Women's Battalion
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Women's Battalions (Russia) were all-female combat units formed after the
February Revolution The February Revolution ( rus, Февра́льская револю́ция, r=Fevral'skaya revolyutsiya, p=fʲɪvˈralʲskəjə rʲɪvɐˈlʲutsɨjə), known in Soviet historiography as the February Bourgeois Democratic Revolution and somet ...
by the
Russian Provisional Government The Russian Provisional Government ( rus, Временное правительство России, Vremennoye pravitel'stvo Rossii) was a provisional government of the Russian Republic, announced two days before and established immediately ...
, in a last-ditch effort to inspire the mass of war-weary soldiers to continue fighting in
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. In the spring of 1917, the Russian Ministry of War authorized the creation of sixteen separate all-female military formations. Four were designated as infantry battalions, eleven slated as communications detachments and a singular naval unit. Already some women had successfully petitioned to join regular military units, and with the planning of the Kerensky Offensive, a number began pressing the new Provisional Government to create special women's battalions.Stoff 2006, p. 114. These women, along with a number of high-ranking members of the Russian government and military administration, believed that female soldiers would have significant
propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded ...
value, their example revitalizing the weary and demoralized men of the Russian army.Stoff 2006, p. 69. Simultaneously, they hoped the presence of women would shame hesitant male soldiers into resuming their combat duties. American reporter
Bessie Beatty Elizabeth Mary "Bessie" Beatty (January 27, 1886 – April 6, 1947) was an American journalist, editor, playwright, and radio host. Early life and education Elizabeth Mary "Bessie" Beatty was born and raised in Los Angeles, one of four children o ...
estimated the total number of women serving in these gender-segregated units at 5,000 in the fall of 1917, but only the 1st Russian Women's Battalion of Death and the 1st Petrograd Battalion were ever deployed to the front.


List of battalions

* 1st Russian Women's Battalion of DeathBotchkareva; Levine 1919 * 1st Petrograd Women's BattalionStoff 2006, p. 114-123. * 2nd Moscow Women's Battalion of Death * 3rd Kuban Women's Shock Battalion * 1st Women's Naval DetachmentStoff 2006, p. 135-139. * Minsk Women's Separate Guard MilitiaStoff 2006, p. 214-215 * Saratov Women's Shock Battalion * Kiev Women's Military Detachment Among the rush and chaos several unsanctioned units were also formed, including the Women's Kuran of Death, Mariupol Women's Battalion of Death, Baku Women's Battalion of Death, Viatka Women's Battalion, 1st Detachment of Volunteer Women's Scouts, Skimbirsk Women's Legion of Death, Ekaterinburg Women's Battalion of Death, Ukrainian Women's Battalion and an unnamed unit organized by the Tashkent Women's Union


Fate and aftermath

With no definite consensus among the military administration as to the potential value of female soldiers, coupled with the severe shortages from which the nation was then suffering, the army made only a half-hearted commitment to the project. Thus, the women's units received inadequate attention and assistance from the military administration. Many among the Russian military authorities were waiting to see how the women fared in battle and whether they would have a positive effect on male soldiers. After the 1st Russian Women's Battalion of Death failed to have the intended effect of revitalizing the war-weary elements of the Russian army, the military authorities began to question the value of the women's units as a whole. In particular, the government found it difficult to justify the allocation of badly needed resources to such an unreliable project. By August 1917, there was a growing inclination in the military establishment to discontinue the organization of women for combat purposes.De Groot; Peniston-Bird 2000, p. 78-79 Facing withdrawal of official support, the 2nd Moscow Women's Battalion of Death began to disintegrate in September. Just prior to disbanding however, about 500 volunteers were sent to the front at their own request without the knowledge or permission of the military authorities. Faced with the decision of what to do with their women's units, the military at first decided to shift them into auxiliary roles away from the front, such as guarding railroads, but this faced opposition from men in those positions who would in turn be sent to the front. Instead, on 30 November 1917, the new Bolshevik government ordered the official dissolution of any remaining women's military formations. Regardless however, members of the 1st Petrograd and 3rd Kuban women's battalions lingered in their camps until early 1918. Some women who had served in these units went on to fight on both sides of the
Russian Civil War , date = October Revolution, 7 November 1917 – Yakut revolt, 16 June 1923{{Efn, The main phase ended on 25 October 1922. Revolt against the Bolsheviks continued Basmachi movement, in Central Asia and Tungus Republic, the Far East th ...
.


See also

*
Maria Bochkareva Maria Leontievna Bochkareva (July 1889 – 16 May 1920; russian: Мари́я Лео́нтьевна Бочкарёва, Maria Leontievna Bochkareva, née ''Frolkova'' (Фролко́ва), nicknamed ''Yashka'') was a Russian soldier who fought ...


Sources

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References


Further reading

* Yurlova, Mariana. (1934). ''Cossack Girl''. Heliograph. ISBN 1930658702 * Dadeshkeliani, Kati. (1934). ''Princess in Uniform'' . (A. J. Ashton, Trans.). London: Bell. * Solonevich, Boris. (1955). ''Woman with Rifle''. OCLC 1031190378 {{Authority control All-female military units and formations Battalions of Russia Military units and formations of Russia in World War I Russian Provisional Government Russian women of World War I