Women's Battalions

He was sentenced for armed robbery and ties to the Honghuzi (a Chinese criminal group) and was exiled to remote parts of Siberia several times. Bochkareva always followed him. When World War I began, she decided to leave Buk and join the army. The war was a good fit for Bochkareva’s restless and adventurous spirit. She was exceptionally brave in combat, was wounded several times and received the Cross of St. George award. Other soldiers were skeptical about a female soldier when she first arrived, but she was able to gain their trust and respect.

Bochkareva often encountered other female volunteers in the army – they all had different paths and circumstances. Some of them were like Bochkareva – women from poor families looking for a new start. But there were also well-educated girls from affluent families. Women were treated differently though – regardless of their ability to serve as soldiers.

Dmitry Osipov, who fought in World War I, wrote about a female volunteer from his regiment, Marusya Tuz. “Marusya Tuz is from some place near Kiev, some even say she was a working girl. She lives with regiment, tries to serve well, but it is not always possible due to physiological differences. She is still a woman, despite the uniform. Instead of performing her duties, she is often invited into the officers’ tent to entertain them.” He gives a very different account of the other female soldier in his regiment, Olga. “As a high school student she was in love with some warrant officer. Her fiancé was killed in the first months of the war. That made her put on the uniform and join the army to deliver ‘vengeance’ to the Germans. She performs all her duties well, was awarded a medal, and is respected by fellow soldiers.”

Women in the army evidently gained some attention, and in 1917 special female units were formed. Some say that this was Kerensky’s idea – he was appointed minister of war. Like many of Kerensky’s other initiatives, women’s battalions were mostly a propaganda effort. The army was not in a good state, and the new minister of war hoped that female units would boost morale and shame the men. 

Bochkareva, by that time well known, was commissioned to form the first battalion.

Some of the soldiers were drafted from women already enlisted, but many new female candidates joined Bochkareva as well. They were motivated by a desire to break the male monopoly in a very important field as well as patriotism and support for the Provisional Government (and Kerensky personally).

Three hundred soldiers were selected from 2,000 candidates. The first female battalion was sworn in on June 21 (July 4), 1917, in Petrograd. They were given their own banner and were officially named ‘Maria Bochkareva’s First Women’s Battalion of Death.’

The battalion first participated in combat on July 9 (22), 1917 – after the July offensive failed. The female unit clashed with the Germans near Maladzyechna. Witnesses said they fought bravely, but suffered significant losses.

This contributed to the general lack of trust towards the women’s battalions among army conservatives, and made Supreme Commander-in-Chief Lavr Kornilov issue an order prohibiting female units from combat and giving them auxiliary duties. There was also a ban on forming new female battalions. (Kornilov generally disliked Kerensky’s propaganda initiatives, so that might have been the real reason.)

By October 1917, there were several women’s battalions formed in Russia: the 1st Petrograd Women's Battalion of Death, 2nd Moscow Women's Battalion of Death, 3rd Kuban Women's Shock Battalion, 1st Women's Naval Detachment (Oranienbaum), and others. Bochkareva’s battalion was the only unit that participated in combat. After the initial rush around the new idea, the fervor wore off; women’s battalions didn’t have much effect on the general situation in the army, and there was no enthusiasm among the male soldiers as Kerensky had hoped. Other units were suspicious about the women’s battalions – conservative officers and soldiers rejected the very idea of women serving in the army. Female units were disliked because they were loyal to the Provisional Government and Kerensky himself, whereas other soldiers did not want to fight at that point.

A company from the 1st Petrograd Women’s Battalion was one of the last units defending the Winter Palace during the October Revolution. Stationed outside Petrograd, they were urgently called into the city on November 6. But battalion commander Loskov decided not to involve women in the political conflict and did not follow the order, so only one company (137 people) was in the city during  the uprising.

They set up a defensive line on the first floor of the palace near the main gate, but surrendered soon after the storming began. The company was disarmed and sent to barracks. An investigation organized by the Petrograd authorities after the revolution claimed that at least three women were raped by their guards, but most of the female soldiers survived the arrest without any harm and were released to their station. On November 30, 1917, it was decided to disband all women’s battalions.