Jessie), feminist leaders such as Anna Shabanova, and a flurry of journalists. To
the latter, Emmeline clearly stated her mission. ‘I came to Petrograd with a
prayer from the English nation to the Russian nation, that you may continue
the war on which depends the face of civilisation and freedom. ... I believe in
the kindness of heart and the soul of Russia.’^13 Such statements sharply divided
the press, left-wing journalists condemning her as a hand-maiden of Western
capitalism while right-wing commentators sung her praises. One influential
writer, wondering whether ‘there was anything feminine left in this woman-
rebel with a glorious past’ concluded that the charming Emmeline Pankhurst
was ‘both feminine and romantic. She is an ardent patriot in the best sense of
the word ... not a chauvinistic Valkyrie, nor a blunt woman-warrior.’
Nevertheless he also warned that ‘angry Extremists will no doubt raise a good
deal of cry and lies about her ... they will no doubt denounce her, too, as a
“paid agent of the Anglo-French capitalists”.’^14
The political situation that Emmeline found herself in was far from stable.
‘One hears rumours and news all through each day of revolutions, strikes and
counter strikes taking place so quickly that we never know what will be
happening from hour to hour’, recorded Jessie early in her diary. The vulnerable
Provisional Government, surrounded by conflicting forces, feared that
Emmeline’s pro-war stand would alienate their more radical supporters and so
refused her permission to address public meetings.^15 Instead, she spoke at gath-
erings held in private houses and especially at meetings of women’s societies,
such as the Patriotic Women’s Alliance and the All Russian Women’s Union,
where she entreated women to exert all efforts, either by influencing the men or
by their own work, to bring the war to a ‘victorious conclusion’. She mentioned,
among other things, that she had arrived in Russia at an historic time. On 19
June, the British House of Commons had passed, by a vote of 385 to 55, a clause
in the Representation of the People Bill which would confer the parliamentary
vote on women over thirty who were householders, wives of householders,
occupiers of property of £5 or more annual value, or university graduates. A
joyful and relieved Emmeline regarded the news as a ‘good omen’.^16
Undoubtedly, the news was also conveyed to other Russian women she met,
such as Maria Botchkareva, a strong, unlettered, peasant woman who was the
commander of a women’s battalion which had been formed by Kerensky, in an
attempt to shame the men and restore morale amongst his shattered armies.^17 ‘I
honour these women who are setting such an example to their comrades’,
Emmeline said in her stirring speech at a concert held in the Army and Navy
Hall, Petrograd, in order to raise funds for another women’s battalion:
When I looked at their tender bodies I thought how terrible it was
they should have to fight besides bringing children into the world.
Men of Russia, must the women fight, and are there men who will stay
at home and let them fight alone? One thing women say: Never will
we be slaves to Germany! Better that we should die fighting than beWAR EMISSARY TO RUSSIA