Women's battalions are military formations consisting exclusively of women, created by the Provisional Government, mainly for the propaganda purpose of raising the patriotic spirit in the army and shaming by example male soldiers refusing to fight. Despite this, they participated to a limited extent in the fighting of the First World War. One of the initiators of their creation was Maria Bochkareva.
History of origin
Senior non-commissioned officer M. L. Bochkareva, who was at the front with the Highest permission (since women were prohibited from being sent to units of the active army) from 1914 to 1917, thanks to her heroism, became a famous person. M.V. Rodzianko, who arrived in April on a propaganda trip to the Western Front, where Bochkareva served, specifically asked for a meeting with her and took her with him to Petrograd to campaign for “war to a victorious end” among the troops of the Petrograd garrison and among the delegates of the congress soldiers' deputies of the Petrograd Soviet. In a speech to the delegates of the congress, Bochkareva first voiced her idea of creating shock women’s “death battalions.” After this, she was invited to present her proposal at a meeting of the Provisional Government.
Maria Bochkareva, Emmeline Pankhurst (leader of the British suffragette movement) and members of the Women's Death Battalion, 1917.
Wikipedia
Women volunteers of the First World War, 1916
PhotoDay
“They told me that my idea was great, but I needed to report to the Supreme Commander-in-Chief Brusilov and consult with him. Together with Rodzianka, I went to Brusilov’s Headquarters... Brusilov told me in his office that you have hope for women and that the formation of a women’s battalion is the first in the world "Can't women disgrace Russia? I told Brusilov that I myself am not confident in women, but if you give me full authority, then I guarantee that my battalion will not disgrace Russia... Brusilov told me that he believes me and will do everything possible try to help in the formation of a women's volunteer battalion." - M. L. Bochkareva.
On June 21, 1917, on the square near St. Isaac's Cathedral, a solemn ceremony was held to present the new military unit with a white banner with the inscription "The first women's military command of the death of Maria Bochkareva." On June 29, the Military Council approved the regulation “On the formation of military units from female volunteers.”
"Kerensky listened with obvious impatience. It was obvious that he had already made a decision on this matter. He doubted only one thing: whether I could maintain a high position in this battalion morale and morality. Kerensky said that he would allow me to begin formation immediately. As Kerensky accompanied me to the door, his gaze settled on General Polovtsev. He asked him to provide me with any necessary help. I almost suffocated with happiness." - M. L. Bochkareva
Women's Death Battalion at summer camp, 1917.
Wikipedia
The ranks of the “shock women” were primarily recruited from female military personnel from front-line units (there were a small number of female military personnel in the Russian Imperial Army, each of whom was confirmed to be in the army Highest resolution, among them there were even Knights of St. George), but also women from civil society - noblewomen, student students, teachers, workers. There was a large proportion of female soldiers and Cossack women. Bochkareva’s battalion included both girls from the famous noble families of Russia, as well as simple peasant women and servants. Maria Skrydlova, the daughter of Admiral N.I. Skrydlov, served as Bochkareva’s adjutant. The nationality of the female volunteers was mainly Russian, but there were also other nationalities among them - Estonians, Latvians, Jews, and Englishmen. The number of women's units ranged from 250 to 1,500 people.
The appearance of Bochkareva’s detachment served as an impetus for the formation of women’s detachments in other cities of the country (Kiev, Minsk, Poltava, Kharkov, Simbirsk, Vyatka, Smolensk, Irkutsk, Baku, Odessa, Mariupol), but due to the intensifying processes of destruction Russian state the creation of these female shock troops was never completed.
Officially, as of October 1917, there were: 1st Petrograd Women's Death Battalion, 2nd Moscow Women's Death Battalion, 3rd Kuban Women's Shock Battalion (infantry); Marine women's team (Oranienbaum); Cavalry 1st Petrograd Battalion of the Women's Military Union; Minsk separate guard squad of female volunteers. The first three battalions visited the front; only Bochkareva’s 1st battalion took part in the fighting.
Attitude to the women's movement
Petrograd units of the Women's Death Battalion in a military camp, 1917.
Wikipedia
As I wrote Russian historian S.A. Solntseva, the mass of soldiers and the Soviets received the “women’s death battalions” (as well as all other shock units) “with hostility.” The front-line soldiers did not call the shock workers anything other than “prostitutes.” At the beginning of July, the Petrograd Soviet demanded that all “women’s battalions” be disbanded as “unsuitable for military service” - moreover, the formation of such battalions was regarded by the Petrograd Soviet as “a secretive maneuver of the bourgeoisie, wanting to wage the war to a victorious end.”
Participation in the battles of the First World War
On June 27, 1917, the “death battalion” of two hundred people arrived in active army- to the rear units of the 1st Siberian Army Corps of the 10th Army of the Western Front in the Novospassky forest area, north of the city Molodechno, near Smorgon.
On July 9, 1917, according to the plans of the Headquarters, the Western Front was supposed to go on the offensive. On July 7, 1917, the 525th Kyuryuk-Darya Infantry Regiment of the 132nd Infantry Division, which included shock troops, received an order to take positions at the front near the town of Krevo. The "death battalion" was on the right flank of the regiment. On July 8, 1917, he entered into battle for the first time, since the enemy, knowing about the plans of the Russian command, launched a preemptive strike and wedged itself into the location of the Russian troops. Over three days, the regiment repelled 14 attacks by German troops. Several times the battalion launched counterattacks and knocked the Germans out of the Russian positions occupied the day before. This is what Colonel V.I. Zakrzhevsky wrote in his report on the actions of the “death battalion”:
Metropolitan Tikhon of Moscow blesses the women's shock battalion before being sent to the front. 1917, newspaper "Iskra"
Wikimedia Commons
Bochkareva’s detachment behaved heroically in battle, always in the front line, serving on an equal basis with the soldiers. When the Germans attacked, on his own initiative he rushed as one into a counterattack; brought cartridges, went to secrets, and some to reconnaissance; With their work, the death squad set an example of bravery, courage and calmness, raised the spirit of the soldiers and proved that each of these female heroes is worthy of the title of warrior of the Russian revolutionary army. According to Bochkareva herself, out of 170 people who took part in the hostilities, the battalion lost up to 30 people killed and up to 70 wounded. Maria Bochkareva, herself wounded in this battle for the fifth time, spent a month and a half in the hospital and was promoted to the rank of second lieutenant.
