Battalion of Death : Russia s Controversial Women s Battalion in World War I
The roles of women in World War I took an interesting turn in 1917, when Russia looked to her brave female soldiers to boost morale.
Here s What You Need to Know: Among the so-called Amazons crossing the gender line was Maria “Yasha” Botchkareva.
By spring 1917, Russia had borne the heaviest burden of World War I. Russian reports counted more than six million men killed, wounded, or interned as prisoners of war. This enormous toll had bled the reserve pool of young Russian peasants nearly dry. The Russian Imperial Treasury was effectively bankrupt. Tsar Nicholas was forced to abdicate in March, but the new Russian Revolutionary Provisional Government continued the war against Germany. Its ability to raise morale, however, was scant. Bolshevik antiwar leaflets circulating among the Russian troops already had become one of the German High Command’s most effective weapons on its Eastern Front. Once