In this article we will try to tell you about the girls-warriors and women-soldiers, information about which with an enviable frequency emerge in the historical sources of different countries, often causing a feeling of bewilderment, but sometimes - and genuine admiration. We will not talk about the forced fulfillment of military duty: it is clear that during the sieges of cities, sooner or later, women stood up on the walls with weapons in their hands, replacing the dead men. And we will not talk about women, whose military exploits were only an episode in the history of the states in which they appeared. Among these women were heroines of truly epic proportions, like Joan of Arc. There were - adventurers, as if descended from the pages of adventure novels: for example, Cheng Ai Xiao, who, after the death of her husband in 1807, led a pirate flotilla of several hundred ships, or Grace O'Malley, who lived in the 16th century, who had 20 pirate ships. And there were vaudeville characters, like the well-known cavalry girl N. Durova, who (by her own admission) during all the years of military service killed a living creature only once, and an innocent goose became this unfortunate victim. What other useful things this person did in her free time from killing a goose during her military service, and what benefit this masquerade brought to the country, we can only guess. No, we will talk about women who chose the military craft voluntarily and deliberately, and participated in the battles as part of purely female military units. And, of course, we will have to start this article with a story about the Amazons. If only because the mark left by them in art and in world culture is too large and significant to be ignored.
Johann Georg Platzer, "Battle of the Amazons"
The Amazon legends are thousands of years old. Most scientists are skeptical about the stories about them, only some researchers believe that they reflect the memory of the period of matriarchy. And there are very few enthusiasts who are sure that unstable tribal formations consisting only of women for a short time nevertheless arose in different parts of the world, giving rise to legends about beautiful warriors that have come down to our time. The opinion that in their history the Greeks really faced tribes in which women fought on an equal basis with men should be recognized as more justified.
Franz von Stuck, The Amazon and the Centaur, 1901
According to the most common version, the name of the Amazons comes from the Greek phrase a mazos (chestless). This assumption is based on the legend, according to which each warrior burned out or cut out her right chest, which supposedly prevented her from pulling the bowstring. However, the origin of this legend later and to ancient Hellas, whose citizens considered the Amazons to be completely real inhabitants of the Black Sea coast (Pontus of Euxinus), this version probably has nothing to do: Greek artists never depicted chestless Amazons. Therefore, supporters of the Greek origin of this word were asked to interpret the particle "A" in this phrase not as negative, but as amplifying. It turns out "full-breasted". Supporters of the third version drew attention to the fact that warlike virgins are often mentioned in close connection with the cult of the virgin goddess Artemis and suggested that another Greek phrase should be considered the primary principle: a mas so - “touching” (to men). Many historians find the fourth version of the nickname of the warrior maidens convincing, according to which it comes from the Iranian word Hamazan - "warriors." This version is supported by the fact that, according to all sources, the Amazons lived on the territory of nomadic tribes, and they themselves fought exclusively on horses, using Scythian weapons: small spears, bows and double-bladed axes (sagaris). Early depictions of the Amazons appear in Greek-style clothing.
Amazon, depiction on kilik
However, in later drawings, they are dressed in the Persian style and wear tight-fitting trousers and a high, pointed headdress - "kidaris".
The most famous Amazonian of Greek mythology is Hippolyta, from whom Hercules stole a magic belt (feat 9).
Hercules fighting amazon, black-figure hydria
In addition to Hercules, the winner of the Chimera and the tamer of Pegasus Bellerophon and the famous Theseus also had to fight the Amazons. In the latter case, it came to the siege of Athens, which gave rise to a separate and very popular genre of ancient Greek art - "Amazonomachy", that is, the depiction of the battle of the Athenians with the Amazons.
Amazonomachia, ancient Roman sarcophagus
Information about the Amazons can be found in more serious sources. So, in his "History" Herodotus calls the city of Themiscira by the river Fermodon (modern Turkey) as the capital of the state of the Amazons.
Herodotus called the city of Themiscira the capital of the Amazons on the territory of modern Turkey.
Women-warriors in his writings are called "androctones" ("killers of men"), this historian considers the Sarmatians to be the descendants of the Scythians and Amazons. According to other sources, the Amazons originally lived on the shores of Lake Meotian (Sea of Azov), from where they came to Asia Minor, founding the cities of Ephesus, Smyrna (modern Izmir), Sinop, Paphos. Diodorus Siculus reports that the Amazons lived near the Tanais (Don) River, which got its name from the son of the Amazon, Lysippa, who died in it.