Such heavy losses among women volunteers also had other consequences for women’s battalions - on August 14, the new Commander-in-Chief, General L. G. Kornilov, by his order banned the creation of new women’s “death battalions” for combat use, and the already created units were prescribed to be used only in auxiliary areas (security functions, communications, sanitary organizations). This led to the fact that many women volunteers who wanted to fight for Russia with weapons in their hands wrote statements asking to be dismissed from the “death units.”
Defense of the Provisional Government
Shock women of the 2nd company of the 1st Petrograd women's battalion on Palace Square on the eve of the October Revolution of 1917.
Photo from the Museum of the Revolution, Moscow
Russia's Great War & Revolution
One of the women's death battalions (1st Petrograd, under the command of the Life Guards Kexholm Regiment of Staff Captain A.V. Loskov in October 1917, together with cadets and other units loyal to the oath, took part in the defense of the Winter Palace, in which the Provisional Government was located.
October 25 (November 7) battalion stationed near the Levashovo Finlyandskaya station railway, was supposed to go to the Romanian front (according to the command’s plans, it was planned that each of the formed women’s battalions would be sent to the front to raise the morale of male soldiers - one to each of the four fronts of the Eastern Front). But on October 24 (November 6), the battalion commander, Staff Captain Loskov, received orders to send the battalion to Petrograd “for a parade” (in fact, to protect the Provisional Government). Loskov, having learned about the real task and not wanting to drag his subordinates into a political confrontation, withdrew the entire battalion from Petrograd back to Levashovo, with the exception of the 2nd company (137 people).
The headquarters of the Petrograd Military District tried, with the help of two platoons of shock troops and units of cadets, to ensure the construction of the Nikolaevsky, Dvortsovy and Liteiny bridges, but the Sovietized sailors thwarted this task.
The company took up defense on the first floor of the Winter Palace in the area to the right of the main gate to Millionnaya Street. At night, during the storming of the palace, the company surrendered, was disarmed and taken to the barracks of the Pavlovsky, then the Grenadier regiment, where some shockwomen were “treated badly” - as a specially created commission of the Petrograd City Duma established, three shockwomen were raped (although, perhaps, few dared to admit it), one committed suicide. On October 26 (November 8), the company was sent to its previous location in Levashovo.
It is curious that, ironically, it was the “shock women” expelled by Bochkareva “for easy behavior” who became part of the new 1st Petrograd Women’s Battalion, whose units unsuccessfully defended the Winter Palace on October 25, 1917.
Elimination of women's death battalions
After the October Revolution, the Soviet government, which set a course for the speedy conclusion of peace, the withdrawal of Russia from the world war and the liquidation of the Russian Imperial Army, disbanded all “shock units.” Women's shock formations were disbanded on November 30, 1917 by the Military Council of the still old War Ministry. Moreover, shortly before this, on November 19, an order was issued to promote female military personnel of volunteer units to officers for military merit. However, many volunteers remained in their units until January 1918 and beyond. Some of them moved to the Don and took part in the fight against Bolshevism in the ranks of the White movement. The very last of the existing shock units was the 3rd Kuban Women's Strike Battalion, stationed in Yekaterinodar - it was disbanded only on February 26, 1918 due to the refusal of the headquarters of the Caucasian Military District to supply it further.
There are so many legends about this amazing woman that it is impossible to say one hundred percent whether it is true or fiction. But it is reliably known that an ordinary peasant woman, who remained illiterate for almost her entire adult life, was called by King George V during a personal meeting “the Russian Joan of Arc.” Fate destined her to become the first female officer in Russian army. The whole truth about the women's death battalion is in our article.
Youth, childhood, love
The creator of the women's death battalion, Maria Bochkareva, was born in a small village in the Novgorod province into an ordinary working-class family. Besides her, her parents had two more children. They lived quite poorly and, in order to improve their deplorable situation, decided to move to Siberia, where at that time the government provided assistance to newcomers. But hopes were not justified, so it was decided to marry Maria to a man whom she did not love, and who was also a drunkard. She got her famous surname from him.
After a short period of time, Maria Bochkareva ( women's battalion death was her idea) breaks up with her husband and begins free life. It was at that time that she was lucky enough to meet her first and only love. Unfortunately, she had no luck with the stronger sex: while the first was a constant drinker, the second was a criminal and member of the Honghuz gang, which included people from Manchuria and China. His name was Yankel Buk. When he was arrested and redirected to Yakutsk, Bochkareva followed him, as the wives of the Decembrists did.
Sad outcome of the relationship
But the desperate Yakov could not be corrected, and even while in the settlement, he sold stolen goods, and later took up robberies. In order to prevent her beloved from going to hard labor, Maria had to follow the lead of the local governor, who harassed her. Subsequently, she could not survive her own betrayal, trying to poison herself. This difficult story ended in tears: upon learning about what had happened, the man, in the heat of anger, tried to kill the official. He was put on trial and sent to an unknown location, after which contact with his loved one was lost.
To the front by imperial favor
The outbreak of war led to an unprecedented surge of patriotic feelings. A huge number of volunteers went to the front, and Maria Leontievna Bochkareva did the same. The story of her entry into service is quite interesting. Arriving in 1914 to the commander of the reserve battalion, which was located in Tomsk, she was faced with a disregardful attitude and ironic advice to make a similar request to the Emperor. Contrary to his expectations, the woman dared to write a petition. To the surprise of the public, she soon received a positive response signed by Nicholas II.
