Informative Facts

Yevdokia Bershanskaya was born in the Russian town of Stavropol on February 6 1913. She was born just before the First World War, a conflict that brought about the demise of the Russian empire and it’s replacement by the Soviet Union. Being a Soviet citizen gave Yevdokia Bershanskaya the chance to become a pilot.

Some Facts About Her:

• Her years of flying experience meant the Soviet Air Force quickly enrolled Yevdokia into their ranks after the German invasion began on June 22 1941. They needed to replace the male pilots captured, or killed in the first days of the Axis attacks.
• Due to the Germans destroying thousands of Soviet planes during their rapid advance towards Leningrad and Moscow, Bershanskaya and her female colleagues had only obsolete biplane bombers to bomb the invaders with.
• The three squadrons, (known as regiments by the Soviets) founded by
  Marina Raskova, comprised of only women.
• They flew and crewed the old Polikarpov Po-2 biplane bombers, that could carry a respectable bomb load yet their slow speed made them highly vulnerable to German fighters and anti-aircraft gunners if flown during the daylight.
• To lower the risks of being shot down in the slow Polikarpov planes, the three regiments of women that crewed them were ordered to always attack German positions, and targets at night. The Soviet Air Force leadership was not always noted for protecting its crews but the orders to fly at night were really sensible.
• Bershanskaya assisted in the development of tactics that made the three regiments feared by the Germans, as it made it harder for German anti-aircraft gunners, and night fighters to shot them down. The Germans dubbed them the “Night Witches.”
• Whenever possible the Night Witches flew at low altitudes where the Germans were known to have radar. They would rise to a higher altitude, turn off the plane engines, quietly glide into the best bombing positions, and only turn the power on for the return flight back to their bases.
• As a whole the Night Witches caused a great deal of damage to the Germans. They continued to fly at night even after the Luftwaffe became gravely weakened in the last months of the war.
• Bershanskaya joined the 588th Night Bomber regiment(Night Witches) in June 1941. Due to her flying skills she was made the Regimental Commander.
• In 1943 the Soviet Air Force altered the command and designations of its air regiments. The 588th Night Bomber Regiment was reconstituted as the 46th Taman Guards Night Bomber Aviation Regiment.
• For her efforts in the Great Patriotic War, she was awarded the Order of the Red Badge of Honor, as well as the Patriotic War medal. She’s also the only woman to be awarded the Order of Suvorov.
• She died of a heart attack during 1982.

Marina Mikhaylovna Raskova was born on March 28 1912. Her maiden name was Malinina. When she was born, Russia was a backward empire. However due to the abject Russian failures during the First World War, and both revolutions of 1917 she was not a subject of the Tzar for too long. Under communism Marina Raskova, like many of the women she would go on to command. Benefited from being trained in normally masculine job roles. In her case that was becoming a navigator.

Facts About Raskova:

• Originally she had wanted to become an opera singer, just like her maternal aunt who had been famous in Russia. Her father’s premature death in 1919 changed those plans, although she remained passionate about singing for the rest of her life.
• Whilst at school the young Marina discovered that she excelled at studying the natural sciences, especially chemistry. When her education was finished she decided to get a job within heavy industry.
• The Soviet regime wanted to greatly expand industry and gave women roles in factories opportunities that their counterparts in capitalist countries simply did not have.
• It was at her job at a dye factory in 1929 where she met her husband, Sergei Raskov.
• Her only child, a daughter the couple named Tanya was born in 1930.
• By 1931 she had left the dye factory and started her career in aviation, which would make her famous throughout the Soviet Union. Her first role was as a draftswoman of the Aero Navigation Laboratory of the Air Force.
• Two years later Raskova made history by being accepted as the first woman navigator in the Soviet Air Force. She spent her time wisely, quickly learning to fly.
• In 1934 she achieved another first by becoming a teacher at the Zhukovskii Air Academy, before her personal life witnessed her divorce in 1935.
• Her fame increased during her stint teaching at the academy, especially after being involved in setting flight records. The most famous flight was when she was the navigator in a three woman crew that eventually set a long distance. Yet disaster almost struck as they could not find an airfield to land on. Kaskova had to bale out and for eight days survived on minimal rations. On their safe return they were all made Heroes of the Soviet Union.
• Using her connections with Joseph stalin she convinced the russian military to form three fighter regiments of women.
• Of these three regiments, one was commanded by Tamara Kazarinova. And the other two were commanded by Raskova herself, and Yevdokia Bershanskaya(Commander of the night witches regiment) respectively.
• It was the hard hitting German blitzkrieg of June 22 1941 that led to her playing an important role in resisting the invasion.
• For the Soviet Air Force she was the natural choice to place in command of the women only air regiments.
• Raskova and her comrades allowed the Soviets to recover from their disastrous losses sooner than the Germans expected.
• Despite flying obsolete biplanes at night, these regiments inflicted a lot of damage on German units. As 1942 progressed they were given more modern planes.
• Raskova took a keen interest in training her new recruits. It was on such a training flight when tragedy struck. During one of these flights her aircraft crashed while trying to make a forced landing and the whole crew including Raskova herself died.
• She was held with such high regard that she was honored with a state funeral.

