powerful states in past centuries had subordinate tributary states , whose native dynasty acknowledged
9956-407: The end of August, when Stalin apparently changed his mind and ordered Molotov's return. Two explanations have been put forward for Molotov's temporary eclipse. On 19 March 1936 Molotov gave an interview with the editor of Le Temps concerning improved relations with Nazi Germany. Although Litvinov had made similar statements in 1934 and even visited Berlin that year, Germany had not then reoccupied
10087-423: The enforced disarmament of our enemies and, indeed, some of our friends after the war; that he thought that the United States, England, Russia and perhaps China should police the world and enforce disarmament by inspection. The President said that he visualized Germany, Italy, Japan, France, Czechoslovakia, Rumania and other nations would not be permitted to have military forces. He stated that other nations might join
10218-730: The existence and authenticity of the secret protocols. From 1941 and the German attack on the Soviet Union , the Allied Coalition operated on the unwritten assumption that the Western Powers and the Soviet Union had each its own sphere of influence. The presumption of the US-British and Soviet unrestricted rights in their respective spheres began to cause difficulties as the Nazi-controlled territory shrank and
10349-523: The famine, in September 1931, Molotov sent a secret telegram to communist leaders in the North Caucasus telling them the collection of grain for export was going "disgustingly slowly." In December, he travelled to Kharkov , then the capital of Ukraine, and, ignoring warnings from local communist leaders about a grain shortage, told them that their failure to meet their target for grain collection
10480-456: The field of international relations , a sphere of influence ( SOI ) is a spatial region or concept division over which a state or organization has a level of cultural , economic , military , or political exclusivity. While there may be a formal alliance or other treaty obligations between the influenced and influencer, such formal arrangements are not necessary and the influence can often be more of an example of soft power . Similarly,
10611-602: The first Israeli envoy to the Soviet Union. There are unsubstantiated claims that, being fluent in Yiddish , Zhemchuzhina acted as a translator for a diplomatic meeting between Meir and her husband, the Soviet foreign minister. However, this claim (of being an interpreter) is not supported by Meir's memoir My Life . Presentation of her ambassadorial credentials was done in Hebrew, not in Yiddish. According to Meir's own account of
10742-510: The first four mentioned after experience proved they could be trusted. Roosevelt and Molotov continued their discussion of the Four Policemen in a second meeting on June 1. Molotov informed the President that Stalin was willing to support Roosevelt's plans for maintaining postwar peace through the Four Policemen and enforced disarmament. Roosevelt also raised the issue of postwar decolonization . He suggested that former colonies should undergo
10873-536: The freedoms that President Reagan and Mrs Thatcher brought to Eastern Europe by accepting President Putin's claim that it is now in his sphere of influence." In 2009, Russia asserted that the European Union desires a sphere of influence and that the Eastern Partnership is "an attempt to extend" it. In March that year, Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt stated that the "Eastern Partnership
11004-604: The great human cost, the Soviet Union under Molotov's nominal premiership made large strides in the adoption and the widespread implementation of agrarian and industrial technology. Germany secretly purchased munitions that spurred a modern armaments industry in the USSR. Ultimately, that arms industry, along with American and British aid, helped the Soviet Union prevail in the Second World War . Molotov also oversaw agricultural collectivisation under Stalin's regime . He
11135-531: The green light for his invasion of Poland , which began on 1 September. The pact's terms gave Hitler authorisation to occupy two thirds of Western Poland and the whole of Lithuania . Molotov was given a free hand in relation to Finland. In the Winter War , a combination of fierce Finnish resistance and Soviet mismanagement resulted in Finland losing much of its territory but not its independence. The pact
11266-564: The latter refused to resign unless a Central Committee plenum decided so. In the plenum, which met from 22 to 29 June, Molotov and his faction were defeated. Eventually he was banished, being made ambassador to the Mongolian People's Republic . Molotov and his associates were denounced as "the Anti-Party Group " but notably were not subject to such unpleasant repercussions that had been customary for denounced officials in