After an accelerated training course, in February of the following year, Maria Leontyevna Bochkareva found herself at the front as a civilian soldier. Having taken on such a difficult task, she, along with the rest of the soldiers, went into bayonet attacks, helped the wounded escape from fire, and also showed real heroism. She was given the nickname Yashka, which she invented for herself in honor of her lover.
When the company commander died in March 1916, Maria took over his post and led her comrades in an offensive that became devastating. For the courage shown in the offensive, the woman received the St. George Cross, as well as three medals. While at the forefront, she was wounded more than once, but despite this, she was still in service. Only after being seriously wounded in the thigh was she sent to the hospital, where she spent several months.
Creation of women's death battalions
Returning to duty, Bochkareva found her own regiment in complete disintegration. While she was away, the February Revolution happened, and the soldiers endlessly rallied and tried to “fraternize” with the Germans. Maria, who did not want to put up with such a situation, never tired of looking for an opportunity to influence the situation. Very soon a similar opportunity presented itself.
The chairman of the Provisional Committee of the State Duma was sent to the front to carry out propaganda work. Bochkareva, having secured his support, went to Petrograd, where she began to implement her long-standing idea - the opening of military formations, which included women ready to defend the Motherland. In her endeavor, she felt the support of the Minister of War Kerensky, as well as Brusilov, who was the Supreme Commander-in-Chief General. Thus began the history of the women's death battalion.
Battalion composition
In response to the calls of the courageous woman, several thousand Russian women responded, wanting to take up arms in the ranks of the new unit. It is worth noting the fact that most of them were literate girls - graduates of the Bestuzhev courses, and a third had a secondary education. At that time, no unit consisting of men could show such indicators. Among the shockwomen were representatives of all walks of life - from simple peasant women to aristocrats (bearers of famous surnames).
Among the subordinates in the women's death battalion (1917), commander Bochkareva immediately established strict discipline and strict subordination. The rise took place at five in the morning, and until ten in the evening there were constant classes with little rest. Many women who previously lived in fairly wealthy families found it difficult to accept soldier life and the established routine. But this was not their greatest difficulty.
Complaints about the commander
As the sources say, the Supreme Commander-in-Chief soon began to receive complaints regarding arbitrariness, as well as rude treatment on the part of the commander of the women’s death battalion in the First World War. The reports noted facts of beatings. In addition, the appearance within its walls of agitators conducting political activities, representatives of all kinds of parties, was strictly prohibited, which was a violation of the rules adopted as a result of the uprising. As a result large quantity disagreements, 250 shockwomen left the 1st Petrograd Women's Death Battalion and moved to another formation.
Sending to the front
Soon the twenty-first of June 1917 arrived, the day when, in front of St. Isaac's Cathedral, in front of a large audience, the newly created unit was awarded the honor of receiving a battle flag. Needless to say, what emotions was experienced by the hero of the occasion, who stood in a new uniform.
But the holiday was replaced by trench life. The young defenders were faced with realities that they had never even imagined before. They found themselves in the midst of morally corrupt and degrading soldiers. In order to protect them from violence, it was sometimes necessary to post sentries on duty at the barracks. But after the first real battle, where Maria’s battalion took direct part, showing unprecedented courage, the shock troops began to be treated with respect.
Hospital and inspection of new units
The Women's Death Battalion in the First World War took part in operations along with other units and suffered losses. Maria Bochkareva, who received a severe concussion on July 9, was sent to Petrograd for treatment. During the period that she spent at the front, her ideas about the women's patriotic movement found a wide response in the capital. New formations were created, which were staffed by defenders of the Fatherland.
After being discharged from the hospital, by order of Kornilov, Bochkareva was given the task of checking such units. The results of the inspection were extremely negative. None of the battalions were truly combative. However, the atmosphere of turmoil that hovered in Moscow did not allow any tangible results to be achieved in a short time.
Soon the initiator of the creation of women's death battalions is sent to her native unit, but right now her fighting spirit is cooling down a little. She has said more than once that she was disappointed in her subordinates and believes that they should not be sent to the front. Maybe her demands on her subordinates were too high, and what she, a combat officer, could handle without problems was beyond the capabilities of ordinary women.
Features of the deadly part
Due to the fact that all these events were close to the episode with the defense of the Winter Palace (government residence), it is worth understanding in more detail what the military unit, the creator of which was Bochkareva, was then. In accordance with the law, the Women's Death Battalion ( historical facts this is confirmed) was equated to an independent unit and in its status corresponded to a regiment in which 1000 soldiers served.
The officer corps included representatives of the strong half who had considerable experience acquired on the fronts of the First World War. The battalion should not have had any political overtones. Its main purpose is to protect the Fatherland from external enemies.
Palace defense
Suddenly, one of the units of the women's death battalion in the First World War receives an order to go to Petrograd, where a parade was supposed to take place on October 24th. In reality, this was only an excuse to attract shockwomen to defend the facility from the Bolshevik attack with weapons in their hands. During this period, the palace garrison consisted of units of Cossacks and cadets, and therefore had no real military power.
The women who arrived at the scene were ordered to defend the southeastern wing of the building. For the first 24 hours they managed to push back the Red Guards and take control of the Nikolaevsky Bridge. But a day later, troops of the revolutionary committee settled around the building, which resulted in a fierce clash.
It was after this that the defenders of the residence, not wanting to give their lives for the newly appointed government, began to retreat from their positions. The women managed to hold out the longest, and only at ten o’clock were negotiators sent out with a statement of surrender. This opportunity was provided, but only on the conditions of complete disarmament.
The arrival of the Bolsheviks and subsequent events
After an armed coup in October, the decision was made to disband the Women's Death Battalion of the First World War, but it was dangerous to return home in uniform. Not without the participation of the Security Committee, the women managed to find civilian clothes in order to get to their homes.
