Buck Sexton Breaks Down the History of the Molotov Cocktail

Do you know the history of the Molotov cocktail? TheBlaze's Buck Sexton broke it down in a web exclusive Tuesday as part of the online miniseries, "TheBlaze Explains." Sexton has previously explained the history of Hamas, examining why the group is classified as a terrorist organization.

"The Molotov cocktail," Sexton began. "This is the emblem of revolutions, of anti-government movements around the world. But where does it come from?"

"You see, Molotov was actually the Russian foreign minister [in the mid-20th century]. And there was a pact that was signed between Molotov and Ribbentrop, who was the Nazi foreign minister."

Sexton said the Soviets and the Nazis divided their spheres of influence under the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, and Finland came under the Soviet Union's influence.

Buck Sexton explains the history of the Molotov cocktail for a Blaze TV web exclusive. (Photo: TheBlaze TV)

"And so then there was an invasion," Sexton continued. "Soviet tanks moved in. Now you have the vastly outgunned, vastly outnumbered Finnish troops facing off against the mighty Soviet army. How are they going to stop the advancing tanks? They didn't have anti-tank weapons, so they had to make their own."

"They took bottles, filled them with flammable liquid -- usually gasoline -- and put a wick at the top of it. You would light this and you have a poor man's bomb, particularly in close quarters combat and urban areas," Sexton said.

"They began to call it -- as a pejorative, in order to mock the Russian government -- a 'Molotov cocktail' for the Russian foreign minister who claimed that, even when Soviet planes were dropping bombs on Finnish civilian areas, that it was food," Sexton concluded. "That's where we get the Molotov cocktail. And that's why, when you see it now, lit and thrown at protests, understand that it is a weapon of war. And it is one that should not be used in any guise under peaceful protest."

Complimentary Clip from TheBlaze TV