 Molotov became a member of the Bolshevik Party 's committee in Petrograd in 1916 . When the February Revolution occurred in 1917 , he was one of the few Bolsheviks of any standing in the capital . Under his direction Pravda took to the " left " to oppose the Provisional Government formed after the revolution . When Joseph Stalin returned to the capital , he reversed Molotov 's line ; but when the party leader Lenin arrived , he overruled Stalin . Despite this , Molotov became a protégé of and close adherent to Stalin , an alliance to which he owed his later prominence . Molotov became a member of the Military Revolutionary Committee which planned the October Revolution , which effectively brought the Bolsheviks to power . 