It has been confirmed that during the events described, Maria Leontyevna was at the front and did not take part in them. Despite this, there is a myth that she commanded the defenders of the palace.
In the future, fate threw up many more unpleasant surprises. During the start civil war Bochkarev found himself between two fires. At first, in Smolny, the highest ranks of the new government persuaded her to take command of the Red Guard unit. After this, Marushevsky, the commander of the White Guards, also tried to win her over to his side. But everywhere she refused: it was one thing to fight against foreigners and defend her homeland, another thing was to kill her own compatriots. Maria almost paid with her freedom for her refusal.
Legendary life
After the capture of Tomsk, Bochkareva herself came to the commandant’s office to hand over her weapons. After some time, she was taken into custody and sent to Krasnoyarsk. The investigators were in prostration, not knowing what to present to her. But the head of the special department, Pavlunovsky, arrives in the city from the capital. Without even trying to study the situation superficially, he makes a decision - to shoot, which was done. Maria Bochkareva was killed on May sixteenth, 1919.
But her life was so unusual that her death gave rise to a huge number of legends. It is impossible to say exactly where Maria Leontyeva’s grave is located. Because of this, rumors arose that she managed to avoid execution, and she lived until the forties, taking for herself a completely different name.
But the main legend, of course, remains the woman herself, whose biography can be used to make an exciting film novel.
Bochkareva Maria Leontievna (née Frolkova, July 1889 - May 1920) - often considered the first Russian female officer (promoted during the 1917 revolution). Bochkareva created the first women's battalion in the history of the Russian army. Knight of the St. George's Cross.
In July 1889, the peasants of the village of Nikolskoye, Kirillovsky district, Novgorod province, Leonty Semenovich and Olga Eleazarovna Frolkova, had a third child - daughter Marusya. Soon the family, escaping poverty, moved to Siberia, where the government promised the settlers large plots of land and financial support. But, apparently, it was not possible to escape poverty here either. At the age of fifteen, Maria was married off. In the book of the Resurrection Church there is the following entry dated January 22, 1905: “First marriage Afanasy Sergeevich Bochkarev, 23 years old, Orthodox religion, living in the Tomsk province, Tomsk district of the Semiluksk volost of the village of Bolshoye Kuskovo, married the girl Maria Leontyevna Frolkova, of the Orthodox religion...” They settled in Tomsk. Married life almost immediately went wrong, and Bochkareva broke up with her drunkard husband without regret. Maria left him for the butcher Yakov Buk. In May 1912, Buk was arrested on charges of robbery and sent to serve his sentence in Yakutsk. Bochkareva followed him on foot to Eastern Siberia, where they opened a butcher shop as a cover, although in reality Buk lived in a gang of Honghuz. Soon the police were on the trail of the gang, and Buk was transferred to a settlement in the taiga village of Amga.
Although Bochkareva again followed in his footsteps, her betrothed started drinking and began to engage in assault. At this time the First broke out World War. Bochkareva decided to join the ranks of the active army and, parting with her Yashka, arrived in Tomsk. The military refused to enroll the girl in the 24th reserve battalion and advised her to go to the front as a nurse. Then Bochkareva sent a telegram to the Tsar, which unexpectedly received a positive response. That's how she got to the front.
At first, the woman in uniform caused ridicule and harassment from her colleagues, but her courage in battle brought her universal respect, the St. George Cross and three medals. In those years, the nickname “Yashka” stuck to her, in memory of her unlucky life partner. After two wounds and countless battles, Bochkareva was promoted to senior non-commissioned officer.
In 1917, Kerensky turned to Bochkareva with a request to organize a “women’s death battalion”; his wife and St. Petersburg institutes were involved in the patriotic project, total number up to 2000 people. In the unusual military unit, iron discipline reigned: subordinates complained to their superiors that Bochkareva was “beating people in the face like a real sergeant of the old regime.” Not many could withstand such treatment: in a short time the number of female volunteers was reduced to three hundred. The rest were assigned to a special women's battalion that defended the Winter Palace during the October Revolution.
In the summer of 1917, Bochkareva’s detachment distinguished itself at Smorgon; his tenacity made an indelible impression on the command (Anton Denikin). After a shell shock received in that battle, warrant officer Bochkareva was sent to recover in a Petrograd hospital, and in the capital she received the rank of second lieutenant, but soon after returning to her position she had to disband the battalion, due to the actual collapse of the front and the October Revolution.
Maria Bochkareva among the defenders of Petrograd
In winter, she was detained by the Bolsheviks on the way to Tomsk. After refusing to cooperate with the new authorities, she was accused of having relations with General Kornilov, and the matter almost came to court. Thanks to the help of one of her former colleagues, Bochkareva broke free and, dressed as a sister of mercy, traveled across the country to Vladivostok, from where she sailed on a campaign trip to the USA and Europe.
In April 1918, Bochkareva arrived in San Francisco. With the support of the influential and wealthy Florence Harriman, the daughter of a Russian peasant crossed the United States and was granted an audience with President Woodrow Wilson at the White House on July 10. According to eyewitnesses, Bochkareva’s story about her dramatic fate and pleas for help against the Bolsheviks moved the president to tears.
Maria Bochkareva, Emmeline Pankhurst (British public and political figure, women's rights activist, leader of the British suffragette movement) and a woman from the Women's Battalion, 1917.
Maria Bochkareva and Emmeline Pankhurst
Journalist Isaac Don Levin, based on Bochkareva’s stories, wrote a book about her life, which was published in 1919 under the title “Yashka” and was translated into several languages.
After visiting London, where she met with King George V and secured his financial support, Bochkareva arrived in Arkhangelsk in August 1918. She hoped to rouse local women to fight the Bolsheviks, but things went poorly. General Marushevsky, in an order dated December 27, 1918, announced that the conscription of women to jobs unsuitable for them military service will be a disgrace for the population of the Northern region, and forbade Bochkareva to wear the officer’s uniform self-proclaimed to her.
