WOMEN SOLDIERS IN RUSSIA’S GREAT WAR
Laurie Stoff
During the First World War, approximately six thousand Russian women became combatants. This
experience was unprecedented, far surpassing previous or contemporary examples. More significantly,
Russia was the only country to employ women systematically in sexually segregated military formations.
Although contemporary observers acknowledged their role and the female soldiers became media stars in
the domestic and foreign presses, they have largely been forgotten by history. They were pushed aside by
subsequent historiography for a number of reasons, the most prominent being that they ended up on the
losing side of October 1917.
The Individuals
Because Imperial Russian law forbade women’s enlistment in the active army, most women who
became combatants disguised themselves as men in order to enter the service. Lack of standardized
recruitment regulations, lax bureaucratic procedures, and superficial or nonexistent medical examinations
allowed these women to slip into the ranks without being detected. A few, however, were openly
accepted, since enlistment often depended on the personal prerogative of the commanding officer.
They came from various social backgrounds, educational levels, ages, and geographical origins. A
number of students from gymnasia and the women’s higher courses went into combat. Women in higher
social positions used influence and connections to enter the ranks of the active army to fight alongside
their husbands, fathers, and brothers. It was not uncommon for women soldiers in Russia to be the wives
or, more often, the daughters of officers. Many more were from the peasantry and working classes.
While most of these women served in the rank-and-file, some even became officers.
Women soldiers not only proved capable of withstanding combat conditions, but many also
demonstrated courage in the face of great danger. Command personnel frequently praised in their female
soldiers. Women often volunteered for dangerous reconnaissance missions and in many instances were
the first to rush from the trenches during attacks. The disguised woman’s performance made the shock of
discovering her true sex even greater. In order to escape criticism, those whose true sex was known were
careful not to malinger in their duties. But even more significant to their behavior as soldiers is the fact
that all women combatants were volunteers. They willingly chose to give their lives in the war, unlike the
vast majority of conscripted males who lacked comparable zeal for the cause. Though patriotism was the
main impetus motivating these women to serve, they also expressed other incentives, such as the desire
for adventure, to escape overly sheltered lives, or to forget personal sorrow.
The All-Female Military Units
By the spring of 1917, the phenomenon of individual women joining male units had given way to
separate, all-female military formations. The organization of all-female units was made possible by the
particular political and social conditions created after the fall of tsarism. The newly organized Provisional
Government confronted a multitude of difficulties, none more pressing than the war. The government
resolved to undertake a final offensive in the summer of 1917 in an effort to achieve a decisive victory
that might enable Russia to end the war “honorably.” The campaign, however, would end in failure
unless troop morale could be raised and the army restored to battle readiness. Thus, the new authorities
embarked on a campaign to raise soldiers' fallen spirits and prepare for the attack, calling upon every
citizen to aid the homeland. In May, General Aleksei Brusilov, Commander-in-Chief of the Southwestern
Front, proposed the formation of “revolutionary” units, including special “shock” detachments and
“battalions of death.” These units were to be composed of the most dedicated and patriotic volunteers.
Other quasi-military and private volunteer groups were formed to augment Brusilov’s efforts by
recruiting and organizing “everyone who holds dear the fate of our motherland,” including women.1
Many women were caught up in the renewed dedication to the war effort, including progressive
women’s groups who sought greater participation in the public sphere and political reward for war work.
Among them were those who believed female activity should extend beyond auxiliary functions to all
areas of military service. The idea to organize all-female military formations began to circulate in Russian
society. The Ministry of War received a number of petitions requesting permission to organize female
military units. However, it was a peasant from Siberia and combat veteran of the war, Maria Bochkarëva
who (with the support of Duma President Mikhail Rodzianko and General Brusilov) secured permission
from Minister of War Alexander Kerensky. Despite initial reservations about possible “moral” problems,
Kerensky gave his approval for the formation of the 1st Russian Women’s Battalion of Death under
Bochkarëva's command. While this battalion was organizing and training, requests to form additional
women’s units continued to come into the Ministry of War. On 1 June 1917, Kerensky authorized the
organization of two more all-female infantry battalions, the 1st Petrograd Women’s Battalion and the 2nd
Moscow Women’s Battalion of Death, as well as four separate communications detachments, two in
Moscow and two in Petrograd. The district military headquarters were charged with supervising the
organization and training of the units in their respective cities. Local women’s associations also aided in
recruitment and registration.