Diodorus of Siculus believed that the Amazons lived by the Tanais River
However, this testimony contradicts Strabo's story that the Amazons who communicated with men only once a year left only girls for their upbringing. According to one version, they sent the boys to their fathers, according to the other - they killed.
Less significant may seem to be Homer's story about the participation of the Amazons ("antianeira" - "those who fight like men") in the Trojan War on the side of the opponents of the Greeks. However, it should be remembered that in Ancient Hellas they never doubted the historicity of both Homer and the events he described. Readers believed every word of his works, any fact that got on the pages of the Iliad or Odyssey was considered historical. The famous historian Herodotus argued that Homer lived 400 years before his own time (which can be considered the middle of the 5th century BC), and the Trojan War took place 400 years before Homer. And another great historian, a contemporary of Herodotus Thucydides, devoted three chapters of his fundamental work to comparing the Trojan War with the Peloponnesian War. It is interesting that at the end of the XX - beginning of the XXI century. in northern Turkey, in the province of Samsun, large female burials were found. Bows, quivers, daggers were found next to the remains of the bodies, and an arrowhead stuck out in the skull of one of the victims. Around the same time, similar burials were found in Taman.
At a later time, the Amazons appear in the camp of Alexander the Great: Queen Talestris, at the head of her 300 tribesmen, arrived on a peaceful visit to the great conqueror. Many researchers consider this visit to be a carefully staged performance, the purpose of which was to impress the Persian satraps who went into the service of Alexander and the leaders of the tribes he conquered. The Roman general Gnaeus Pompey was less fortunate, since during one of the campaigns the Amazons allegedly fought on the side of his enemies. Most historians, again, do not trust Pompey's words, claiming that by mentioning the Amazons, he sought to raise his status and give the usual campaign a truly epic scale.
Gnei Pompey, bust
Once again, the Romans met the Amazons not in Asia, but in Europe. These turned out to be quite real women of the Celtic tribes who took part in the battles on an equal basis with men (in Ireland this custom persisted until 697). Tacitus argued that in the army of the Queen of the Itzen tribe, who led the anti-Roman uprising in Britain in 60 BC, there were more women than men. And in the Scandinavian countries there was a custom according to which a woman who was not burdened with a family could become a "maiden with a shield." The Danish historian Saxon Grammaticus reports that in the Battle of Bravelier (circa 750) between the armies of the Swedish king Sigurd Ring and the Danish king Harald Hildetand, 300 "maidens with a shield" fought on the side of the Danes. Moreover, "their shields were small, and their swords were long."
Saxon Grammaticus, who reported on the "maidens with shields" in the Danish army
Later Christopher Columbus had a chance to meet with the "Amazons", who called the islands discovered by him the Virgin Islands because of the crowd of warlike women who attacked his ships. A colorful description of a clash with armed women of one of the Indian tribes cost the Spanish conquistador Francisco Orellana dearly: the great river, which he named after himself, was renamed the Amazon by his contemporaries.
Francisco de Orellana, recklessly reporting his meeting with the Amazons
The legend of the Amazons of South America has long excited the imagination of Europeans. And in the 19th century, the Frenchman Kreva seemed to be lucky: in the jungle he found a village where only women lived. The find did not live up to his expectations: it turned out that, according to the customs of this tribe, wives rejected by their husbands lived in this village.
A funny story happened in Russia during the reign of Catherine II. Talking about the settlement of the Crimea by the Greeks, Potemkin got too carried away and, telling about the bravery of the new colonists, agreed that their wives, supposedly, on an equal basis with men, take part in the war with the Turks. Intrigued, the Empress wished to see these heroic women. As a result, the commander of the Balaklava regiment, Chaponi, was ordered to form an "Amazon company of noble wives and daughters of the Balaklava Greeks, including a hundred persons." The wife of one of the officers of this regiment, Elena Shilyandskaya, was assigned to command her, and she was awarded the rank of captain.
Let's stop for a minute to realize this amazing fact: "Potemkin Amazon" Elena Shilyandskaya became the first female officer in the Russian army!
