A Molotov cocktail (among several other names – see ) is a hand-thrown incendiary weapon consisting of a frangible container filled with flammable substances and equipped with a fuse. It is typically a glass bottle filled with flammable liquids sealed with a cloth wick. In use, the fuse attached to the container is lit and the weapon is thrown, shattering on impact. This ignites the flammable substances contained in the bottle and spreads flames as the fuel burns.
Due to their relative ease of production, Molotov cocktails are typically improvised weapons. Their improvised usage spans criminals, gangsters, rioters, football hooligans, urban guerrillas, terrorists, irregular soldiers, freedom fighters, and even regular soldiers; usage in the latter case is often due to a shortage of equivalent military-issued munitions. Despite the weapon's improvised nature and uncertain quality, many modern militaries exercise the use of Molotov cocktails.
However, Molotov cocktails are not always improvised in the field. It is not uncommon for them to be mass-produced to a certain standard as part of preparation for combat. Some examples of this being done are the anti-invasion preparations of the British Home Guard during World War II and the Ukrainian volunteer units during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. During World War II, Molotov cocktails were even factory produced in several countries, such as Finland, Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union, Sweden, and the United States; some featuring specially designed frangible containers and fuses (such as the US Frangible Grenade M1 for example).
Etymology
The name "Molotov cocktail" () was coined by the Finns during the Winter War in 1939. The name was a pejorative reference to Soviet foreign minister Vyacheslav Molotov, who was one of the architects of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact on the eve of World War II.
The name's origin came from the propaganda Molotov produced during the Winter War, mainly his declaration on Soviet state radio that incendiary bombing missions over Finland were actually "airborne humanitarian food deliveries" for their "starving" neighbours. As a result, the Finns sarcastically dubbed the Soviet incendiary cluster bombs "Molotov bread baskets" () in reference to Molotov's propaganda broadcasts. When the hand-held bottle firebomb was developed to attack and destroy Soviet tanks, the Finns called it the "Molotov cocktail", as "a drink to go with his food parcels".The Second Book of General Ignorance, Faber and Faber, 2011, p. 76,
Despite the now infamous name, the formal Finnish military term for the weapon type was, and continues to be, "burn-bottle" (, Fenno-Swedish: brännflaska).
Other names The weapon most often known as the Molotov cocktail goes under a great variety of other names around the globe. Some are more formal than others but the weapon is often given a descriptive name in the respective language.
Synonyms and nicknames
Bottle bomb Bottle grenade Burn bottle Burning bottle Fire bomb (not to be confused with other incendiary devices also known as firebombs) Fire bottle Flame bomb Flame bottle Gasoline bomb or Gas bomb – due to gasoline being a common filler (latter not to be confused with tear gas) Incendiary bottle Molly – abbreviation of Molotov cocktail (commonly used in video games) Molotov – abbreviation of Molotov cocktail Petrol bomb – due to petrol being a common filler, used often in the UK and Ireland Poor man's/peasant's grenade – due to its improvised nature ("punch"), ("poncho")
Military nomenclature – , ('burn-bottle') – Fenno-Swedish: ('burn-bottle'). – ('fire bottle') – ('fire hand grenade'). – – . – ('burn-bottle'). – No. 76 special incendiary grenade – incendiary hand or rifle grenade No. 76 Mk I. – frangible grenade – incendiary frangible grenade – incendiary bottle grenade.
Design The simplest version of Molotov cocktail consists of a container that breaks when it hits a hard surface (usually a breakable glass bottle), a flammable and incendiary liquid (contained in the bottle), and a piece of porous cloth that acts as a wick (inserted into the neck of the bottle and which dips into the flammable-incendiary liquid, being completely impregnated with it).
Sometimes, incisions are made on the glass bottle with a glass-cutting tool, to allow for easier shattering upon impact with the target.
The flammable-incendiary liquid can have a highly variable composition, for example:
only gasoline (petrol) gasoline with gelling/thickening additives gasoline and motor oil or diesel fuel half gasoline and half kerosene mixture composed of petrol, paraffin and tar, obtained by mixing 1 part of the first two with 2 parts of the third mixture composed of equal parts of tar, kerosene and petrol, obtained by mixing tar and kerosene first, then adding the petrol, with the possible addition of sulfur improvised napalm, composed of a liquid hydrocarbon fuel (gasoline, fuel oil, diesel oil, kerosene, turpentine, benzol or benzene, toluol or toluene) mixed with soap powder or chipsTM 31-201-1 Unconventional Warfare Devices and Techniques - Incendiaries, op. cit., pp. 50–53. or with pieces of extruded polystyrene (XPS) foam (known colloquially as styrofoam).
Other flammable liquids, such as, ethanol, methanol, jet fuel, acetone, and isopropyl alcohol (rubbing alcohol), have been used in place of, or combined with, gasoline.
Gelled or paste type fuels are often preferred to raw gasoline for use in devices such as incendiary bottles: this type of fuel adheres more readily to the target and produces greater heat concentration.TM 31-210 Improvised Munitions Handbook, op. cit., p. 159. Other gelling/thickening agents, such as baking soda, petroleum jelly, strips of tyre tubing, nitrocellulose, rubber cement, have been added to promote adhesion of the burning liquid and to create clouds of thick, choking smoke.
