Page:Diplomacy and the War (Andrassy 1921).djvu/269

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262
DIPLOMACY AND THE WAR

the confidence of the Entente completely. His party believed, in view of the increasing popularity and respect of their leader, that the time had come for him to take over the Government single-handed. The most they would have done would have been to accept, for the sake of form, a few easy-going statesmen who did not belong to their party.

My solution also was not approved of by Count Tisza, although at this time we were working together harmoniously. Since the summer session we had opposed each other violently and publicly in the House, and since then our intercourse had ceased. When Burian invited us to come to Vienna (October 5) on account of the negotiations with regard to peace, we entered the same railway carriage. We sat down together and discussed the situation as if nothing had happened between us. The danger which threatened the country brought us together again. Unfortunately, however, we could not come to a complete agreement. Tisza did not consider Karolyi and his people as worthy of participation in the Government. The programme of the new coalition was antipathetic to him. He wanted to rally the Right of the Centre party, and did not object that I attempted negotiations with the Left. He did, however, say that this effort of mine would not succeed, and then we should hold together and take up the battle against the revolutionary element.

And so the crisis continued! We had a weak Government, conscious of the fact that they could