Page:The Czechoslovak Review, vol3, 1919.djvu/213

 would have never been allowed to grasp the power in Budapest, if it had not suited the plans of the old ruling clique to mask their bankruptcy by the red flag. The influence of the jingoes was seen in the very first decrees of the Magyar soviet, nationalizing all private houses in the cities and extending the scope of the decree to cities far within the confines of Slovakia. The propaganda, too, aiming at rebellion within the lost territories was carried on with even greater vehemence under the new regime. Millions of handbills were scattered from aeroplanes over Slovak territory calling on the people to rise against the bourgeois Czechoslovak government and fight for the rule of Soviets. Strong forces of Red Guards, armed with weapons, placards and money, brought great quantities of explosives secretly over the demarcation line to start insurrection and destroy means of communication. An attack was made at night on the garrison of Komarno by a force of 2,000 Red Guards as the culmination of a policy which indulged for nearly two months in surprise guerilla warfare carried behind the Czechoslovak lines.

Finally the Prague government was compelled to act. When the Red Revolution first broke out in Budapest, the Czech social democratic party under the influence of its more radical section demanded assurances that the government would not attack the bolshevists. This assurance President Masaryk gave at once, and until May 1 it was carefully observed. Not once during that time did the Czechoslovak garrisons in Slovakia cross the demarcation line or even pursue the Reds into their own territory. Delegations of Magyar bourgeois beseeched Masaryk to occupy Budapest; appeals came from Rusins of whose eventual incorporation in the Czechoslovak Republic there was no longer any doubt, appeals to save them from the barbarity and rapine of the robbers masquerading as Red soldiers. But the government made no move until May 1.

On that day General Hennoque, a Frenchman commanding a Czechoslovak division in Eastern Slovakia, issued a proclamation to the Rusins of Hungary: “I come at the head of victorious Allied Armies to bring you liberation from the cruel yoke under which you have suffered for centuries. You will no longer be slaves and victims of Magyar chauvinism, neither will you suffer by Magyar bolshevist disorder. My native France sent me here to give you a helping hand that you might be liberated and enter the family of free nations. Czechoslovaks come as your brothers By the coming of my forces you become free citizens of the Czechoslovak Republic. Stand under its banner, for it brings you freedom.”

In the peace treaty with Germany it is definitely provided that the Rusin part of Hungary shall form an autonomous part of the Czechoslovak Republic. Thus the Magyars lose their last helot race. As far as the Czechoslovaks are concerned Magyars may play the bolshevik game as long as they enjoy it; but they must play it in their own yard and at their own expense. In any case the end cannot be very far.