Riot police officer hit by molotov cocktail during Chile protests | AFP

Coined by Finnish soldiers, the Molotov cocktail is named after Vyacheslav Molotov, a leading figure in the Soviet Union from the 1920s to 1950s. During the Winter War between Finland and the Soviet Union, Finland sustained heavy bombing. When Molotov claimed that the bombs were actually parcels of food, the Finns responded by attacking advancing Soviet tanks with Molotov "cocktails" as a "drink to go with the food". Military historian Alex Churchill and other experts head to Finland to find out

The Molotov cocktail was named as a dark joke about Soviet propaganda. | The History Page