Editing Vyacheslav Molotov (section)

=== Early life and career (1890–1930) ===
Molotov was born '''Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Skryabin''' (Russian: Вячеслав Михайлович Скря́бин) in the village of Kukarka, Yaransk Uyezd, Vyatka Governorate (now Sovetsk in Kirov Oblast), the son of a shop clerk. Contrary to a commonly repeated error, he was not related to the composer Alexander Scriabin. Throughout his teen years, he was described as "shy" and "quiet", always assisting his father with his business. He was educated at a secondary school in Kazan, and joined the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) in 1906, soon gravitating toward that organisation's radical Bolshevik faction, headed by [[Vladimir Lenin]]. I Skryabin took the pseudonym "Molotov", derived from the Russian word молот ''molot'' (hammer) for his political work owing to the name's vaguely "industrial" ring. He was arrested in 1909 and spent two years in exile in Vologda. In 1911 he enrolled at St Petersburg Polytechnic. Molotov joined the editorial staff of a new underground Bolshevik newspaper called ''Pravda'', meeting Joseph Stalin for the first time in association with the project. This first association between the two future Soviet leaders proved to be brief, however, and did not result in an immediate close political association.

Molotov worked as a so-called "professional revolutionary" for the next several years, writing for the party press and attempting to better organize the underground party. He moved from St. Petersburg to Moscow in 1914 at the time of the outbreak of [[World War I]]. It was in Moscow the following year that Molotov was again arrested for his party activity, this time being deported to Irkutsk in eastern Siberia. In 1916 he escaped from his Siberian [[exile]] and returned to the capital city, now called Petrograd by the Tsarist regime, which thought the name<nowiki> </nowiki>St. Petersburg sounded excessively 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 the capital, he reversed Molotov's line but when the party leader Lenin<nowiki> </nowiki>arrived, he overruled Stalin. Despite this, Molotov became a protégé of<nowiki> </nowiki>and 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, which effectively brought the Bolsheviks to power.

In 1918, Molotov was sent to Ukraine to take part in the [[Civil War|civil war]]<nowiki> </nowiki>then breaking out. Since he was not a military man, he took no part in the fighting. In 1920, he became secretary to the Central Committee of the Ukrainian Bolshevik Party. Lenin recalled him to Moscow in 1921, elevating him to full membership of the Central Committee and Orgburo, and putting him in charge of the party secretariat. He was voted in as a non-voting member of the Politburo in 1921, and held the office of Responsible Secretary and also married Soviet politician Polina Zhemchuzhina. His Responsible Secretaryship was criticised both by Lenin and [[Leon Trotsky]], with Lenin noting his "shameful bureaucratism" and stupid behaviour. On 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 was open in criticism of him. Under Stalin's patronage, Molotov became a member of the Politburo in 1926.

During the power struggles which followed Lenin's death in 1924, Molotov remained a loyal supporter of Stalin against his various rivals:<nowiki> </nowiki>first Leon Trotsky, later Lev Kamenev and Grigory Zinoviev and finally Nikolai Bukharin. Molotov became a leading figure in the "Stalinist centre" of the party, which also included [[Kliment Voroshilov]] and Sergo Ordzhonikidze. Trotsky and his supporters underestimated Molotov, as did many others. Trotsky called him "mediocrity personified", whilst Molotov himself pedantically corrected comrades referring to him as 'Stone Arse' by saying that Lenin had actually dubbed him Iron Arse. However, this outward dullness concealed a sharp mind and great administrative talent. He operated mainly behind the scenes and cultivated an image of a colourless bureaucrat for example, he was the<nowiki> </nowiki>only Bolshevik leader who always wore a suit and tie. In 1928 Molotov replaced Nikolai Uglanov as First Secretary of the Moscow Communist Party and held that position until 15 August 1929. In a lengthy address to the Central Committee in 1929, Molotov told the members that the Soviet government would initiate a compulsory collectivisation campaign to solve the agrarian backwardness of Soviet agriculture.