Historical Context

“This unheard of attack on our country is an unparalleled act of perfidy in the history of civilized nation’s.”​​​​​​​
~ Foreign Minister Molotov

 “Communist party propagandists proclaimed that under the Soviet order, women were equal to men socially and legally, but it was not a given that women could join the army wholesale in peace or war.” said Roger Reese, author of Soviet Women at War. Women served as nurses and combatants in the Imperial Russian Army during World War I. As many as 50,000 women served in the new Red Army during the Russian Civil War (1917-1922). Many sources recognize Turkish pilot Sabiha Gokcen as the world’s first female fighter pilot. This is incorrect. Russian female pilots were the first in combat and fighters. “In 1925, Zinaida Kokorina was recognized as the Soviet Union’s first female military pilot, the first woman in the world to hold both military rank and fly military aircraft.” Despite this, “there was no consensus on the need for women to serve in the armed forces, nor was there much demand by women to do so - as it made clear by the complete lack of female volunteers for the conflicts with Japan in August 1939, Poland in September 1939, and Finland in November 1939.” 

Fischer, Louis. Stalin at the Tehran Conference in 1943. (US Signal Corps).

After World War I, women had a new confidence in flying. “The period between World War I and World War II is known as the golden age in aviation. One phase in Stalin’s plan for rapid industrialization included advancements in aviation. In 1938, the Soviet Union had the largest air force in the world.” In 1939, the British established the Air Transport Auxiliary, a non-combat organization and 1 in 8 pilots were women. The United States mirrored this idea and formed the Women’s Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron.

"The nature of the general conflict they were involved in and the unique role they were preforming as women resulted in an intensity of experience which few men on any theater of the war could equal. For those who survived, it gave them an almost unassailable self confidence. It also gave some of them a deep sense of humility."
~ Bruce Myles,  Author of Night Witches: The Untold Story of Soviet Women in Combat

 “On June 22, 1941, Operation Barbarossa began. Hitler moved the largest surprise invasion force in the history of warfare into place along the 1,800 mile long Soviet Union front.” This was the largest and quickest military operation in history. “Within one week, the Germans killed, captured, or wounded 600,000 Soviet Union troops. Even though the Soviets had more manpower and equipment, they were not prepared, they lacked leadership, training, and had poor equipment.” Germans showed their superiority through airstrikes and the Soviets were stuck due to poor communication. Stalin was desperate, so he conceded and deployed all-female squads on October 8, 1941. The Night Witches showcased incredible acts of bravery and contributed significantly to the defeat of Germany. When the war ended, President Kalinin said, “Equality for women has existed in our country since the very first day of the October Revolution. But you have won equality for women in yet another sphere: in the defense of your country arms in hand. You have won equal rights for women in a field in which they hitherto have not taken such a direct path.”