1Mariana Baidak’s War as a Challenge and an Opportunity: Ukrainian Women in the Years of the First World War provides a significant examination of the experiences of Ukrainian women’s experiences in Galicia, the easternmost province of the Habsburg Empire, during the First World War. Baidak contributes to a growing body of scholarship that approaches the war as a pivotal catalyst for social change, highlighting how women adapted to the extraordinary circumstances both at home and on the front lines. Her research, however, acknowledges that for most women, emancipation was not a choice but often a response to the upheaval caused by the war, with only a small segment of the educated elite actively embracing volunteer work to support the national effort.

2War as a Challenge and an Opportunity is divided into six thematically organized chapters. Chapter 1 introduces the methodology, historiography, and sources, while Chapter 2 provides a survey of women’s lives in Galicia on the eve of the war, including statistical data. Baidak demonstrates that women from the three dominant ethnic groups in Galicia—Ukrainian, Polish, and Jewish—largely adhered to traditional gender roles as wives and mothers, with marriage playing a crucial role in both women’s and men’s lives. Though Galicia was part of a broader European space where ideas of women’s liberation began to challenge patriarchal norms in the late nineteenth century, feminist ideas found support only among a small fraction of women.

3In chapters 3 and 4, Baidak refines her central argument, suggesting that for most Galician Ukrainian women, wartime emancipation did not manifest as a feminist ideal. Instead, it was a necessary adaptation to the challenges posed by the war. As she points out, in their writings, women “dreamed of returning to the ‘calm world’ of peacetime” or an envisioned peaceful future (124). Yet with mass male mobilization, peasant Ukrainian women were thrust into leadership roles within their households. This transition was made more difficult by wartime disruptions such as the closure of mills, soaring oil prices, speculation, and the need to feed and house passing armies. Women also faced gender-based violence from both Austro-Hungarian and Russian troops. Baidak emphasizes that despite growing independence, women continued to rely on family structures. They sent grievances to husbands on the front lines, petitioning authorities and advocating for leave so their husbands could assist with agricultural work.

4In the next chapters, Baidak discusses women’s activism and acknowledges its limitations. Wartime activism was largely confined to a small fraction of patriotic educated women, driven by prewar nationalization efforts and wartime patriotic mobilization. Like their Polish counterparts, Ukrainian women with few exceptions, operated within their national relief societies and rarely participated in imperial war efforts despite their formal loyalty to the Habsburg Empire. Initially centered on assisting wounded soldiers, these national relief societies gradually expanded their roles throughout the war to encompass broader cultural and political functions, such as promoting patriotic education through teaching and cultural initiatives. Baidak underscores the frustrations of women activists, who criticized the “passive majority” for their reluctance to engage in the national effort, revealing the internal tensions of wartime mobilization.

5Despite its limited scope, women’s patriotic mobilization had a distinctive feature: women in combat, referring to women who directly participated in warfare. These young women, who had been involved in prewar patriotic gymnastic associations such as Sokil (Falcon) and Sich, in the scouting organization Plast, and in the paramilitary societies Riflemen I and Riflemen II, joined the Ukrainian Sich Riflemen—a national volunteer unit within the Austrian army—when the war broke out. In Chapter 3, Baidak details the challenges faced by this small group of approximately thirty-three riflewomen, who dared to defy conventional military culture. Their reception within patriarchal Ukrainian society and the military command was controversial: “some praised their fearlessness and heroism, as reflected in folk songs, while others considered them an undesirable deviation from women’s traditional patriotic roles as supportive mothers and wives, relief committee members, or caring nurses.” Despite the conflicting views on women’s participation in combat, Baidak notes that the Riflewomen’s service was co-opted for propaganda purposes, reinforcing the image of a unified national and imperial mobilization effort.

6One of the particularly insightful aspects of the book is its nuanced portrayal of a new wartime generation of Ukrainian patriotic women. In Chapter 5, Baidak delves into the personal letters of Ukrainian women, revealing their assertiveness in claiming public roles despite the constraints imposed by patriarchal norms. The book highlights the case of Olha Besarab (née Levytska), a political activist who continued her work even when criticized by her husband. Women’s engagement in patriotic activities, Baidak argues, was not always purely driven by patriotism though; for many, it also served as a distraction from the emotional strain of war. However, by the war’s end, some women who had been deeply involved in charitable work had fully refashioned themselves into “independent activists” (182). This transformation is exemplified by Besarab and Ivanna Blazhevych, a children’s writer, cooperator, and teacher. After the war, Besarab, in addition to her work with women’s organizations, became involved in the activities of the Ukrainian Military Organization, while Blazhevych pursued a political career as a member of the Ukrainian Radical Socialist Party. Baidak attributes this rapid wartime emancipation not purely to a feminist drive for political action, but to the uncertainty of whether men would return from the front, prompting women to take on roles beyond the domestic sphere.

7The final chapter examines the representation of women in art and culture, highlighting the continued prevalence of a “traditional gender lens” in these portrayals. Despite the rise of women activists and writers, popular culture and folklore continued to depict women primarily as victimized peasants—abused, widowed, or mourning. In both art and photography, representations of women were overshadowed by the masculinized depictions of war. Baidak concludes that “Ukrainian art left women in their traditional social positions.” (248).

8War as a Challenge and an Opportunity is a significant contribution to the study of the First World War’s impact on society, particularly from the Eastern Front perspective. Unlike many studies that focus on the home front in Western Europe, Baidak’s analysis of Galician Ukrainian women provides fresh insights into the shifting gender roles and women’s experiences on the front lines and under Russian occupation. The book will be valuable to scholars of the First World War and gender studies, though readers unfamiliar with the political context of Habsburg Galicia may need to consult additional resources, as the book does not provide extensive background. Despite this minor caveat, Baidak’s well-researched study enhances our understanding of gender dynamics, nationalism, and women’s activism in wartime Eastern Europe.