Snider- successful attempt

I think that the October Revolution (Bolshevik Revolution) was a successful attempt by an extremist group to seize power through the use of strong-armed tactics. There are many reasons why I think that it was a successful attempt and not a true representation of the desires and aims of the Russian people. I came to this conclusion based on the sources that were given. Here is some of the evidence that I found that helped me believe that the October Revolution was a successful attempt by an extremist group to seize power through the use of strong-armed tactics:
• “Some have argued that neither Lenin nor his comrades envisioned that setting up the Cheka would lead to full-scale terror. However, that outcome was very likely, given how they also stripped away citizens’ legal and civil rights.” (Source 3)
• “Here was another first. The Leninists were shooting at unarmed civilians, and even more supporters were quick to point to the uncanny resemblance to the tsarist atrocities on the infamous Bloody Sunday of 1905.” (Source 3)
• “…Lenin asked rhetorically: “Do you really believe that we can be victorious without applying the cruelest revolutionary terror?” (Source 3)

First of all, I think that Lenin made the April Theses to get the support of the people. He wanted the people to know his main aims and goals. Once he got the support of the people, he tried to seize power through the use of strong-armed tactics. With the first piece of evidence, it says that some believed that neither Lenin nor his comrades knew that setting up the Cheka, or secret police, would lead to full-scale terror. But it did say that they took away the legal and civil rights of the citizens. This could not be the desire of the people. People want to have legal and civil rights. They do not want to be ruled with everything they do. They want to have their own say in the things they do and they want to have freedom such as freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and the freedom of the press. With Lenin setting up the Cheka, people became very angry and felt betrayed by Lenin and his comrades. In the April Theses, Lenin got the support of the people and now he was turning his back on them by not keeping his promises and doing the things he said he would.
In the second bullet, innocent citizens that were unarmed were being shot at by Leninists. People were quick to relate this event to the infamous Bloody Sunday of 1905. After Lenin gained the support of the people, he turned and took advantage of that support. People that supported him did not think that Lenin would betray them by killing them. After all, they put their trust in him. If they would have known he would not stick to his promises, they would have never given him the support that they did. In his April Theses, he listened to the ideas, wants, and needs of the people and included them in his paper so he could get the support and encouragement of the majority of the citizens. But little did they know what Lenin was about to do. People went from having full support and respect in Lenin to having little to no support or trust in him at all.
In my last piece of evidence, it says that Lenin asked Isaac Steinberg, “Do you really believe that we can be victorious without applying the cruelest revolutionary terror?” I think that Lenin only thinks that the way to be victorious is through cruelty. In source three it states, “On November 28 a large crowd of ten to twenty thousand that included white-collar workers on strike, students, and some workers demonstrated in Petrograd about these delays. They made their way through guards ringing the Tauride Palace and, once inside, tried to convene the assembly. The next day the building was surrounded by armed troops, and no one was permitted to enter.” After this happened, Lenin thought that harsher measures should be taken. To do this, the regime established three new institutions: the Cheka, or secret police; concentration camps; and the Red Army. These three institutions did indeed bring terror upon the people. They felt threatened and became very scared. Lenin believed that these things were necessary in preventing the outbreak and riots of the people. Of course, there are consequences for the establishment of these things. The support that he used to have from people, he no longer had. The people did not agree with what he had done. They didn’t like the idea of the Cheka, concentration camps, or the Red Army. So, therefore, he lost his support.
These are some of the things I found which supported that the October Revolution was a successful attempt by an extremist group to seize power through the use of strong-armed tactics. The people who did support Lenin’s ideas written in the April Theses were soon changed by his actions. They did not agree with what he was doing anymore and realized that he was not going to accomplish what he had said he would. He made promises that he would not be able to keep.