11397-545: The latter without Chinese consent. The powers (and the United States) might have their own courts, post offices, commercial institutions, railroads, and gunboats in what was on paper Chinese territory. However, the foreign powers and their control in some cases could have been exaggerated; the local government persistently restricted further encroachment. The system ended after the Second World War . On September 6, 1899, U.S. Secretary of State John Hay sent notes to
11528-456: The list "and he was often deprived of his initials", and that when he was photographed receiving a delegation, he was never alone, but always flanked by his deputies, Janis Rudzutaks and Vlas Chubar . "In Soviet ritual all these are signs of paramount importance," Trotsky noted. Another startling piece of evidence was that the published transcript of the first Moscow Show Trial in August 1936,
11659-501: The loss of part of his own book collection ... that Molotov continued to regret." Late in life, Molotov described his role in purges of the 1930s, arguing that despite the overbreadth of the purges, they were necessary to avoid Soviet defeat in World War II. In 1939, Adolf Hitler 's invasion of the rest of Czechoslovakia , in violation of the 1938 Munich Agreement , made Stalin believe that Britain and France, which had signed
11790-419: The major powers (France, Germany, Britain, Italy, Japan, and Russia), asking them to declare formally that they would uphold Chinese territorial and administrative integrity and would not interfere with the free use of the treaty ports within their spheres of influence in China, as the United States felt threatened by other powers' much larger spheres of influence in China and worried that it might lose access to
11921-408: The majority of Chinese tax revenue in a "trust", utilising a small portion to bolster the rule of Chinese warlord Yuan Shikai to great effect. The renewed consortium of UK, France, Japan and the U.S. in 1920 effectively vetoed all developmental loans to China, exerting control over the Chinese government by aiming to control all railroads, ports and highways in China. The Consortium helped to contain
12052-704: The making of the new Soviet anthem was, in the words of the historian Simon Sebag-Montefiore , acting as music judges for Stalin. Molotov accompanied Stalin to the Teheran Conference in 1943, the Yalta Conference in 1945, and, after the defeat of Germany, the Potsdam Conference . He represented the Soviet Union at the San Francisco Conference , which created the United Nations . In April 1945, shortly after
12183-761: The meeting with a secret telegram ordering the Ukrainian leadership to intensify grain collection. Between the assassination of Sergei Kirov , the head of the Party organization in Leningrad , in December 1934, and the start of the Great Purge , there was a significant but unpublicised rift between Stalin and Molotov. In 1936, Trotsky, in exile, noted that when lists of party leaders appeared in Soviet press reports, Molotov's name sometimes appeared as low as fourth in
12314-683: The new leader of the Soviet Union . He presided over a gradual domestic liberalisation and a thaw in foreign policy, as was manifest in a reconciliation with Josip Broz Tito 's government in Yugoslavia , which Stalin had expelled from the communist movement. Molotov, an old-guard Stalinist, seemed increasingly out of place in the new environment, but represented the Soviet Union at the Geneva Conference of 1955 . Molotov's position became increasingly tenuous after February 1956, when Khrushchev launched an unexpected denunciation of Stalin at
12445-521: The organisation's radical Bolshevik faction, which was led by Vladimir Lenin . Skryabin took the pseudonym "Molotov", derived from the Russian word molot (sledge hammer) since he believed that the name had an "industrial" and "proletarian" ring to it. He was arrested in 1909 and spent two years in exile in Vologda . In 1911, he enrolled at Saint Petersburg Polytechnic Institute . Molotov joined
12576-563: The party press, and attempted to improve the organisation of the underground party. He moved from St. Petersburg to Moscow in 1914 at the outbreak of the First World War . It was in Moscow the following year that Molotov was again arrested for his party activity and was this time deported to Irkutsk , in eastern Siberia . In 1916, he escaped from his Siberian exile and returned to the capital city, which had been renamed Petrograd by
12707-483: The past would probably result in the fall from power of Molotov, who became the leader of an old-guard faction that sought to overthrow Khrushchev. In June 1956, Molotov was removed as Foreign Minister; on 29 June 1957, he was expelled from the Presidium (Politburo) after a failed attempt to remove Khrushchev as First Secretary. Although Molotov's faction initially won a vote in the Presidium 7–4 to remove Khrushchev,
12838-480: The peoples of the world who need trustees in their relations with other nations and people, just as there are many adult nations or peoples which must be led back into a spirit of good conduct. Despite a "desultory" first effort, the U.S. State Department's postwar planning had been in abeyance for most of 1940 and 1941. Following the Atlantic Conference, a directive on postwar planning was prepared by
