The Problem of "War Wives" as Exemplified by National Armies (Czechoslovak, Polish and Rumanian) in Siberia in 1918-1920

Atrocities committed in the Civil War in Russia in 1917-1920 had no parallel at that time. Both sides participating in the conflict, the Bolsheviks and "the Whites", led their operations in a way much different from the period war standards. Executions and pacifications of the citizens, committed both by the Red Army and soldiers of "the Whites", were the rule of the day. They war events caused famine and mass migration of the civilian population, attempting to find protection and help from the allied armies that took part in the intervention in Russia. The most numerous armies concentrated in Siberia and the Ural Mountains, dependent on the allied command, were constituted by the Czechoslovak, Polish and Rumanian soldiers. Russian women seeking shelter from famine, diseases and death with these soldiers did not hesitate to agree with humiliation, when decided to stay and live with them. The "war wives" – as they were called – frequently shared all hardship with their "protectors-soldiers" caused by their military service. Some of them got married with the troopers, in spite of the Czecho-Slovak or Polish headquarters' objections. Only some of these women were evacuated with the armies returning to Europe in 1919-1921.