IN next year she was already in Tomsk under the banner of Admiral Kolchak, trying to put together a battalion of nurses. She regarded Kolchak’s flight from Omsk as a betrayal and voluntarily came to the local authorities, who took her undertaking not to leave.
Siberian period (19th year, on the Kolchak fronts...)
A few days later, during a church service, 31-year-old Bochkareva was taken into custody by security officers. Clear evidence of her treason or collaboration with the whites could not be found, and the proceedings dragged on for four months. According to the Soviet version, on May 16, 1920, she was shot in Krasnoyarsk on the basis of a resolution by the head of the Special Department of the Cheka of the 5th Army, Ivan Pavlunovsky, and his deputy Shimanovsky. But the conclusion of the Russian prosecutor's office on the rehabilitation of Bochkareva in 1992 said that there was no evidence of her execution.
Women's battalions
M.V. Rodzianko, who arrived in April on a propaganda trip to the Western Front, where Bochkareva served, specifically asked for a meeting with her and took her with him to Petrograd to agitate “war to a victorious end” among the troops of the Petrograd garrison and among the delegates of the soldiers’ congress deputies of the Petrograd Soviet. In a speech to the delegates of the congress, Bochkareva first voiced her idea of creating shock women’s “death battalions.” After this, she was invited to a meeting of the Provisional Government to repeat her proposal.
“They told me that my idea was great, but I needed to report to Supreme Commander Brusilov and consult with him. I went with Rodzianka to Brusilov’s Headquarters. Brusilov told me in his office that you have hope for women, and that the formation of a women’s battalion is the first in the world. Can't women disgrace Russia? I told Brusilov that I myself am not confident in women, but if you give me full authority, then I guarantee that my battalion will not disgrace Russia. Brusilov told me that he believes me, and will try in every possible way to help in the formation of a women’s volunteer battalion.”
Battalion recruits
On June 21, 1917, on the square near St. Isaac's Cathedral, a solemn ceremony was held to present the new military unit with a white banner with the inscription “The first female military command of the death of Maria Bochkareva.” On June 29, the Military Council approved the regulation “On the formation of military units from female volunteers.”
“Kerensky listened with obvious impatience. It was obvious that he had already made a decision on this matter. He doubted only one thing: whether I could maintain high morale and ethics in this battalion. Kerensky said that he would allow me to begin formation immediately<…>When Kerensky accompanied me to the door, his gaze settled on General Polovtsev. He asked him to provide me with any necessary assistance. I almost suffocated with happiness."
The commander of the Petrograd Military District, General P. A. Polovtsov, inspects the 1st Petrograd Women's Death Battalion. Summer 1917
First of all, front-line soldiers, of whom there were a certain number in the imperial army, were enrolled in the ranks of the “shock women”, some of them were St. George's Knights, and women from civil society - noblewomen, student students, teachers, workers. The percentage of female soldiers and Cossack women was large: 38. Bochkareva’s battalion included girls from many of Russia’s famous noble families, as well as simple peasant women and servants. Maria N. Skrydlova, the admiral’s daughter, served as Bochkareva’s adjutant. By nationality, the volunteers were mostly Russian, but there were also other nationalities - Estonians, Latvians, Jews, and Englishmen. The number of women's formations ranged from 250 to 1,500 fighters each. The formation took place entirely on a voluntary basis.
The appearance of Bochkareva’s unit served as an impetus for the formation of women’s units in other cities of the country (Kiev, Minsk, Poltava, Kharkov, Simbirsk, Vyatka, Smolensk, Irkutsk, Baku, Odessa, Mariupol), but due to the intensifying processes of destruction of the entire state, the creation of these women’s units parts were never completed.
Recruit training
Women's Battalion. Camping life training.
At the training camp in Levashevo
Mounted Scouts of the Women's Battalion
Volunteers during rest hours
Officially, as of October 1917, there were: 1st Petrograd Women's Death Battalion, 2nd Moscow Women's Death Battalion, 3rd Kuban Women's Shock Battalion (infantry); Marine women's team (Oranienbaum); Cavalry 1st Petrograd Battalion of the Women's Military Union; Minsk separate guard squad of female volunteers. The first three battalions visited the front, only Bochkareva’s 1st battalion was in battle
The mass of soldiers and the Soviets perceived the “women’s death battalions” (as well as all other “shock units”) with hostility. The front-line soldiers did not call the shock workers anything other than prostitutes. At the beginning of July, the Petrograd Soviet demanded that all “women’s battalions” be disbanded, both because they were “unsuitable for military service” and because the formation of such battalions “is a secretive maneuver of the bourgeoisie who want to wage the war to a victorious end.”
Ceremonial farewell to the front of the First Women's Battalion. Photo. Moscow Red Square. summer 1917
The women's battalion goes to the front
On June 27, the “battalion of death” consisting of two hundred volunteers arrived in the active army - in the rear units of the 1st Siberian Army Corps of the 10th Army of the Western Front in the region of Molodechno. On July 7, the 525th Kyuryuk-Darya Infantry Regiment of the 132nd Infantry Division, which included shock troops, received an order to take positions at the front near the town of Krevo. The "Death Battalion" took up positions on the right flank of the regiment. On July 8, the first battle of Bochkareva’s battalion took place. 170 women took part in the bloody battles that lasted until July 10. The regiment repelled 14 German attacks. The volunteers launched counterattacks several times. Colonel V.I. Zakrzhevsky wrote in a report on the actions of the “death battalion”:
Bochkareva’s detachment behaved heroically in battle, always in the front line, serving on an equal basis with the soldiers. When the Germans attacked, on his own initiative he rushed as one into a counterattack; brought cartridges, went to secrets, and some to reconnaissance; With their work, the death squad set an example of bravery, courage and calmness, raised the spirit of the soldiers and proved that each of these female heroes is worthy of the title of warrior of the Russian revolutionary army.
