They Fought for the Motherland: Russia's Women Soldiers in World War I and the Revolution

Modern War Studies

by Laurie S. Stoff

Women have participated in war throughout history, but their experience in Russia during the First World War was truly exceptional. Between the war's beginning and the October Revolution of 1917, approximately 6,000 women answered their country's call. These courageous women became media stars throughout Europe and America, but were brushed aside by Soviet chroniclers and until now have been largely neglected by history. Laurie Stoff draws on deep archival research into previously unplumbed material, including many first-person accounts, to examine the roots, motivations, and legacy of these women. She reveals that Russia was the only nation in World War I that systematically employed women in the military, marking the first time that a government run by men had organized women for combat. And although they were originally envisioned as propaganda--promoting patriotism and citizenship to inspire the thousands of males who had been deserting or refusing to fight--Russian women also proved themselves more than capable in combat. Describing the formation, provisioning, and training of the units, Stoff sheds light on their social and educational backgrounds, while recounting a number of amazing individual stories. She tells how Maria Bochkareva, commander of the First Russian Women's Battalion of Death, and her unit met its baptism of fire in combat and how Bochkareva later traveled to the U.S. and met President Wilson. We also meet Maria Bocharnikova, who served with the First Petrograd Women's Battalion that defended the Winter Palace during the Bolshevik Revolution. Stoff also chronicles the exploits of the Second Moscow Women's Battalion of Death, Third Kuban Women's Shock Battalion, and the First Women's Naval Detachment. Stoff's remarkable account rescues from oblivion an important but still little-known aspect of Russia's experience in World War I. It also provides new insights into gender roles during a pivotal period of Russia's development and resonates with the current debates over the role of women in warfare.

Genres: History, Russia, Nonfiction, Russian History, World War I

234 pages, Hardcover

First published November 15, 2006

Reviews

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dr. Stoff's work covers not only the formation of the units themselves, but the gender related issues of the employment of women troops. Her research shows that female soldiers have a long history in Russian history before World War One. During that war, supporters hoped that using female troops would be an outlet or women's energies, but also a way of revitalizing the flagging Russian war effort by inspiring male soldiers to fight harder.
Stoff shows the difficulties these units had--not only in recruiting enough soldiers, but in the hostilities they faced from skeptics and critics who accused the women of sustaining either the Imperial government or the "bourgeois war" with the allied western powers (a Bolshevik complaint). Although some saw combat, most did not. Their potential fizzled in the wake of societal pressures, including the events of the Revolution itself, and a lack of meaningful support beyond setting them up as examples of men's failure to prosecute the war.

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

They fought for the Motherland is a painstainkingly researched history of Russia's women soldiers in WWI. It is almost overwhelming in its detail. quite a remarkable account. Amust-read for the history buff.

[Shrike58 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Documenting one of the weirder adventures of the Great War, one would have expected the attempt to shame Russian men into fighting by fielding units of Russian women to fail. At least it's another indicator that Alexander Kerensky's provisional government had very little future if it was forced to adopt such counter-intuitive options. Still, one can only admire the Russian women who choose to put life, limb and honor on the line, and Stoff does a good job of describing the trends in Russian society that made this development possible. In particular there is the case of Maria Bochkareva, a hard-bitten peasant woman who was the most notable of these soldiers, and who would have been a good drill sergeant in any-man's army.

Originally written: November 16, 2013.

[Rowan Siebes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Because showing off how both feminism and matriachs suck deserves a tap on the shoulder.

Fine. Maybe it was a bit biased.

Don't mind me.

[Fishface · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another funny-little-corner-of-history type of book, covering the brief moment in time when the Russian army started an all-female branch that succeeded in getting into combat.