Women's Battalion

Common card · No. 310187

Women's Battalions (Russian: Женские батальоны, romanized: Zhenskiye batal'ony) were all-female combat units formed after the February Revolution by the Russian Provisional Government, in a last-ditch effort to inspire the mass of war-weary soldiers to continue fighting in World War I. In the spring of 1917, Kerensky, the Russian Ministry of War authorized the creation of sixteen separate all-female military formations. Four were designated as infantry battalions, eleven slated as communications detachments and a singular naval unit. Already some women had successfully petitioned to join regular military units, and with the planning of the Kerensky Offensive, a number began pressing the new Provisional Government to create special women's battalions. These women, along with a number of high-ranking members of the Russian government and military administration, believed that female soldiers would have significant propaganda value, their example revitalizing the weary and demoralized men...

Read on Wikipedia · Image Карл Булла, Public domain