12969-559: The period 1969 to 1986 was published in 1993 by Felix Chuev as Molotov Remembers: Inside Kremlin Politics . In June 1986 Molotov was hospitalised in Kuntsevo Hospital in Moscow, where he eventually died, during the rule of Mikhail Gorbachev , on 8 November 1986. During his life, Molotov had suffered seven heart attacks, but survived to the age of 96. At the time of his death, he was the last surviving major participant in
13100-409: The persecution against her by abstaining from the vote to condemn her, but later recanted, stating: "I acknowledge my heavy sense of remorse for not having prevented Zhemchuzhina, a person very dear to me, from making her mistakes and from forming ties with anti-Soviet Jewish nationalists", and divorced Zhemchuzhina. Polina Zhemchuzhina befriended Golda Meir , who arrived in Moscow in November 1948 as
13231-534: The plenary meetings. During this conference, the Big Four and their allies signed the Charter of the United Nations . In the words of a former Undersecretary General of the UN, Sir Brian Urquhart : It was a pragmatic system based on the primacy of the strong – a " trusteeship of the powerful", as he then called it, or, as he put it later, "the Four Policemen". The concept was, as [Senator Arthur H.] Vandenberg noted in his diary in April 1944, "anything but
13362-793: The political and financial conflict between parties and states over the loans, while imposing foreign control on China's finances during the period of revolutionary upheaval, which the Consortium also helped to precipitate. For another example, during the height of its existence in World War II , the Japanese Empire had quite a large sphere of influence. The Japanese government directly governed events in Korea , Vietnam , Taiwan , and parts of Mainland China . The " Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere " could thus be quite easily drawn on
13493-435: The power struggles after Lenin's death in 1924, Molotov remained a loyal supporter of Stalin against his various rivals: first Leon Trotsky , later Lev Kamenev and Grigory Zinoviev , and finally Nikolai Bukharin . In January 1926, he led a special commission sent to Leningrad (St Petersburg) to end Zinoviev's control over the party machine in the province. In 1928, Molotov replaced Nikolai Uglanov as First Secretary of
13624-424: The present complete world confusion, it is not thought advisable at this time to reconstitute a League of Nations which, because of its size, makes for disagreement and inaction... There seem no reason why the principle of trusteeship in private affairs should be not be extended to the international field. Trusteeship is based on the principle of unselfish service. For a time at least there are many minor children among
13755-753: The real interests of peace in Europe and peace generally." Robert Conquest and others believe that Molotov "dragged his feet" over Stalin's plans to purge the party and put Old Bolsheviks like Zinoviev and Kamenev on trial. After his return to favor, in August, Molotov supported Stalin throughout the purge, during which, in 1938 alone, 20 out of 28 People's Commissars in Molotov's Government were executed. After his deputy, Rudzutak, had been arrested, Molotov visited him in prison, and recalled years later that... "Rudzutak said he had been badly beaten and tortured. Nevertheless he held firm. Indeed, he seemed to have been cruelly tortured" ...but he did not intervene. During
13886-412: The reception given by Molotov on 7 November, "Mrs. Zhemchuzhina has spent significant time during this reception not only talking to Golda Meir herself but also in conversation with Mrs. Meir's daughter Sarah and her friend Yael Namir about their life as kibbutzniks. They have discussed the complete collectivization of property and related issues. At the end Mrs. Zhemchuzhina gave Golda Meir's daughter Sarah
14017-630: The regulations and regulators that monitor them. During the Gilded Age in the United States, corruption was rampant as business leaders spent significant amounts of money ensuring that government did not regulate their activities. Wall Street spent a record $ 2 billion trying to influence the 2016 United States elections . For historical and current examples of significant battles over spheres of influence see: Vyacheslav Molotov Vyacheslav Mikhaylovich Molotov ( né Skryabin ; 9 March [ O. S. 25 February] 1890 – 8 November 1986)
14148-692: The replacement for the Politburo, the Presidium , but was not listed among the members of the newly established secret body known as the Bureau of the Presidium, which indicated that he had fallen out of Stalin's favour. At the 19th Congress, Stalin said "there has been criticism of comrade Molotov and Mikoyan by the Central Committee," mistakes that included letting the British ambassador publish "bourgeois newspapers in our country". At his 73rd birthday, Stalin treated both men with disgust. In his speech to
