Vodka is a Russian spirit that is popular in Russia and some cold countries in Northern Europe due to its warming effect after drinking.
However, during world war II, the Soviet Union had a wine that was even more famous than vodka, which was named after molotov, the number two person in the Soviet Union, called the Molotov cocktail.
(Molotov cocktail from World War II)
So why did this wine become so famous during the war years?
In fact, the Molotov cocktail is not an alcoholic beverage, but another name for the indigenous incendiary bomb in World War II. Speaking of which, although this weapon is named after molotov, the second person in the Soviet Union, it was not invented by the Soviets.
During the Spanish Civil War, the Soviet Union supported the Republicans, and it was the Republicans who invented this weapon. They pack gasoline, rubber, sugar, and more in a glass bottle. At the beginning of the use of this weapon, it is also necessary to light the strip of cloth extended from the bottle and throw it. Later, yellow phosphorus was added to the bottle and thrown directly at the target. When the bottle is broken, yellow phosphorus will quickly spontaneously combust in the air, and instantly ignite the splashed gasoline, which is amazingly lethal.
In World War II, many armies used this simple and lethal weapon, and even some countries used it as an anti-tank conventional weapon. The Molotov cocktail became so famous that people shuddered whenever they mentioned it.
(Old photo of Molotov)
So, since it is an incendiary bomb, why is it called a Molotov cocktail?
In 1939, after the end of the war between the Soviet Union and Poland, the Soviet side demanded that Finland withdraw all fortifications on the border of Finland on the grounds that the artillery and fortifications on the Finnish border were too close to Leningrad, and asked the Finns to retreat the border by dozens of miles.
After fruitless negotiations between the two sides, the Soviets sent bombers over Finland and bombed them throughout Finland. At the same time, Soviet ground armored forces also advanced across finland and launched a full-scale invasion.
Since the main target of Soviet bombers was the urban area of Finland, a large number of Finnish civilians were innocently killed in the bombing. The international community strongly condemned the Soviet Union's violations of the humanitarian spirit.
In the face of overwhelming doubts, Molotov, the number two person in the Soviet Union, actually issued a statement on the radio that the Soviet Union had never dropped bombs on the Finnish people, and that the Soviet planes only dropped bread to relieve the suffering Finnish masses.
The Finnish people were indignant at Molotov's distorted statements, jokingly referring to the bombs dropped by the Soviet Union as "Molotov's bread basket.".
Due to the backwardness of the Finnish army and the absolute suppression of the number of soldiers by the Soviet Union, it soon fell into passivity in the war. As a last resort, Finland had to borrow the indigenous incendiary bomb invented in the Spanish Civil War.
Since Finland did not have tanks and Soviet tanks were invincible, this incendiary bomb became an important weapon of the Finnish army against tanks and showed its might on the battlefield.
(Tank hit by a Molotov cocktail)
Why is this home-made incendiary bomb the nemesis of Soviet tanks? This is mainly caused by the limitations of the tank itself.
First of all, the heat dissipation problem of the tank is difficult to solve, and the engine temperature is too high. Once the Finnish soldiers threw the incendiary bomb into the position of the tank engine, the tank immediately lost power, not to mention, bad luck will cause an explosion.
Secondly, there is a lot of lubricating oil in the tank, and once attacked by incendiary bombs, it is easy to expand the fire. At the same time, the tanks are all loaded with ammunition, and the flames spread to the top, which will also cause a huge explosion.
The manufacturing process of this kind of indigenous incendiary bomb is not complicated, and the manufacture of large quantities is not very laborious. It is also convenient to use, even for women and children. As long as the technique is good and the throw is accurate, basically a single incendiary bomb can destroy a tank, which is very cost-effective.
As opposed to "Molotov's bread basket", the Finnish people refer to this indigenous incendiary bomb as "Molotov's cocktail". However, due to the insufficient level of translation by foreign journalists later, the name of this weapon became "Molotov cocktail".
It is worth mentioning that perhaps the tank was burned down, which impressed the Soviets too much. In the later Soviet-German war, Soviet soldiers also used the "Molotov cocktail" heavily against German tanks, and achieved good results.
(Reference: Soviet-Finnish War)