Lenin had for several years been a proponent of political terror, writing of the need for 'Nationwide terror' some ten years earlier. These attitudes may have been fostered by the execution of his brother in 1887 by the Tsarist authorities.
Lenin felt that Russia lacked the required conditions, a 'workers cadre' that would enable Marxism to survive. He also felt that the only way to force the creation of such a cadre was by shaping the society forcibly.
To this end, Lenin had authorized the creation of the cheka in December 1917, under the control of Dzerzhinsky, whom he trusted implicitly. The function of this organization was to root out those inimical to the Bolshevik movement, though at this early date these activities had not achieved the scope they later did.
On Aug 30, 1918, an attempt was made upon Lenin's life, and he was injured critically. In the wake of this, he was persuaded in discussions with Dzerhinsky and Josef Stalin that reprisals on a grand scale were required to stem the amount of 'counter revolutionary' sentiment that they saw in society. This purging was to last until 1922.
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