For winter warfare, storm matches may be attached to the side of the bottle for ignition, as these are less likely to be put out by wind.
Some bottles are fitted with ballast for improved throwing accuracy (such as filling of the bottle with sand).
Typically, the operator lights the piece of cloth just before throwing the bottle at the target (such as a vehicle or fortification), making sure it is well secured and burning well to prevent it from coming loose or going out during the flight:FC 7-2 How To Kill Tanks, op. cit., p. 16. when the bottle breaks, the flammable and incendiary liquid catches fire, engulfing the target in flames.
There also exist variations on the Molotov cocktail-concept where the bottle is filled with a smoke generating mixture such as sulfur trioxide dissolved in chlorosulfonic acid. These so-called "smoke bottles" do not need a source for ignition, as the mixture reacts with the air once the bottle is smashed.
Development and use in war Early uses
Around the late 1700s they were used in robberies and sabotages by outlaws and criminals. Since fuel was difficult to access, a lot of outlaws commonly used moonshine as an ingredient instead of gasoline.
Spanish Civil War
Improvised incendiary devices of this type were used in warfare for the first time in the Spanish Civil War between July 1936 and April 1939, before they became known as "Molotov cocktails". In 1936, General Francisco Franco ordered Spanish Nationalist forces to use the weapon against Soviet T-26 tanks supporting the Spanish Republicans in a failed assault on the Nationalist stronghold of Seseña, near Toledo, south of Madrid. After that, both sides used simple petrol bombs set fire with toxic gas or petrol-soaked blankets with some success. Tom Wintringham, a veteran of the International Brigades, later publicised his recommended method of using them:
Khalkhin Gol The Battle of Khalkhin Gol, a border conflict of 1939 ostensibly between Mongolia and Manchukuo, saw heavy fighting between Japanese and Soviet forces. Short of anti-tank equipment, Japanese infantry attacked Soviet tanks with gasoline-filled bottles. Japanese infantrymen claimed that several hundred Soviet tanks had been destroyed this way, though Soviet loss records do not support this assessment.Coox, Alvin. Nomonhan: Japan Against Russia, 1939, 1990
World War II
Finland
On 30 November 1939, the Soviet Union attacked Finland, starting what came to be known as the Winter War. The Finnish perfected the design and tactical use of the petrol bomb. The fuel for the Molotov cocktail was refined to a slightly sticky mixture of alcohol, kerosene, tar, and potassium chlorate. Further refinements included the attachment of wind-proof matches or a phial of chemicals that would ignite on breakage, thereby removing the need to pre-ignite the bottle, and leaving the bottle about one-third empty was found to make breaking more likely.
A British War Office report dated June 1940 noted that:
Molotov cocktails were eventually mass-produced by the Alko corporation at its Rajamäki distillery, bundled with matches to light them. A bottle was filled with a mixture of petrol and paraffin, plus a small amount of tar. The basic bottle had two long pyrotechnic storm matches attached to either side. Before use, one or both of the matches were lit; when the bottle broke on impact, the mixture ignited. The storm matches were found to be safer to use than a burning rag on the mouth of the bottle. There was also an "A bottle". This replaced the matches with a small ampoule inside the bottle; it ignited when the bottle broke. By spring 1940 they had produced 542,104 bottles.
Great Britain
Early in 1940, with the prospect of immediate invasion of Great Britain, the possibilities of the petrol bomb gripped the imagination of the British public. For laypersons, the petrol bomb had the benefit of using entirely familiar and available materials, and they were quickly improvised in large numbers, with the intention of using them against enemy tanks.
The Finns had found that they were effective when used in the right way and in sufficient numbers. Although the experience of the Spanish Civil War received more publicity, the more sophisticated petroleum warfare tactics of the Finns were not lost on British commanders. In his 5 June address to LDV leaders, General Ironside said:
Wintringham advised that a tank that was isolated from supporting infantry was potentially vulnerable to men who had the required determination and cunning to get close. Rifles or even a shotgun would be sufficient to persuade the crew to close all the hatches, and then the view from the tank is very limited; a turret-mounted machine gun has a very slow traverse and cannot hope to fend off attackers coming from all directions. Once sufficiently close, it is possible to hide where the tank's gunner cannot see: "The most dangerous distance away from a tank is 200 yards; the safest distance is six inches."Wintringham, Tom. Against Invasion – the lessons of Spain. Picture Post 15 June 1940 p. 14. Petrol bombs will soon produce a pall of blinding smoke, and a well-placed explosive package or even a stout iron bar in the tracks can immobilise the vehicle, leaving it at the mercy of further petrol bombs – which will suffocate the engine and possibly the crew – or an explosive charge or anti-tank mine.
By August 1940, the War Office produced training instructions for the creation and use of Molotov cocktails. The instructions suggested scoring the bottles vertically with a diamond to ensure breakage and providing fuel-soaked rag, windproof matches or a length of cinema film (then composed of highly flammable nitrocellulose) as a source of ignition.War Office. Military Training Manual No 42, Appendix A: The Anti-Tank Petrol Bomb "Molotov Cocktail." 29 August 1940.