The occurrence of riots and uprisings often does not depend on the strength of the anti-government forces or the precision of their plans, but on the extent to which the government's response measures have failed. Behind a successful uprising often lies the incompetence of the police institution and the negligence of the intelligence agencies. After the failure of an uprising, these institutions and related personnel usually choose to exaggerate the organizational capabilities of the anti-government forces to cover up the mistakes they've made.
If the uprising is successful, the rebels will, in order to maintain the legitimacy of their regime and highlight their glory and justice, similarly choose to beautify the motley process of their uprising with exaggerated language. This also explains why the real intelligence we receive about uprisings always vastly differs from the meticulously planned uprising events recorded in history books.