In mid-July, the Kuban 3rd Women’s Shock Battalion was authorized, along with seven additional
communications units, five in Kiev and two in Saratov, where women’s military units had already been
organized by private initiatives. The staff of the headquarters of the Western Front also proposed the
formation of a women’s unit, the Minsk Separate Guard Militia. Local women’s groups organized female
volunteers in Poltava, Ekaterinburg, Tashkent, Baku, Viatka, Minsk, Mogilëv, Perm, Mariupol, Odessa,
Kiev, Saratov, and Ekaterinodar. The number of women involved in combat and combat-related activities
was so significant that in August 1917, a Women’s Military Congress was convened in Petrograd to
coordinate women’s military unions around the country.
The Russian authorities largely viewed the women’s military units as propaganda instruments in the
campaign to continue the war. They hoped that the presence of women in the trenches would lift the
spirits of the men and inspire them to follow, or shame them into returning to their duty as defenders.
However, beset by a myriad of other problems and pressures, the military administration failed to provide
the women’s units with adequate support. Many in official military circles were unwilling commit badly
needed resources to the women soldiers until they had proven they could perform satisfactorily in combat.
The successful participation of the 1st Russian Women’s Battle of Death in battle at Smorgon on 9 July
1917 demonstrated this capability, but many believed their performance was exceptional and doubted that
it could be sustained. Ultimately, the women did not have any lasting influence on male soldiers. As
with all of the Provisional Governments attempts to inspire the men to continue fighting, female soldiers
leading the way failed to provide sufficient impetus for men who desired peace more than anything else.
Once it became clear that the summer offensive had failed, the military authorities questioned the value of
the continued existence of the women’s units.
Undoubtedly, the most well-known and controversial event in the history of the all-women combat
units involved the so-called “storming of the Winter Palace.” On 24 October 1917, the commander of the
1st Petrograd Women’s Battalion received orders to report to the Winter Palace for a parade, wherein
Kerensky would review the female troops prior to their departure for the front. But when they arrived, the
commander of the Petrograd Military District ordered the women soldiers to defend the Provisional
Government. The members of the battalion were distraught. Their goal was to fight Russia’s external
enemies; they had no desire to become embroiled in the political struggle. The battalion commander sent
the majority of the troops back to their encampment, but was persuaded to leave a subdivision of his 2nd
company, consisting of 137 women. These women did their best to defend the Palace, but they were
greatly outnumbered by Bolshevik supporters and were defeated and captured. Some of the women
suffered verbal, physical, and sexual abuse at the hands of Red Guards and soldiers.
Of the fifteen women’s military formations designated by the Ministry of War, Bochkareva’s
battalion was the only unit that participated in the defense of the homeland against the external enemy.
The new Soviet government had little use for what they perceived to be “bourgeois” women with guns. It
issued a decree ordering all the women’s military units to disband on 30 November 1917. Their
successful participation in combat could have opened the door to female participation in a variety of
male-dominated areas, including the military. Yet this did not happen. The circumstances of war were
regarded as exceptional, undesirable in “normal” peacetime conditions. Although the Russian Provisional
Government made an explicit statement about acceptable gender roles by sending women soldiers into
battle, it did not carry through with the broader implications of this statement. In fact, both the Russian
government and a majority of Russia society seemed to overlook, or even consciously reject, the
significance of this action, regarding it as a necessary, but unfortunate measure dictated by the exigency
of war and national survival.
Correspondence to the Minister of War, Extract from a report by “The Military League,” Rossiiskii
gosudarstvennyi voenno-istoricheskii archive (RGVIA), f. 366, op. 1, d. 90, l. 50.
1
Women soldiers of the 2nd Moscow Battalion of Death in Training (courtesy of the Museum of the Revolution,
Moscow)
1st Russian Women’s Battalion of Death, being reviewed by the commander of the Petrograd Military District,
General Petr Polovstev, with battalion commander Maria Bochkareva (from Donald Thompson, Blood Stained
Russia)
Soldiers of the 2nd Company, 1st Petrograd Women’s Battalion, outside the Winter Palace, 24 Oct. 1917 (courtesy of
the Museum of the Revolution, Moscow)