Private of the Women's Battalion Pelageya Saigin
The battalion lost 30 people killed and 70 wounded. Maria Bochkareva, herself wounded in this battle for the fifth time, spent 1½ months in the hospital and was promoted to the rank of second lieutenant.
In hospital
Such heavy losses of volunteers also had other consequences for the women’s battalions - on August 14, the new Commander-in-Chief L. G. Kornilov, by his Order, prohibited the creation of new women’s “death battalions” for combat use, and the already created units were ordered to be used only in auxiliary areas (security functions, communications , sanitary organizations). This led to the fact that many volunteers who wanted to fight for Russia with weapons in their hands wrote statements asking to be dismissed from the “death units”
One of the women's death battalions (1st Petrograd, under the command of the Life Guards Kexholm Regiment: 39 Staff Captain A.V. Loskov), together with cadets and other units loyal to the oath, took part in the defense of the Winter Palace in October 1917. , which housed the Provisional Government.
On November 7, the battalion, stationed near the Levashovo station of the Finnish Railway, was supposed to go to the Romanian Front (according to the command’s plans, each of the formed women’s battalions was supposed to be sent to the front to raise the morale of male soldiers - one to each of the four fronts of the Eastern Front) .
1st Petrograd Women's Battalion
But on November 6, battalion commander Loskov received orders to send the battalion to Petrograd “for a parade” (in fact, to guard the Provisional Government). Loskov, having learned about the real task, not wanting to drag volunteers into a political confrontation, withdrew the entire battalion from Petrograd back to Levashovo, with the exception of the 2nd company (137 people).
2nd company of the 1st Petrograd women's battalion
The headquarters of the Petrograd Military District tried, with the help of two platoons of volunteers and units of cadets, to ensure the construction of the Nikolaevsky, Dvortsovy and Liteiny bridges, but the Sovietized sailors thwarted this task.
Volunteers on the square in front of the Winter Palace. November 7, 1917
The company took up defensive positions on the ground floor of the Winter Palace in the area to the right of the main gate to Millionnaya Street. At night, during the storming of the palace by the revolutionaries, the company surrendered, was disarmed and taken to the barracks of the Pavlovsky, then the Grenadier regiment, where some shockwomen were “treated badly” - as a specially created commission of the Petrograd City Duma established, three shockwomen were raped (although, perhaps, few dared to admit it), one committed suicide. On November 8, the company was sent to its previous location in Levashovo.
After the October Revolution, the Bolshevik government, which set a course for the complete collapse of the army, immediate defeat in the war and the conclusion of a separate peace with Germany, was not interested in preserving the “shock units.” On November 30, 1917, the Military Council of the still old War Ministry issued an order to disband the “women’s death battalions.” Shortly before this, on November 19, by order of the War Ministry, all female military personnel were promoted to officers, “for military merit.” However, many volunteers remained in their units until January 1918 and beyond. Some of them moved to the Don and took part in the fight against Bolshevism in the ranks of the White movement.
Women's Death Battalion 1917
March forward, forward to battle,
Women soldiers!
The dashing sound calls you into battle,
The adversaries will tremble!
From the song of the 1st Petrograd Women's Battalion
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On June 19, 1917, the Provisional Government formed the first women's death battalion. No other army in the world knew such a female military formation.
The idea of creating such battalions belongs to M. L. Bochkareva, who made a call in May 1917: “Citizens, all who value the freedom and happiness of Russia, hurry to join our ranks, hurry before it is too late to stop the decay of our dear Motherland. By direct participation in hostilities, not sparing our lives, we, citizens, must raise the spirit of the army and through educational and propaganda work in its ranks, evoke a reasonable understanding of the duty of a free citizen to the Motherland!
M. Bochkareva firmly stated: “If I undertake the formation of a women’s battalion, then I will be responsible for every woman in it. I will introduce strict discipline and will not allow them to speak or roam the streets. When Mother Russia perishes, there is neither time nor need to control the army through committees. Although I am a simple Russian peasant, I know that only discipline can save the Russian army. In the battalion I propose, I will have complete sole authority and achieve obedience. Otherwise, there is no need to create a battalion.”
June 2, 1917 on the square St. Isaac's Cathedral A solemn ceremony took place to present the new military unit with a banner with the inscription “The first female military command of the death of Maria Bochkareva.”
Parade on St. Isaac's Square. March of Maria Bochkareva with the banner of the death battalion.
Banner of the Women's Death Battalion.Ceremonial farewell to the front of the First Women's Battalion. Photo. Moscow Red Square. 1917
G.
The attitude towards women's battalions was ambiguous, often wary. Supreme Commander-in-Chief Alexei Brusilov expressed doubt whether they should be introduced into the Russian army, noting that such formations do not exist anywhere else in the world. The appeal of the Moscow Women's Union said: “Not a single people in the world has reached such a shame that instead of male deserters weak women went to the front. The women's army will be the one living water, which will make the Russian hero wake up.”
Women's Death Battalion. Summer 1917
Soldier of the Women's Death Battalion
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On June 29, the Military Council approved the regulation “On the formation of military units from female volunteers.” The main goal was considered to have a patriotic impact on male soldiers through the direct participation of women in combat. As M. Bochkareva herself wrote, “soldiers in this great war they are tired and need to be helped... morally.”
Since there were enough women willing to enlist in military service, the Main Directorate of the General Staff took the initiative to divide all volunteers into three categories. The first was to include those who directly fight at the front; in the second category - auxiliary units (communications, railway security); and, finally, in the third - nurses in hospitals.
According to the conditions of admission, a woman aged 16 years (with parental permission) to 40 years old could join the women’s death battalion. At the same time, there was an educational qualification. Women had to undergo a medical examination, which primarily screened out pregnant women.
