The unpopular military regime resorted to violence and mass arrests in the face of mounting opposition from the civilian left and the democratic opposition at large. The EPRP called for a people’s provisional government to replace the military dictatorship and outlined in a series of its party organs the essence, composition and terms of the provisional people’s government.

The junta, unwilling to contemplate the cessation of power, unleashed its terror and intensified its violence against defenseless women, the young, and the broad sectors of the popular masses. This was what is now commonly called the infamous "Red Terror" in Ethiopian history which took place from 1976 to 1978 unleashing tens of thousands of deaths of EPRP members, supporters, and even those suspected to be members and supporters of the party.