For the Russian Empire, the beginning of the 20th century marked a time of revolutions, uprisings, hunger, patriotic decay and overall pessimism with no hope for the future. When the First World War had started, everybody understood that it was the beginning of the end, soldiers didn’t know what they were fighting for and most men weren’t willing to join the army. At that very moment, The Russian Provisional government (formed after the abdication of Emperor Nicholas II), together with some army officials decided to use an extraordinary method to inspire motivation of soldiers, and created troops of only women and girls. Troops called “Female Death Battalions” were first created on the 21st of June 1917, with the help of the most famous and one of the few female soldiers in those times, Mariya Bochkaryova (she was personally allowed to serve in the army by the personal permission of Emperor Nicholas the II). They each wore a skull and crossbones on their shoulder straps, symbolising an unwillingness to live after the fall of Russia. The creation of Death battalions gave way to a patriotic rise of the whole country and resulted in not only men willing to fight for Russia, but inspired many women to join the army too. The Russian army added 25 thousand women to its ranks! The members of Female Death Battalions were diverse and included wives and daughters of deceased soldiers, students, teachers, workers, servants, peasants, as well as girls from rich and famous families. One 25-year old Death Battalion soldier spoke five languages and was actually a daughter of a famous general, while another soldier was the first female pilot in the world and had the title of countess. Usual soldiers didn’t like the idea of women on the same battlefield because it was humiliating for them and they referred to members of these women-only battalions as “prostitutes”. In those times, the idea of the equal rights for men and women was unheard of.
In June 1917, The First Female Battalion was sent to the Western front, near Belorussia. At a sudden attack of Germans, they were the first to react and assume the offensive. In the three days that followed, the women repelled 14 German attacks which lead to the enemies retreating. These ladies were an example of brave and courageous soldiers, ready to give their lives for the victory. Out of the 200 female soldiers 30 died at the battlefield and 70 were wounded. Mariya Bochkaryova was awarded a medal for her heroism during the war. Despite all of this, following those famous battles of the Death Battalion, the General signed a document, forbidding the creation of new female battalions and ordering existing female soldiers to discontinue participation in future military operations. The officials were afraid of loss and didn’t want women to die in the battlefield. In October of 1917, one of the Death Battalions was sent to the residence of the provisional government’s Winter Palace, where they had to defend it from Bolsheviks and other revolutionists. The attempt to defend The Winter Palace failed and revolutionists ran into the building and arrested everybody. All of the women from The Death battalions were sent to barracks where many of them were raped and one committed suicide. After the October Revolution of 1917 the newly founded Soviet Government disbanded all female battalions and sent the women home. A lot of women kept fighting for Russia and the Imperial government and participated in the Civil war, fighting against newly formed Communist government. Mariya Bochkaryova, the leader of Female Death Battalions movement by the order of the main anti-Bolshevik general, was sent to The United States for propaganda work and collecting money for the war with communists. She visited San Francisco, New York and even got the attention of President Woodrow Wilson. She had also visited London and met King George V and was given money and a pledge of support to help with war against the Bolsheviks. Soon after, she returned to Russia and kept serving in the Imperial army. One day she was caught by The Bolsheviks and sent to prison for “anti-communistic behaviour” and was executed after four months of imprisonment without any official verdict. The Soviet government tried to make people forget about the hundreds of courageous women fighting for Russia and emperor and only after the fall of Soviet Union, officials started to open secret files and documents, publishing more and more about Female Death Battalions. Ex-soldiers of those battalions never mentioned anything about their past and tried to forget about it. Since being related to pro-Imperialism in any way was dangerous in 1920’s-1940’s. During the years under Stalin’s oppression, about 700 thousand people were shot and roughly 2.5 million people were imprisoned after accusation in political crimes. In the end, the women who were served their country, fought with enemies and sacrificed their lives for the bright future of the nation, were forgotten and their names and reputation were thrown into the pile of Imperial garbage, burnt by Bolsheviks. Nowadays, the Russian government recognizes all of the madness, crimes and horror that happened in the country during the period after the fall of the Russian Empire in 1917. More and more information regarding the history of the revolutions, wars and oppressions appear these days. People are not afraid of learning about and discussing these historical events that were carefully hidden by the communist party and its officials. In 2014, to commemorate 100 years since the start of the First World War, a famous Russian director filmed an interesting movie about the Female Death Battalion.
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AuthorHi there! My name is Mila, I have been working as a local guide for six years and I've decided to share with you essential information about St. Petersburg, life in Russia and Russian culture. I hope you will enjoy! Archives
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