The commander of the Petrograd Military District, General Polovtsev, inspects the battalion.
Photo. Summer 1917
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Strict discipline was established in the women's battalions: waking up at five in the morning, studying until ten in the evening and simple soldier's food. Women had their heads shaved. Black shoulder straps with a red stripe and an emblem in the form of a skull and two crossed bones symbolized “an unwillingness to live if Russia perishes.”
Women's death battalions. June 1917 - November 1918. At the hairdresser's. Haircut bald. Photo. Summer 1917
G.
M. Bochkareva banned any party propaganda and the organization of any councils and committees in her battalion. Due to the harsh discipline, a split occurred in the still-forming battalion: Some of the women, who fell under the influence of Bolshevik propaganda, attempted to form a soldiers’ committee and sharply criticized the strict discipline. There was a split in the battalion. M. Bochkareva was summoned alternately to the district commander, General Polovtsev and Kerensky. Both conversations took place heatedly, but Bochkareva stood her ground: she would not have any committees!
She reorganized her battalion. About 300 women remained in it, and it became the 1st Petrograd shock battalion. And from the remaining women the 2nd Moscow Shock Battalion was formed.
The 2nd Moscow battalion was given a lot to be among last defenders Provisional Government during the October Revolution. The defense of the Winter Palace for women ended disastrously.
While Bochkarev’s team was fighting at the front, the 2nd women’s battalion, consisting of expelled “frivolous persons”, was stationed at the Levashovo station of the Finnish Railway. The day before the October coup, the unit was inspected by Kerensky, who selected a second company to guard the Winter Palace. The rest returned to the camps, a few days later they were disarmed by the Red Guards and sent home. The women defenders selected to protect the palace on the eve of hostilities were taken to the Winter House Church, with tears in their eyes the priest blessed them for their exploits, and in the evening the building began to be shelled. The battalion shockwomen were taken out of the palace and ordered to go on the attack. A hail of bullets immediately fell on the poor fellows, knocking them all to the ground. The battalion's attack quickly fizzled out, the women were surrounded, ordered to surrender their weapons and go to the barracks. On the way, the crowd insulted the warriors walking under escort, everyone demanded their death. Subsequently, the corpses of several dozen surrendered defenders of the Winter Palace were found in Petrograd canals.
Women's battalion guarding the Winter Palace.
October Revolution of 1917. Second women's battalion on Palace Square. Photo 1917
G.
Baptism of fire 1st Battalion accepted July 9, 1917. The women came under heavy artillery and machine gun fire. Although the reports said that “Bochkareva’s detachment behaved heroically in battle,” it became clear that female military units could not become an effective fighting force. After the battle, 200 female soldiers remained in the ranks. Losses were 30 killed and 70 wounded. M. Bochkareva was promoted to the rank of second lieutenant, and subsequently to lieutenant.
In service. Photo. Summer 1917
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All over the country, women's units were being formed. Officially, as of October 1917, the following were listed: 1st Petrogradsky women's death battalion , 2nd Moscow women's death battalion , 3rd Kuban women's shock battalion. Women's communications teams were also organized: in Petrograd - 2, in Moscow - 2, in Kiev - 5, in Saratov - 2. The spontaneous formation of women's teams took place in Kiev, Minsk, Poltava, Kharkov, Simbirsk, Vyatka, Smolensk, Irkutsk, Baku , Odessa, Mariupol. In June, the order to form the first Naval women's team was announced. The formation took place entirely on a volunteer basis.
Raising funds for the creation of the 4th Infantry Women's Signal Brigade.
In January 1918, the women's battalions were formally disbanded, but many of their members continued to serve in units of the White Guard armies.
Maria Bochkareva herself took an active part in the White movement. On behalf of General Kornilov, she went to the United States to ask for help to fight the Bolsheviks. Upon returning to Russia on November 10, 1919, M. Bochkareva met with Admiral Kolchak. And on his instructions, she formed a women’s sanitary detachment of 200 people. In November 1919, after the capture of Omsk by the Red Army, she was arrested and shot.
Drill exercises. Summer 1917
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Maria Bochkareva
,
Emmeline Pankhurst
and soldiers of the Women's Battalion
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In service.
In field.
At lunch.
Sources:
Memoirs of M.A. Rychkova.
We will not hide that the reason for writing this article was watching the film “Battalion” by director Dmitry Meskhiev. Moreover, the film itself seemed not as interesting as its real prototypes. Going to “Battalion”, you expect stingy male tears to well up in your eyes. But in fact, the true drama of those days, filmed in our days, was more cruel and chilling than Meskhiev’s picture. We have not yet learned how to handle dramatic plots according to all the canons. No matter how much they swear at films produced abroad, they know how to make films there. So much so that it’s not a sin to shed a tear. But it’s good that such topics began to be raised. The heroes of the First World War, who were undeservedly forgotten and subjected to oblivion due to their disagreement with the policies of Soviet and communist ideologists, are now gaining recognition.
Maria Bochkareva
It is with this name that the formation of the first women’s death battalion is associated, which, in fact, is the subject of the story in Meskhiev’s film. Her fate is very indicative, as an example of the traditional Russian character, when from dirt through all obstacles a person reached recognition and glory among worthy people, and then paid for it with interest. A peasant woman who became the commander of an entire battalion, received many awards, and was recognized by many officers as an equal. What had to happen in the life of this woman for her to turn from a representative of the fairer sex into a soldier.