For several months, the "Amazons" were trained in horse riding and the basics of military science. Finally, in May 1787, they were taken out to meet Catherine II, who was traveling to the Crimea, and the Austrian Emperor Joseph II accompanying her. Their military uniforms were sophisticated and incredibly stylish: a velvet burgundy skirt with gold fringe, a green jacket also trimmed with gold, and a white turban with an ostrich feather. The success of this masquerade surpassed all expectations, but most of all was impressed by Joseph II, who unexpectedly kissed Shilyandskaya on the lips, and this act deeply angered the respectable officer daughters and wives portraying Amazons, which, incidentally, was well within the framework of the legend. “Attention! What are you afraid of? After all, you see that the emperor did not take his lips from me and did not leave me his own,”- with these words, according to eyewitnesses, Shilyandskaya brought order among her subordinates.
Emperor Joseph II, who outraged the chaste "Amazons" of Prince Potemkin with his immoral act
After the Empress's departure, the "company of the Amazons" was disbanded. Shilyandskaya lived to be 95 years old and, since she was a retired officer, she was buried in Simferopol with military honors.
The last Amazons probably lived in Africa in what is now Benin. The "kings" of Dahomey were considered living deities, "Abomey lions", "Brothers of the leopard". In order to prevent the penetration of Europeans into Dahomey, roads were not deliberately built in the country and no river canals were built. Have you already remembered the movie "Black Panther"? Alas, there were no advanced technologies in Dahomey, but there was a cult of various spirits, it was he who became the basis of the Voodoo cult in Haiti. In the 17th century, the third ruler of Dahomey, Aho Hoegbaja, created a powerful army, thanks to which he was able to seize neighboring kingdoms and create a state that existed until the end of the 19th century. The core of this army was female military units. Themselves, these women called N'Nonmiton - "our mothers."
N'Nonmiton
British researcher Richard Burton, who saw the "black Amazons" in 1863, reported: "These women have such a well-developed skeleton and muscles that only by having a breast can determine gender." It is believed that one of the leaders, as bodyguards, took a group of "gbeto" - elephant hunters. Impressed by their high fighting qualities, he later created female units in the field army. The girls in N'Nonmiton were recruited (and immediately given weapons) from the age of eight, armed at first with spears, melee knives and long blades on the shaft, and then also with muskets. Moreover, at the end of the 19th century, King Behanzin bought guns from Germany and formed a detachment of female artillerymen. The N'Nonmiton were believed to be married to the king, but generally remained virgins.
Dahomey Amazon
The status of N'Nonmiton was very high - each of them had personal slaves, including the captive eunuchs. At the beginning of the 19th century, the number of women in the army reached 6,000. In 1890, after long and bloody battles, the French Foreign Legion conquered Dahomey, most of the "black Amazons" died in battle, the rest were disbanded to their homes. The last of the N'Nonmiton died in 1979. In modern Benin, N'Nonmiton is still remembered: during the holidays, women dress up in the clothes of warriors and perform a ritual dance imitating a battle.
Attempts to create separate female military units were also made during World War I, and in Russia. In total, 6 female combat formations were created: the 1st Petrograd female death battalion, the 2nd Moscow female death battalion, the 3rd Kuban female shock battalion; Marine women's team; Cavalry 1st Petrograd battalion of the Women's Military Union, Minsk detached guard squad. They managed to send the Petrograd, Moscow and Kuban battalions to the front. The most famous was the first of them - under the leadership of M. L. Bochkareva. The bulk of the soldiers at the front took the appearance of these formations, to put it mildly, negatively. The front-line soldiers called the "shock women" prostitutes, and the Soviets of Soldiers' Deputies demanded that the battalions be disbanded as "absolutely unsuitable for military service."
“There is no place for a woman in the fields of death, where terror reigns, where blood, dirt and hardships are, where hearts are hardened and morals are terribly coarse. There are many ways of public and state service, which are much more consistent with the vocation of a woman”, - this is the opinion of A. I. Denikin.
Male military uniforms fit these women very poorly, and in the surviving photographs they look very ridiculous and even caricatured.
"Shock women" of the Petrograd women's "Death battalion"
Nevertheless, on July 9, 1917, Bochkareva's battalion entered the battle near Smorgon. After the first attack, he lost a third of his personnel, and Bochkareva herself was severely shell-shocked. The painful impression that this insane attack made on everyone and, especially, the huge number of young women killed and wounded at once led to the fact that the new supreme commander-in-chief L. G. Kornilov forbade the creation of new female military units. Already created parts were prescribed to be used only in auxiliary areas: security functions, communications, sanitary organizations. After that, the vast majority of disaffected women left the army. The rest were united in the "Petrograd women's battalion", one of whose companies was used to guard the Winter Palace.
