Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
through economic penetration. By August 1903,
his policy differences with Nicholas led to his dis-
missal, a fall from power that was aided by the
intrigues of other ministers like Viacheslav von
Plehve and Witte's own abrasive personality,
which did not sit well with his colleagues or with
Nicholas, who preferred less domineering subor-
dinates. Witte returned from the political wilder-
ness in June 1905 when Nicholas turned to him
as a last-resort candidate to negotiate an end to
the
RUSSO
-
JAPANESE WAR
in Portsmouth, New
Hampshire. Given Russia's disastrous perfor-
mance in the war, Witte acquitted himself
admirably and Nicholas rewarded him with the
title of count. In serious political trouble at the
decisive moment of the 1905 Revolution, Nicho-
las again turned to Witte, who recommended the
drafting of the October Manifesto, promising
new civil liberties and a parliament (
DUMA
).
Witte served, less admirably this time, as chair-
man of the Council of Ministers until April 1906,
when, with the passing of the crisis, old animosi-
ties resurfaced and Nicholas accepted his resigna-
tion. Bitter at his latest downfall, Witte spent his
last years drafting his memoirs and defending his
record in public service.
front, capturing more than 2,000 soldiers in one
instance. The Women's Battalion was initially
composed of 2,000 women, but by August its
numbers had dwindled to about 250. As support
for the Provisional Government dissipated dur-
ing September and October 1917, the Women's
Battalion found itself among the government's
few defenders. The battalion was at the Winter
Palace when the
BOLSHEVIK
-led forces attacked
it on October 25 (November 7), 1917. The Bat-
talion was officially dissolved by the Bolshevik
Military Revolutionary Committee on Novem-
ber 21, 1917, a few days after the still-function-
ing parliament (
DUMA
) had investigated charges
of physical abuse by the Bolsheviks and con-
cluded that three women had been raped and
one had committed suicide. The investigation
also absolved the Bolsheviks of the widely
reported charge that many of the women in the
battalion had been thrown out of the windows of
the Winter Palace. Bochkareva was able to
escape Russia, eventually reaching the United
States, where she settled and lived in relative
obscurity until her death.
Wrangel, Ferdinand Petrovich
(1797-1870)
explorer
A naval officer and government administrator,
Wrangel left an impressive legacy of exploration,
especially along the Arctic Ocean coastline of
Siberia. Wrangel was born in the ancient town
of Pskov to a noble family of Baltic ancestry and
held the title of baron. He graduated in 1815
from the Imperial Naval Academy in St. Peters-
burg and joined the expedition under the com-
mand of Vasili Golovnin that sailed around the
world in 1817-19 in the sloop
Kamchatka.
Wrangel first made a lasting name for himself by
mapping the polar regions of northeastern
Siberia between 1820 and 1824. In 1825 he
embarked on another expedition around the
world, this time commanding his own sloop, the
Krotky,
from which he returned to Russia in
1827. In 1829 he was rewarded with an impor-
Women's Battalion of Death
One of several “Death Battalions” or “Shock Bat-
talions” formed by the Provisional Government
during the summer of 1917, the Women's Battal-
ion of Death gained worldwide recognition
because it was composed of women. Formed
under the initiative of War Minister, later Prime
Minister, Alexander
KERENSKY
, the Death Battal-
ions were generally composed of young men
from well-to-do classes who were supposed to
strengthen the morale and discipline of a reluc-
tant army by their heroic example. In May 1917,
Maria Bochkareva, a woman from Tomsk, in
Siberia, who had successfully petitioned
NICHO
-
LAS II
to serve in the army during World War I,
convinced Kerensky to allow the formation of a
women-only battalion. The battalion had early
successes against the Germans in the southwest
Search WWH ::
Custom Search