August 6, 1918 · Volga River Front, Kazan Theater
August 6, 1918
White forces and Czech Legionaries captured Kazan — including the Imperial gold reserve of 651 million rubles — in August 1918. Leon Trotsky arrived on his famous armored train to personally organize the Red counter-offensive. After desperate fighting along the Volga, Red forces recaptured Kazan on September 10, 1918, marking Trotsky's first major military success and demonstrating that the newly formed Red Army could fight. The recapture denied the Whites access to the gold reserve and secured the Bolshevik hold on central Russia.
Commanders