The most unpleasant thing was that the women were deceived by calling the battalion to the Palace Square to participate in the parade, and then, when the deception was revealed, they asked one of the companies to stay, ostensibly to deliver gasoline from the Nobel plant. According to eyewitnesses, the "shock women" who realized the true state of affairs did not want to participate in this adventure, and only wanted one thing - to get out of the trap of the Winter Palace as soon as possible. Only 13 of them, who were called aristocrats in the company with contempt, expressed a desire to defend the Provisional Government, but were not supported by the rest of the girls. At 10 pm on October 24, the entire company (137 people) laid down their arms. Rumors spread throughout Petrograd that the captured volunteers were “treated badly,” some were even raped, as a result of which one of them committed suicide. However, a certain Mrs. Tyrkova, a member of the Cadet faction of the Petrograd Duma, appointed to the commission to investigate possible incidents, officially declared: “All these girls are not only alive, not only not injured, but also have not been subjected to those terrible insults that we have heard about and read ". Rumors about the suicide of one of the women were confirmed, but it was found that it was caused by personal reasons.
At the end of November, this battalion was disbanded by order of N. V. Krylenko. However, it turned out that the former "shock women" did not have women's clothing, and they were already embarrassed about the military uniform, fearing ridicule, and therefore refused to return home. Then from Smolny were delivered the dresses left over from the students of the Institute of Noble Maidens, and also allocated money for the trip (from the cash desk of the abolished "Committee of the Women's Military Union").
However, during World War II, women still came to the front, and this experience was much more successful. Probably because no one sent female "death battalions" into bayonet attacks. In Great Britain, all unmarried women between the ages of 19 and 30 were subject to compulsory conscription in the women's auxiliary corps. In the women's auxiliary territorial corps, they served as mechanics and anti-aircraft gunners (198,000 people).
British anti-aircraft gunners
British hospital after the Luftwaffe raid
It was in this building that Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor, the future Queen of Great Britain, Elizabeth II, served.
1945: 18-year-old Lieutenant Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor, Auxiliary Territorial Service ambulance driver
In the Women's Auxiliary Service of the Air Force, 182,000 women have served as radio operators, mechanics, photographers, and in aerostatic barrage teams.
British spy plane photographer
Female Air Force pilots ferried aircraft across safe territory.
British Air Force Auxiliary Service
The Women's Auxiliary Service of the Navy was also organized, the women who served in it, for some reason, received the nickname "little birdies".
If in Great Britain women nevertheless participated directly in hostilities (anti-aircraft gunners, groups of aerostatic barrage), then the servicemen of the female auxiliary corps formed in the USA in 1942 served in the army in positions not related to military operations.
But in other countries, things were much more serious. Thus, the Filipino Nieves Fernandez, a school teacher, personally killed about 200 Japanese on the island of Leito - she killed them with a special thin knife.
Nieves Fernandez shows US Army Private Andrew Lupiba how she killed Japanese soldiers
In our country, the 46th Taman Guards Red Banner Order of Suvorov III degree female regiment became famous, which flew combat missions on Po-2 aircraft and female anti-aircraft batteries that defended the airspace of Moscow and other large cities.
Raisa Aronova
Fighter pilot Lydia Litvyak made 170 sorties in less than a year, destroying 12 enemy aircraft personally and three in a group, 1 balloon. On August 1, 1943, she died, 17 days before her 22nd year of birth.
Lydia Litvyak
Thousands of women participated in hostilities as part of partisan detachments, sabotage and reconnaissance groups. Lyudmila Pavlichenko became the most productive female sniper - she destroyed 309 enemy soldiers.
Sniper Lyudmila Pavlichenko
Snipers of the 528th Rifle Regiment of M. S. Polivanov (destroyed 140 Germans) and Kovshova N. V. (destroyed 167 Germans) On August 14, 1942, near the village of Sutoki in the Parfinsky district of the Novgorod region, having shot the entire supply of cartridges, they blew themselves up with grenades along with the enemy soldiers who surrounded them.
Snipers of the 528th Rifle Regiment of M. S. Polivanov and Kovshova H. The.
But all these examples are, rather, the exception to the rule: the modest front-line nurses and doctors of field hospitals were much more useful in the war. Recognizing their merits, Marshal Rokossovsky said: "We won the war wounded."
Svetlana Nesterova, "Nurse"
And that seems absolutely fair. Because "the war does not have a woman's face."
