- Home
- Period
- 20th Century
- Why did Stalin commit a robbery? The bloody heist that made the dictator’s name
Why did Stalin commit a robbery? The bloody heist that made the dictator’s name
To take on the imperial regime in Russia, revolutionaries needed cash – and they were happy to steal it. In one bloody raid, the Bolsheviks pinched a fortune and found a new figurehead
- Jonny Wilkes
Published: October 24, 2026 at 3:30 PM
Save
- Share on facebook
- Share on twitter
- Share on whatsapp
- Email to a friend
In 1907, a young man from Georgia, then part of the Russian empire, masterminded an audacious and bloody armed robbery. It was not of a bank, but a stagecoach carrying a huge amount of money belonging to the chief financial institution of the imperial regime itself, and the stolen roubles would fund the revolutionary movement growing in the country.
Ad
The man’s name was Ioseb Jughashvili, but he is better known by another name today: Joseph Stalin.
Before consolidating power after the Russian Revolution of 1917 and his decades-long dictatorial rule of the Soviet Union, Stalin had become a Marxist around the turn of the 20th century. He joined the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) and aligned with its radical faction, the Bolsheviks.
Essentially a gangster – more than willing to get his hands dirty for the cause by carrying out robberies, kidnappings and killings – Stalin proved a useful ally to their militant leader, Vladimir Lenin, especially when it came to securing funds.
Joseph Stalin (left) and Vladimir Lenin at the Congress of the Russian Communist Party. Stalin made himself useful to Lenin, helping to secure money for their revolutionary ventures | Credit: Getty Images
Why did the Bolsheviks carry out robberies?
The Bolsheviks condoned robberies as a means of supporting their cause, euphemistically calling them ‘expropriations’, but the main faction of the RSDLP, the Mensheviks, forbade them. Lenin ignored this and began preparations for an ambitious raid in Tiflis (now the Georgian capital of Tbilisi).
Stalin, living in Tiflis with his wife and newborn son, planned the robbery with his friend Kamo, a revolutionary comrade with a reputation for ruthlessness. The target was a stagecoach while it transported cash from the city’s post office to the State Bank of the Russian Empire.
It would be heavily protected by guards in an accompanying carriage and on horseback. Information about the route, schedule and protection had been obtained from insiders at both the bank and post office.
Up to 20 robbers were recruited and armed them with revolvers and homemade bombs. Kamo helped make the explosives, although he was left badly injured in one eye and bedridden for a month when one accidentally detonated. He still insisted on being involved.
A newspaper reports on the Tiflis robbery, 1907. It was a brutal – and successful – undertaking
What happened on the day of the robbery?
On the morning of 26 June 1907, the stagecoach entered the bustling Erivanksy Square, where robbers dressed as peasants waited or acted as lookouts from the rooftops. At the signal, they rained down bombs on the convoy, killing guards and horses. The scene became a war zone as they raced forward firing guns.
When a wounded horse started dragging the stagecoach across the square, a robber threw a bomb under its feet. The money was then loaded into a carriage driven by Kamo, disguised as a calvary captain, and whisked away.
The whole thing lasted just a few minutes, but left around 40 guards dead and dozens of others injured. The robbers got away unscathed and with a small fortune, with estimates ranging from 240,000 to 350,000 roubles (or millions in today’s money).
Was anyone caught?
Moved between safe houses – including at the Meteorological Observatory, where Stalin briefly worked – the money was sewn into a mattress and smuggled out of Georgia. In truth, however, the Bolsheviks struggled to use all of it as the 500-rouble notes had traceable serial numbers.
A police mugshot of Stalin, 1910. Despite being a prominent revolutionary, it is still debated today whether Stalin was actually involved in the Tiflis robbery | Credit: Getty Images
In the ensuing investigation, the only robber to face punishment was Kamo, who was seized after being given up by an eye doctor in Berlin during treatment for his injuries. To avoid trial, he feigned madness, going so far as to pull out his hair and eat his own excrement. He kept that up for three years, all the while being tortured.
Eventually sentenced to death, his sentence was commuted to life imprisonment as part of the celebrations marking the 300th anniversary of the ruling Romanov dynasty. The irony was not lost on Kamo as he was released when the revolution came.
Ad
Did Stalin take part in the attack?
As for Stalin, there remains some debate over whether he actually participated on the day of the attack. There have been contradictory claims that he either threw the first bomb or that he had been at the railway station in case he needed a quick getaway. Regardless, the robbery made headlines around the world and made his name for the Bolsheviks.
Authors
Jonny WilkesFreelance writer
Jonny Wilkes is a former staff writer for BBC History Revealed, and he continues to write for both the magazine and HistoryExtra. He has BA in History from the University of York.
Ad
Ad
Loading...
Ad
Loading...