kinopoisk.ru
By Brett Coleman
Partnering with the Miami University History Association and Miami University Russian Club, the Havighurst Center for Russian and Post-Soviet Studies screened Dmitrii Meskhiev’s 2014 Russian film Battalion on Thursday October 27. The film follows the story of the formation of the famous Women’s Battalion of Death and its initial deployment to the front lines during World War I. While the film suffers somewhat from a slow narrative, the end result is a story about a group of courageous women who volunteered to give their lives in defense of their country at a time when many of their male comrades were unwilling to fight. The film in many ways is a validation of the work done by many historians in dispelling the many misperceptions that have formed popular narratives of Russian history.
Two semesters prior to this I was invited to participate in a History Honors Colloquium, which required research and the construction of a thesis. The topic I decided to focus on was the participation of Russian women in combat roles. I had virtually no background in Russian history and therefore much of the knowledge that I did possess consisted of common tropes and stereotypes. I knew that Soviet women had fought in World War II, but assumed that their participation stemmed from the initial havoc wrought by Nazi Germany during Operation Barbarossa. I was surprised to learn that the mobilization of women into combat roles actually had a history during Russia’s participation in World War I. I discovered the memoirs of Maria Bochkareva and learned about the formation of the first of what became a number of all-female combat units, The Women’s Battalion of Death. Bochkareva’s memoir is an invaluable source for understanding a watershed moment in the history of women at war, but perhaps also for rewriting the narrative on Russian patriotism during World War I and the Revolutionary period. A peasant with a rough early life, Bochkareva illustrates the newfound-patriotism and civic identity peasants claimed for themselves during the war. In her memoirs, she alludes to the necessity of self-sacrifice through finishing the war with Germany and to the need for preserving the democratic and free Russia following the March 1917 abdication of the Tsar. This testimony, coupled with the fact that all of the women who formed the female battalions were volunteers, attests to a sense of patriotism that was downplayed by Soviet historians and Western historians who emphasized the defeat of Russia over the contributions of Russia’s people.
While attending the guest lectures hosted by the Havighurst Center this semester, the theme of overturning misperceptions and myths in Russian and world history has been prominent. Joshua Sanborn, argued that the fragmentation of the Russian Empire along ethnic lines during World War I represented the first episode of modern decolonization in history, challenging the western-centric assertion that it began in the post-World War II era. Both Melissa Stockdale and Aaron Retish challenged the argument that a weak sense of Russian national identity and with it, a disenchanted and backwards peasantry, led to revolution in 1917 by shedding light on examples of civic engagement and participation unprecedented in Russia prior to World War I. Peter Holquist discussed the Entente Note of May 1915, which first used the term “crimes against humanity” in a penal sense, as a evidence of a robust Russian legal culture in the 19th century. Holquist’s lecture challenged the American version of the origins of this term, which has focused on the Nuremberg trials as the watershed moment for the establishment of the legal term “crimes against humanity.”
The film Battalion fits into this historiographical trend because it legitimizes the work done by historians in the past few decades following the Soviet Union’s collapse. The Soviet film industry would have never promoted the Women’s Battalion of Death, and in fact degraded the legacy of the women who served in it. Meskhiev’s film allows the new narratives promoted by contemporary historians to enter into popular culture, establishing a link between the academic world and general public. In addition, films such as Battalion and the film Admiral (which will be screened on November 10 at 6:30 in Irvin 002), enable Russians to re-establish their national identity, by pointing to a strong, vibrant history as they continue to build a national legacy out of the ashes of the Soviet Union. I predict that as historians continue to overturn traditional Soviet narratives of history, we will continue to see cooperation with the Russian film industry to introduce these new narratives to the general public in an attempt to consolidate a stronger Russian cultural and national identity.
Brett Coleman is a senior majoring in History.