These include bleach, chlorine, various strong acids, and pesticides. ==Development and use in war== ===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.
The name was a pejorative reference to Soviet foreign minister Vyacheslav Molotov, who was one of the architects of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact signed in late August 1939. The name's origin came from the propaganda Molotov produced during the Winter War, mainly his declaration on Soviet state radio that bombing missions over Finland were actually airborne humanitarian food deliveries for their starving neighbours.
These include bleach, chlorine, various strong acids, and pesticides. ==Development and use in war== ===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".
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.
Japanese infantrymen claimed that several hundred Soviet tanks had been destroyed this way, though Soviet loss records do not support this assessment. ===Finland=== On 30 November 1939, the Soviet Union attacked Finland, starting what came to be known as the Winter War.
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.
The storm matches were found to be safer to use than a burning rag on the mouth of the bottle. ===Great Britain=== Early in 1940, with the prospect of immediate invasion, the possibilities of the petrol bomb gripped the imagination of the British public.
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. On 29 July 1940, manufacturers Albright & Wilson of Oldbury demonstrated to the RAF how their white phosphorus could be used to ignite incendiary bombs.
Ignition was caused by a reaction between concentrated sulfuric acid mixed with the fuel and a mixture of potassium chlorate and sugar which was crystallized from solution onto a rag attached to the bottle. During the Norwegian campaign in 1940 the Norwegian Army lacking suitable anti-tank weaponry had to rely on petrol bombs and other improvised weapons to fight German armor.
Instructions sent to army units in April 1940 from Norwegian High Command encouraged soldiers to start ad-hoc production of "Hitler cocktails" (a different take on the Finnish nickname for the weapon) to fight tanks and armored cars.
Mainly issued to the Home Guard as an anti-tank weapon, it was produced in vast numbers; by August 1941 well over 6,000,000 had been manufactured. There were many who were skeptical about the efficacy of Molotov cocktails and SIPs grenades against the more modern German tanks.
A number of people burnt to death and many more were injured during the period 2013–2014 due to petrol bomb attacks. In the 2019–20 Hong Kong protests, protesters used Molotov cocktails to defend and attack police or to create roadblocks.
The cocktail was a less expedient alternative to white phosphorus mortar rounds or propane tanks detonated with C4 (nicknamed the "House Guest"), all of which proved effective at burning out engaged enemy combatants. Molotov cocktails were also used by protesters and civilian militia in Ukraine during violent outbreaks of the Euromaidan and the 2014 Ukrainian revolution.
Protesters during the Ferguson riots used Molotov cocktails. In Bangladesh during anti government protests at the time of the 2014 national election, many buses and cars were targeted with petrol bombs.
A journalist has also been hit by a Molotov cocktail during the protests. Molotov Cocktails were used by some during the George Floyd protests of 2020 in the United States. ===Non-incendiary variants=== During the protests in Venezuela from 2014 and into 2017, protesters had been using Molotov cocktails similar to those used by demonstrators in other countries.
A journalist has also been hit by a Molotov cocktail during the protests. Molotov Cocktails were used by some during the George Floyd protests of 2020 in the United States. ===Non-incendiary variants=== During the protests in Venezuela from 2014 and into 2017, protesters had been using Molotov cocktails similar to those used by demonstrators in other countries.
As the 2017 Venezuelan protests intensified, demonstrators began using "Puputovs", a play on words of Molotov, with glass devices filled with excrement being thrown at authorities after the PSUV ruling-party official, Jacqueline Faría, mocked protesters who had to crawl through sewage in Caracas' Guaire River to avoid tear gas. On 8 May, the hashtag #puputov became the top trend on Twitter in Venezuela as reports of authorities vomiting after being drenched in excrement began to circulate.
By 10 May 2017, Venezuelans unrelated to political parties called for a "Marcha de la Mierda", or a "March of Shit", essentially establishing puputovs in the arsenal of Venezuelan protesters.
A month later on 4 June 2017 during protests against Donald Trump in Portland, Oregon, protesters began throwing balloons filled with "unknown, foul-smelling liquid" at officers. ==Legality== As incendiary devices, Molotov cocktails are illegal to manufacture or possess in many regions.
A number of people burnt to death and many more were injured during the period 2013–2014 due to petrol bomb attacks. In the 2019–20 Hong Kong protests, protesters used Molotov cocktails to defend and attack police or to create roadblocks.
A journalist has also been hit by a Molotov cocktail during the protests. Molotov Cocktails were used by some during the George Floyd protests of 2020 in the United States. ===Non-incendiary variants=== During the protests in Venezuela from 2014 and into 2017, protesters had been using Molotov cocktails similar to those used by demonstrators in other countries.
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