14279-505: The same reason). Churchill objected to Roosevelt's inclusion of China as one of the Big Four because he feared that the Americans were trying to undermine Britain's colonial holdings in Asia. In October 1942, Churchill told Eden that Republican China represented a " faggot vote on the side of the United States in any attempt to liquidate the British overseas empire." Eden shared this view with Churchill and expressed skepticism that China, which
14410-436: The scenes and cultivated an image of a colourless bureaucrat. Molotov was reported to be a vegetarian and teetotaler by the American journalist John Gunther in 1938. However, Milovan Djilas claimed that Molotov "drank more than Stalin" and did not note his vegetarianism although they had attended several banquets. Molotov and his wife had two daughters: Sonia, adopted in 1929, and Svetlana, born in 1930. Addressing
14541-516: The son of a merchant. Contrary to a commonly-repeated error, he was not related to the composer Alexander Scriabin . Throughout his teenager years, he was described as "shy" and "quiet" and always assisted his father with his business. He was educated at a secondary school in Kazan , where he became friends with fellow revolutionary Aleksandr Arosev . Molotov joined the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) in 1906, and soon gravitated toward
14672-403: The states of Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union and later evolved into the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (CMEA). In the postwar period, Molotov's power began to decline. A clear sign of his precarious position was his inability to prevent the arrest for " treason " in December 1948 of his Jewish wife, Polina Zhemchuzhina , whom Stalin had long distrusted. Molotov initially protested
14803-649: The war and afterward, when it turned out that the Soviets and the Western Allies had very different ideas concerning the administration and future development of the liberated regions and of Germany itself. During the Cold War , the Soviet sphere of influence was said to include: the Baltic states , Central Europe , some countries in Eastern Europe , Cuba , Laos , Vietnam , North Korea , and—until
14934-738: The west of the Menam basin and west of the Gulf of Thailand . Both parties disclaimed any idea of annexing Siamese territory. In the Anglo-Russian Convention of 1907, Britain and Russia divided Persia ( Iran ) into spheres of influence, with the Russians gaining recognition for influence over most of northern Iran, and Britain establishing a zone in the Southeast. In China, during the mid 19th and 20th centuries (known in China as
15065-468: The world had been discussed by President Roosevelt as early as August 1941, during his first meeting with British Prime Minister Winston Churchill . When the Atlantic Charter was issued, Roosevelt had ensured that the charter omitted mentioning any American commitment towards the establishment of a new international body after the war. He was reluctant to publicly announce his plans for creating
15196-515: Was a Soviet politician, diplomat, and revolutionary who was a leading figure in the government of the Soviet Union from the 1920s to the 1950s, as one of Joseph Stalin 's closest allies. Molotov served as Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars (head of government) from 1930 to 1941, and as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1939 to 1949 during the era of the Second World War , and again from 1953 to 1956. An Old Bolshevik , Molotov joined
15327-478: Was a failure and would be a failure". Roosevelt told Molotov that the Big Four must unite after the war to police the world and disarm aggressor states. When Molotov asked about the role of other countries, Roosevelt answered by opining that too many "policemen" could lead to infighting, but he was open to the idea of allowing other allied countries to participate. A memorandum of the conference summarizes their conversation: The President told Molotov that he visualized
15458-498: Was again allowed to be included in Soviet encyclopaedias. His connection, support and work in the Anti-Party Group were mentioned in encyclopaedias published in 1973 and 1974, but eventually disappeared altogether by the mid-to-late-1970s. Later, Soviet leader Konstantin Chernenko further rehabilitated Molotov. In 1984, Molotov was even allowed to seek membership in the Communist Party. A collection of interviews with Molotov from
15589-412: Was also of Jewish origin. Molotov never stopped loving his wife, and it is said he ordered his maids to make dinner for two every evening to remind him that, in his own words, "she suffered because of me." According to Stalin's daughter, Molotov became very subservient to his wife. Molotov was a yes-man to his wife just as he was to Stalin. At the 19th Party Congress in 1952, Molotov was elected to
15720-653: Was before the Chinese Civil War was won by the Communists, he did not mean the Communist China , but the Republic of China . The President believed that a pro-American China would be useful for the United States should the Americans, Soviets, and Chinese agree to jointly occupy Japan and Korea after the war. When Molotov voiced concerns about the stability of China, Roosevelt responded by saying that