Napoleon Bonaparte, commonly referred to as ‘Napoleon 1’ was born in 1796 and died in 1821. as a French military leader in the early 19th century, he built his empire through conquering much of Europe. Having being born on the island of Corsica, he later joined the military and rose up the ranks during the French revolution. He managed to crown himself emperor in 1804 after he successfully executed a coup d’etat in 1799. He gradually expanded his empire after conquering various European nations. This invasion came to an end when he tried and failed to conquer the Russians in 1912. this failure led to his exile to the island of Elba. He seized power again but after he lost in the battle of Waterloo, he was again exiled to the island of Saint Helena where he died at the age of 51. The following are Napoleon Bonaparte facts in his life history.

Napoleon’s Family History and Education
Born in August 15, 1796, in Ajaccio on the island of Corsica, he was the 2nd child to Carlo Bonaparte. He was born after Corsica was acquired by the French from the Italians. He attended his schooling in mainland France where he acquitted himself with French and later joined a military academy from which he graduated in 1785.

Career Development and Power Acquisition
After graduating, he became a 2nd lieutenant in an artillery regiment of the French army. In 1793, he became affiliated with a political group, Jacobins. In 1763-1794, he associated himself with Augustin Robespierre a Jacobin who was known for his attacks against enemies of the French revolution. He was promoted to brigadier general in the army. In July 1794, Napoleon was put under house arrest for his association with the Robespierre brothers. In 1795, he was once again promoted to major general after he helped suppress a royalist insurrection against the revolutionary government in Paris.

In 1796, Napoleon and his army defeated the Austrian army which was one of their primary rivals. He was also entrusted to an England invasion in 1797 though he did not. Instead, he suggested an Egyptian invasion which turned out successful.

Coup d’etat of 18 Brumaire
The French directory was overthrown by an arranged coup where Napoleon was a part of it in 1799. The directory was then replaced by a 3 member consulate in which Napoleon secured first consul position making him France’s leading political figure. In the effort to strengthen his position, he invaded the Austrians and drove them out of Italy in the battle of Marengo and also signed a peace treaty with the British (Treaty of Amiens).

Achievements of Napoleon as the First Consul

• Restored stability to post-revolutionary France.
• He centralized the government.
• Introduced the Napoleonic code that created a base for the French Legal system.
• He instituted reforms in the banking and education sectors.
• Science and the arts were promoted.
• Created a relationship between the regime and the church (Pope).

In 1804, he became the emperor of France at the cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris.

Napoleon’s Direct Family
Napoleon married twice. His first marriage was annulled after his wife Josephine de Beauharnais did not have any children for him. He then married Marie Louise, the daughter of the emperor of Austria with whom they had a son, Napoleon Francois Joseph Charles Bonaparte aka Napoleon II. Out of his matrimonial home, he had several illegitimate children.

Napoleon’s Term in Power
After a series of Napoleonic wars, he sold France Louisiana territory to the United States as a way of raising funds for future wars. In October 1805, the British beat Napoleon’s army in the battle of Trafalgar. In December 1805, he secured his position by beating the Russians and Austrians in the battle of Austelitz. He signed a peace treaty with the Russians (treaty of Tilsit).

Napoleon’s Loss of Power
Napoleon attempted to attack Russia after her withdrawal from the continental system but failed. He then tried to invade Moscow in which his attempt also failed. As he withdrew from Moscow, his army was attacked by Russians who were joined by the Portuguese and the Spanish.

In 1813, the Napoleon army was defeated by a coalition between the Austrians, Prussian, Russians and Swedish troops.

Napoleon was then forced to abdicate his throne and thus exiled to Elba through the Treaty of Fontainebleau.

Napoleon later escaped from the island and regained control of the region. This time he attacked the enemies one at a time before they could form another coalition for an attack. Despite his efforts, his troops were crashed by the British and Prussian troops and he was forced to abdicate once again in the year 1815 to the Island of Saint Helena.

Napoleon’s Rest
While at Saint Helena, in the south Atlantic Ocean, he died at the age of 51 in 1821. The cause of his death was assumed to be stomach cancer. He was buried at the island and later, his remains were returned to France.