On the 30th of November 1939, without officially declaring war, the Red Army launched its attack on Finland. Soviet propaganda pointed out how this came in response to Finnish provocations. The truth, however, was different – it was the Soviets who had shelled their own territory in order to obtain the pretext to attack. What the Kremlin did not expect was how embarrassing the decision to invade would ultimately turn out to be. Moreover, Vyacheslav Molotov, People’s Commissar of Foreign Affairs of the USSR, was said to have assured that on Stalin’s birthday (the 18th of December) he would drink a cocktail in honour of his leader in captured Helsinki. Cocktails were indeed eagerly “delivered” to the Soviets, but they were Molotov cocktails, or incendiary bottles, employed by Finns to attack Soviet tanks. Their name, which was coined by Finnish soldiers, was intended as a response to the words of the People’s Commissar.