Detail from a 1898 map of St. Petersburg, the Russian capital, from a German atlas. Central St Petersburg, or Petrograd, is on the Neva River. Key landmarks from top to bottom include the Peter and Paul Fortress, which served as a prison, Nevski Prospect, a primary boulevard south of the Fortress, and the Mariyinsky Theater.
St Petersburg (Petrograd); Neva River, Peter and Paul Fortress; Nevski Prospect, Mariyinsky Theater
"'Men and women citizens!' I heard my voice say. 'Our mother is perishing. Our mother is Russia. I want to help to save her. I want women whose hearts are loyal, whose souls are pure, whose aims are high. With such women setting an example of self-sacrifice, you men will realize your duty in this grave hour!'—Before I had time to realize it I was already in a photographer's studio, and there had my portrait taken. The following day this picture appeared at the head of big posters pasted all over the city, announcing my appearance at the Mariyinski Theatre for the purpose of organizing a Women's Battalion of Death—"
Maria Bochkareva followed Alexander Kerensky, newly appointed Russia's Minister of War, and his wife, in speaking at Petrograd's Mariyinski Theater on May 21, 1917 to raise recruits for a Women's Battalion of Death. When she spoke, Bochkareva had already been serving in the Russian army since November, 1914. After winnowing 2,000 volunteers down to a fighting force of about 300, her battalion of women would fight in the Kerensky Offensive in July, 1917, a battle in which she would be wounded for the third time. By August, 1918, Bochkareva had traveled to the United States, where she dictated her memoir and met with President Woodrow Wilson, and to the United Kingdom, where she met with King George, before returning to Russia. In the Russian Civil War, she opposed the Bolsheviks, who captured and executed her on May 16, 1920.
The Virago Book of Women and the Great War by Joyce Marlow, Editor, page 276, copyright © Joyce Marlow 1998, publisher: Virago Press, publication date: 1999
1917-05-21, 1917, May, Battalion of Death, Maria Bochkareva, Bochkareva, Petrograd, Petrograd map, Mariyinsky Theater
