Lyudmila Fenglova and I have been discussing the issue of women in a Russian army since the first women were enlisted in the army in 1921. We have been trying to solve the problem of women in an army that was then in the first stage of creation. Today things are different, and we must be very proud of that, including us, as scientists and historians.

What has been the evolution, in the course of Russia’s evolution, in the course of the country’s history. The changes?

A whole historical series, as you just heard. Since the creation of the Empire of the Tsars, Russia was not the first to create an army (in that era, there were several military corps in Russia which were not used). The idea of creating an army came during the period when the British, Swedes and others were expanding their territories in the south and east. The French, the Spanish and the Germans also had the idea of creating an army. The same time, the Chinese were organizing a military academy with some military officers. The idea of creating an army was brought up by the German generals Heinz Staklof and Erich von Falkenhayn in the course of the First World War, and that was a common idea. After the revolution, the whole history of Russia was determined by the revolutionary process, that is, by the revolution of 1905. It was the time of the civil war, that is, the time of the war of the republics.

What are the reasons for the creation of a women’s army.

There have been only two reasons: first, the economic needs of the Russian people from the time. That is why the government decided to create a women’s army—that is, in 1905: not to do anything else—the war of the republics. Then, the need for the women’s army was very urgent, because the country (the country of the Tsars) was going to be attacked by the Germans or the German-Austrian allies, and we were going to get the majority of fighting men and to keep the balance. In those conditions, the women’s army was created. And secondly, as a reaction to the war between the republics and the Tsars, the republics (the Russian republics) saw the need of a special army for internal repression or as a military instrument. In those circumstances, the army created special service for women that went right to the