Why did the USSR in World War 2 have women fight in the war?

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. During World War I women had served in the Imperial Russian Army as both nurses and combatants. read more

The gender equality also meant that women were an integral part of the war just as men are - whether women would provide medical help or even engage on the front, it did not matter. One of the most famous women of the war that I know and you could research is Lyudmila Pavlichenko. read more

The population of the Soviet Union was probably better prepared than any other nation involved in the fighting of World War II to endure the material hardships of the war. This is primarily because the Soviets were so used to shortages and coping with economic crisis in the past, especially during wartime—World War I brought similar restrictions on food. read more

Soviet women played an important role in World War II (whose Eastern Front was known as the Great Patriotic War in the Soviet Union). While most toiled in industry, transport, agriculture and other civilian roles, working double shifts to free up enlisted men to fight and increase military production, a sizable number of women served in the army. read more