system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
[Harry Potter] Was Voldemort winning the first Wizarding War?

If he hadn't heard about the prophecy, would he have been able to defeat the Order of the Phoenix and what I assume was a more competent Ministry that doesn't fold instantly?
gpt
It wasn't a war in the traditional sense, so much as it was a reign of terror. There was likely to never be a formal surrender of the government to organised forces. He was waging a "war"of ideals. He wanted his people, sympathetic to his beliefs, in positions of power.