Page:Diplomacy and the War (Andrassy 1921).djvu/297

 always be the loser, and even if he is more just, more able and more noble than his opponent. This is especially so during a revolution. The system which had been demolished by the unhappy ending of the war was not able to oppose those who thought themselves entitled to leadership, because they had seen the catastrophe coming and had opposed the policy which ended so tragically.

During the few days that I spent on the Ballhausplatz, I experienced the most terrible time of the whole of my political life. Every minute brought me the news of a new collapse. Croatia had seceded, Bohemia had made herself independent, in Austria the pan-German and Socialist element had gained supremacy, the power of the law was diminishing, and the strength of the revolution gained from day to day. The streets were agitated, the Foreign Office was under the protection of the police, and the republican idea began to gain a footing.

In Hungary the Government had committed the folly of letting the soldiers surrender their arms. In the midst of the most terrible attacks and the bloodiest struggles, our army received the coup de grâce from the rear—from the Hungarian Government. My mind was weighed down as it were with lead by the knowledge that the best of us were being murdered and butchered hopelessly and in vain, on account of the sins of others, without my being able to help or to save them.

Finally, we received the severe armistice conditions.