Born into a poor peasant family, Maria Bochkareva soon left with her parents for Siberia, where they were promised land and government subsidies. But as often happens, they lured us with bread and butter, but in reality it turned out to be a big deal. It was impossible to overcome poverty; they were managed as best they could. Therefore, her parents had to marry Maria off at the age of 15. But this marriage did not last long. Her betrothed, despite his 23 years, was a serious alcoholic, and in the heat of ensuing insanity, he began to beat his wife. Masha could not stand this behavior and ran away from her unlucky hubby. She ran to the local butcher Yakov Buk. But that one also turned out to be a gift from fate. First, he was arrested in 1912 for robbery, and a little later Yakov received an even longer sentence for participating in a Honghuz gang. His current wife followed him to each of the places of detention, but only until he, too, began to drink and began to repeat the mistakes of his previous chosen one.
Just at this time, the First World War broke out, and Maria Bochkareva (by the way, she got her last name from her first husband) decided to volunteer for the front. At first they didn’t want to accept her at all, but then they agreed to put the young girl into service in the medical troops. For some time, helping the wounded, she did not give up hope of being transferred to the front. Which happened just a few weeks later. At the front, Bochkareva became a phenomenon. Experiencing regular rounds of cruel mockery from the soldiers, she fought fiercely and selflessly in battle. Therefore, soon the bullying ended, and she began to be treated as an equal. The result of his service in the ranks of the Russian Army on the fronts of the First World War was the rank of non-commissioned officer, the St. George Cross, 3 medals of distinction and 2 wounds.
But there were troubled times just around the corner.
Creation of a women's death battalion
The provisional government could not hold the front. The activities of Soviet agitators undermined rear support, and rebellion and mutiny were brewing in the ranks of the soldiers themselves. People, tired of the war, were ready to throw down their weapons and go home. In such a situation, senior officers demanded that strict measures be taken to introduce disciplinary penalties, including the execution of deserters. But the chairman of the provisional government was General A.F. Krymov, who is remembered by us for the fate of his life. Kerensky, he had his own opinion on this matter. At his request, instead of introducing a harsh suppression of disobedience, a decision was made to form a women’s battalion in the ranks of the Russian army in order to increase the morale of the soldiers and shame those who laid down their arms without ending the war.
The best commander for such a unit could only be Maria Bochkareva. At the urgent request of the officers, Kerensky personally instructs Maria to lead the detachment and begin staffing it immediately. Those were desperate times, many people felt pain for the Fatherland, even women. Therefore, there were enough volunteers. There were many women who served, but there were also civilians. There was a special influx from widows and soldiers' wives. Noble maidens also walked. In total, the first recruitment into the battalion consisted of about 2,000 women and girls who decided to help their country in such an unusual way for them.
Kerensky listened with obvious impatience. It was obvious that he had already made up his mind on this matter. I doubted only one thing: whether I could maintain high morale and morality in this battalion. Kerensky said that he would allow me to begin formation immediately<…>When Kerensky accompanied me to the door, his gaze settled on General Polovtsev. He asked him to provide me with any necessary assistance. I almost suffocated with happiness.
M.L. Bochkareva.
Maria Bochkareva’s life was not all sugar, so she long ago stopped considering herself just a woman. She is a soldier, an officer, so she demanded the same approach from her subordinates. There shouldn't have been women in her battalion; she needed soldiers. Of the 2,000 people, 300 completed training; only 200 returned to the front. The rest could not withstand the stress and barracks situation. Before being sent to the front on June 21, 1917, the new unit of troops was presented with a white banner, on which there was an inscription that read “The first women's military command of the death of Maria Bochkareva.” The women went to the front.
At the front, Bochkareva’s battalion heard a lot of “pleasant things” from the soldiers. The gentlemen with red bows in their buttonholes, imbued with the new revolutionary ideology, especially ranted. They considered the arrival of female soldiers to be a provocation, which was actually not far from the truth. After all, women howling and dying with weapons in their hands are a disgrace to healthy men who have laid down their arms, who were sitting in the rear and drinking German swill.
Arriving on the Western Front, the battalion of female soldiers entered its first battle on July 9. Positions in this part of the front constantly changed hands. Having repulsed the attack of German troops, Bochkareva’s unit took enemy positions and for a long time held them back. The heaviest battles were accompanied by equally heavy losses. By the time of direct hostilities, the battalion commander had 170 bayonets at his disposal. By the end of a series of protracted battles, only 70 remained in the ranks. The rest were listed as killed and seriously wounded. Maria herself received another wound.
Bochkareva’s detachment behaved heroically in battle, always in the front line, serving on an equal basis with the soldiers. When the Germans attacked, on his own initiative he rushed as one into a counterattack; brought cartridges, went to secrets, and some to reconnaissance; With their work, the death squad set an example of bravery, courage and calmness, raised the spirit of the soldiers and proved that each of these female heroes is worthy of the title of warrior of the Russian revolutionary army.
V. I. Zakrzhevsky
Having seen enough of the blood of female soldiers, the commander of the Russian Army, General Lavr Kornilov, banned the formation of women’s detachments, and sent the current detachments to the rear and for sanitary provision. This was truly the last battle of Maria Bochkareva’s death battalion.
Legacy of a Warrior Woman
Over time, despite Kornilov’s order, other battalions will be created in the army, numerically and high-quality composition which will consist only of women. During the civil war, Bochkareva, due to persecution by the new government, will leave the country in search of help for the White movement. Returning to the country and starting to form new units to fight the Bolsheviks, she will be arrested and thrown into prison. According to documentary evidence, in 1920 Maria Bochkareva was shot for aiding the White movement and devotion to the ideas of General Kornilov. But according to other sources, she was released from prison, married a third time and lived under a false name on the Chinese Eastern Railway.
During her trip abroad, she met US President Woodrow Wilson, King George V of England, and shortly before her arrest she was received by Admiral Kolchak. If you believe the documentary reports, she lived only 31 years, but during this time she saw so much that people would not have seen in 2 or even 3 lives. Her name has been forgotten for aiding the White movement, but the advantages of the current times are that individuals like her are receiving rehabilitation. Not only official at the government level, but also popular. Our magazine is dedicated to men, but this woman was more worthy than many of us, so it is our duty to talk about her and remember her.
