Page:Diplomacy and the War (Andrassy 1921).djvu/305

 surrendered all hope and naturally turned towards the powers in the ascendant, the allies of the victorious Entente. The tendency to secession was furthermore increased by the fact that we had destroyed the crown of St. Stefan, the tie which had hitherto held Hungarian society together and represented the unity of the State, and even the national councils, which exercised the highest power, could not arrogate to themselves more than to demand, according to Wilson's principles, the right of self-determination for the Hungarian race. We destroyed law and order, which was the basis of our national unity, even before our enemies would have done so.

The internal order also, as well as the whole of the economic and social life of the Hungarian States, became untenable by the disarming of the army. In order to protect peace and the security of life in the capital, the labour element had to be armed, by which process the real power slipped out of the hands of the State into the control of a class which, firstly, was in the minority, and, secondly, had been educated in the hatred against all other classes. And within this class those gained the upper hand who were determined to exploit the situation ruthlessly.

It is a natural tendency of all revolutionary upheavals that they develop a tendency towards exaggeration, and consequently untenable circumstances arise which prepare the reaction. It is always difficult to stop at the point at which the revolution really wishes to arrive. The success of one revolution prepares the way for