3.6K views · 180 reactions | Do you know when the crossbow was invented? Or the story behind the Molotov cocktail? Join a team of experts as they explore hundreds of years of European military and weaponry history in a new show, Defending Europe. Watch Defending Europe from Monday 16th September at 9pm on National Geographic UK. | National Geographic UK | Facebook

Coined by Finnish soldiers, the Molotov cocktail is named after Vyacheslav Molotov, a leading figure in the Soviet Union from the 1920s to 1950s. During the Winter War between Finland and the Soviet Union, Finland sustained heavy bombing. When Molotov claimed that the bombs were actually parcels of food, the Finns responded by attacking advancing Soviet tanks with Molotov "cocktails" as a "drink to go with the food". Military historian Alex Churchill and other experts head to Finland to find out