15851-470: Was determined to avoid the mistakes Woodrow Wilson had made. The United Nations was FDR's highest postwar priority. He insisted on full coordination with the Republican leadership. He made sure that leading Republicans were on board, especially Senators Arthur Vandenberg of Michigan, and Warren Austin of Vermont. In a broad sense, Roosevelt believed that the UN could solve the minor problems and provide
15982-620: Was distinguished by an unco-operative attitude towards the Western powers. Molotov, at the direction of the Soviet government, condemned the Marshall Plan as imperialistic and claimed it was dividing Europe into two camps: one capitalist and the other communist. In response, the Soviet Union, along with the other Eastern Bloc nations, initiated what is known as the Molotov Plan . The plan created several bilateral relations between
16113-476: Was due to their incompetence. He returned to Kharkov in July 1932, with Lazar Kaganovich , to tell the local communists that there would be no "concessions or vacillations" in the drive to meet targets for exporting grain. This was the first of several actions that led a Kyev Court of Appeal in 2010 to find Molotov, and Kaganovich, guilty of genocide against the Ukrainian people. On 25 July, the same two men followed up
16244-524: Was elected deputy chairman. After the German invasion, Molotov conducted urgent negotiations with the British and then the Americans for wartime alliances. He took a secret flight to Scotland, where he was greeted by Eden. The risky flight in a high-altitude Tupolev TB-7 bomber flew over German-occupied Denmark and the North Sea . From there, he took a train to London to discuss the possibility of opening
16375-486: Was freed immediately after the death of Stalin. In 1949, Molotov was replaced as Foreign Minister by Andrey Vyshinsky but retained his position as First Deputy Premier and membership in the Politburo. Being appointed Foreign Minister by Stalin to replace the Jewish predecessor Maxim Litvinov to facilitate negotiations with Nazi Germany, Molotov was thus dismissed from the same position at least in part because his wife
16506-507: Was later amended to allocate Lithuania to the Soviets in exchange for a more favourable border in Poland for Germany. The annexations led to horrific suffering and loss of life in the countries occupied and partitioned by both dictatorships. On 5 March 1940, Lavrentiy Beria gave Molotov, along with Anastas Mikoyan , Kliment Voroshilov and Stalin, a note proposing the execution of 25,700 Polish anti-Soviet officers in what has become known as
16637-803: Was not absolute. For instance, France and the United Kingdom were able to act independently to invade (with Israel ) the Suez Canal (they were later forced to withdraw by joint U.S. and Soviet pressure). Later, France was also able to withdraw from the military arm of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Cuba, as another example, often took positions that put it at odds with its Soviet ally, including momentary alliances with China, economic reorganizations, and providing support for insurgencies in Africa and
16768-441: Was seen as a likely successor to Stalin in the immediate aftermath of his death, he never sought to become leader of the Soviet Union. A Troika was established immediately after Stalin's death, consisting of Malenkov, Beria, and Molotov, but ended when Malenkov and Molotov deceived Beria. Molotov supported the removal and later the execution of Beria on the orders of Khrushchev. The new Party Secretary, Khrushchev, soon emerged as
16899-618: Was the main speaker at the Central Committee plenum in 10–17 November 1929, at which the decision was made to introduce collective farming in place of the thousands of small farms owned by peasants, a process that was bound to meet resistance. Molotov insisted that it must begin the following year, and warned officials to "treat the kulak as the most cunning and still undefeated enemy." In the four years that followed, millions of 'kulaks' (land-owning peasants) were forcibly moved onto special settlements to be used as slave labour. In 1931 alone almost two million were deported. In that year, Molotov told
17030-548: Was then in the midst of a civil war , could ever return to a stable nation. Roosevelt responded to Churchill's criticism by telling Eden that "China might become a very useful power in the Far East to help police Japan" and that he was fully supportive of offering more aid to China. On New Year's Day 1942, the representatives of Allied "Big Four", the United States, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, and China, signed
17161-546: Was transferred to Donetsk , and in November 1920, he became secretary to the Central Committee of the Ukrainian Bolshevik Party and married the Soviet politician Polina Zhemchuzhina . Lenin recalled Molotov to Moscow in 1921, elevated him to full membership of the Central Committee and Orgburo , and put him in charge of the party secretariat. Molotov was voted in as a non-voting member of
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