Williams--all about the power

I believe the October Revolution was a successful attempt by an extremist group to gain power and was not at all a representation of the desires of the Russian people.
Lenin told the people what they wanted to hear in his April Thesis. He gained their support by promising to give power to the proletariat, to pull out of WWI, to confiscate private estates and to give the land to peasants, etc. (4). These promises were not in the interest of the people; Lenin only cared about starting a revolution against the PG. Because the PG was composed of the bourgeoisie (upper class), he was forced to turn to the proletariat (lower class) in order to gain enough power and support to overthrow the PG. However, Lenin and the Bolsheviks’ treatment of the citizens of Russia only increased the counterrevolutionary feelings among them.
“Not forty-eight hours into the revolution a ‘decree on the press’ was issued under Lenin’s signature….he boldly declared that he was keeping his promise to close the press of the middle class or bourgeoisie. Any opposing opinions identified with their interest were anathematized” (3). This shows that Lenin feared his opposition. He worried that the intelligent bourgeoisie would reveal his underlying drive, his thirst for power. By eliminating the bourgeoisie press, Lenin was able to keep the proletariat in the dark. However, this decree also punished the very people on which Lenin relied most; keeping them out of the loop may have been great for Lenin, but the peasants’ civil liberties were dwindling. They were already upset with the fact that Tsar Nicholas denied them civil liberties, and Lenin revoking them again likely upset the peasants more. Obviously this was not a smart move by Lenin and the Bolsheviks.
Source 3 states that Lenin "advocated 'armed insurrection' and 'mass terror..." (3). “Lenin (even) announced that he was prepared to use terror in 'the interests of workers, soldiers, and peasants' and to do what was necessary 'for the good of the revolution'" (3). For this reason, he created the Cheka. The Cheka, or the secret-police would "deal with the counterrevolution and with strikes and unrest" (3). They also detained prisoners and counterrevolutionaries in concentration camps, which “were designed for (Russia’s) own citizens” (3). Were “armed insurrection” and “mass terror” really in the interest of the people of Russia? No—just as before, Lenin was clearly worried that the ideas of counterrevolutionaries would spread and all of Russia (including his support, the proletariat) would rise up against him and the Bolsheviks. He was so worried that he needed his own special police force to lock up and murder his opposition. Lenin was only safe as long as the proletariat remained naïve and unaware of his plan. Lenin and the Bolsheviks used the Cheka as a way to terrorize Russian citizens. During the time of the October Revolution, Russians lived their lives in complete and total fear—if they spoke their minds, would the Cheka hear? Would they be imprisoned or killed? What would happen to their families? By instilling this fear in the minds of Russians, Lenin was successful in keeping them unaware of his motives, yet again oppressing the people of Russia. This did not sit well with the proletariat. Peasants likely wondered, “If Lenin and the Bolsheviks imprison and murder the bourgeoisie and others who speak out against their tactics, why wouldn’t they treat us the same way?”
By retracting the civil liberties of the people of Russia as well as terrorizing the country, Lenin and the Bolsheviks lost their stream of support. Their mistreatment of the proletariat led to stronger feelings against the political party and created a more unified counterrevolutionary front. Therefore, these methods taken by the Bolsheviks in order to maintain power in Russia led them nowhere.