ABSTRACT
While it is conceivable that power might have been seized by the soviets irrespective of the Bolshevik coup, there can be no doubt that the outcome would have been quite different from the revolution that actually occurred. Far from limiting themselves to fulfilling the basic popular programme, which is what most of the grass-roots activists expected, the Bolsheviks saw the acquisition of power as nothing less than a turning point in world history. Though Lenin's principles may have been strained in the process of coming to power, once there they came into full play. The Bolsheviks’ main purpose in holding power was to implement their grandiose principles. All subsequent phases of their power have shown an intertwining between long-term dreams and a constantly intruding set of realities.
