What was the role of women in the Russian Revolution?

by magic321321

Did women see active combat during the Revolution and after, for example?

Georgy_K_Zhukov

Yes! There are a number of examples to point to during the Revolution, and the ensuing Civil War, so I won't cover all of them, but I will give you a brief overview of the most notable instances, the '1st Russian Women's Battalion of Death' and '1st Petrograd Women's Battalion', two of the sixteen women's formations raised.

Following the February Revolution, the positive showing from a number of individual women who had already been serving in male units saw the Kerensky Government allow the formation of one such unit, under the leadership of Maria Bochkareva, who had already served for two years in an all-male unit. Quite distinguished by that point, Bochkareva was the obvious choice for leadership, although her claims to have come up with the idea in the first place is a specious one. Certainly her lobbying was an important factor in making it a reality, but the idea seems to have been broached prior to her involvement in the plan.

In any case though, recruiting began in May, 1917, with ~2,000 women answering the call, and it quickly became her unit, although in part this was due to the lack of support from the government, who simply was happy to reap the propaganda of their mere existence, without investing anything beyond some equipment, and leaving the unit to figure out training much on its own. Even so though, after training for a month, the unit was dispatched to the front in late June and seeing action as part of that summer's Kerensky Offensive. It was a fairly brief period in combat though, and a somewhat controversial one at that. Ordered 'over the top' on July 9th, there is no argument that the women showed incredible discipline and bravery, but it was severely undercut by circumstances. Three male units - 1st, 62nd, 63rd Siberian Regiments - were part of the planned attack as well, but the male soldiers showed no willingness to participate despite the exhortations of their officers. The women however, knowing how much their behavior would reflect on the prospects of all women in the army, attacked anyways. Some of the men were cajoled along, but a small minority of what it should have been.

The women's initial success brought more shamefaced men forward to help occupy the enemy trench, but in total the Russian force still remained less than half of what it ought to have been. To compound matters, many of the male soldiers who had come forward got drunk in requisitioned German liquor stores, despite the women's best efforts to destroy the bottles, and the initial exhortations worn off, many others showed no interest in holding the captured positions and returned to their own lines. Promised reserves never materialized, and pleas for reinforcements resulted in a bare trickle. German assaults to retake the ground not only resulted in more casualties, but more desertions, until the 'Battalion of Death' was left mostly alone, and without any ammunition, forcing them to finally retreat after the 6th German counterattack. In the end, the entire assault had gained nothing physical, although the women nevertheless earned positive reports on their performance.

They were not the only unit of women formed, even if the only one to be sent to the front lines, and several others existed, the second of which I will touch on being the '1st Petrograd Women's Battalion', due to their role in the Bolshevik Revolution. Formed in June, shortly after the 'Battalion of Death', the 1st Petrograd was scheduled to go to Romania on Oct. 24th, a plan which would obviously end up derailed. Instead, they found themselves defending the Provisional Government holed up in the Winter Palace against the Bolsheviks. Intrarevolutionary combat wasn't what many of the women had signed up for though, so many were there reluctantly, and most of the unit was returned to their encampment, but a group of 137 women remained, part of a larger defensive force of ~2,500, mostly military cadets. Surrounded, and under naval gunfire from Aurora, the defenders eventually surrendered after some fighting. The accounts of the women vary greatly, from those claiming they were at the forefront of the defense, to claims that they were cowering in fear in the backrooms. There is, as far as I know, no definitive account given the stakes by all sides on portrayal. In any case, the captured women were eventually released, and the unit disbanded.

All in all, sixteen women's formations were raised in the period, although only the 1st Russian Women's Battalion of Death saw action on the front. Once the Revolution transitioned into Civil War, women would continue to serve in various capacities, but such large scale units ceased to play a role in the fighting that continued for the next several years.

For more, see:

They Fought for the Motherland: Russia's Women Soldiers in World War I and the Revolution by Laurie S. Stoff