# 4: Rape of the Women's Battalion explained — Ten Days That Shook the World

> Chapter companion for Ten Days That Shook the World by John Reed.

## What happens

Following the storming of the Winter Palace, anti-Bolshevik press and the City Duma spread sensational stories about the Women's Battalion, claiming women were thrown from windows, violated, or driven to suicide. The Duma's investigation found most claims exaggerated: no women were thrown from windows, three were violated, and one committed suicide citing disappointment in her ideals. On November 21st, the Military Revolutionary Committee officially dissolved the Women's Battalion at the women's own request, and they returned to civilian life.

## Themes in this chapter

### Counterrevolution and Civil War

Sensational stories about the Women's Battalion were used by anti-Bolshevik press and the City Duma to fuel opposition and delegitimize the Bolshevik government.

### Struggle for Legitimacy and Power

The competing narratives about the treatment of the Women's Battalion reflect the broader battle for public opinion and political legitimacy between Bolsheviks and their opponents.

## Character check-ins

### Madame Tyrkova

Reported to the City Duma commission that the women of the Battalion were initially taken to the Pavlovsky Regiment barracks, where some were badly treated, but most were later at Levashovo or scattered in private houses.

### Dr. Mandelbaum

Testified before the commission that none of the women were thrown from windows, none were wounded, three were violated, and one committed suicide.

## Key lines

> It was said that some of the girl-soldiers had been thrown from the windows into the street, most of the rest had been violated, and many had committed suicide as a result of the horrors they had gone through.

Rumors claimed that women soldiers were thrown out of windows, sexually assaulted, or driven to suicide by the trauma.

_These rumors were later investigated and largely disproven._

> Dr. Mandelbaum, another of the commission, testified drily that none of the women had been thrown out of the windows of the Winter Palace, that none were wounded, that three had been violated, and that one had committed suicide, leaving a note which said that she had been 'disappointed in her ideals.'

Dr. Mandelbaum's testimony refuted the most extreme claims, reporting only three cases of rape and one suicide motivated by ideological disillusionment.

_The commission's findings contradicted the sensationalist press reports._

> On November 21st the Military Revolutionary Committee officially dissolved the Women's Battalion, at the request of the girls themselves, who returned to civilian clothes.

The Women's Battalion was formally disbanded on November 21st after the women themselves requested to return to civilian life.

_This marked the end of the unit's military role._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/ten_days_that_shook_the_world_se/chapters/4-rape-of-the-women-s-battalion
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/ten_days_that_shook_the_world_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/ten_days_that_shook_the_world_se/chapters