young Count Maurice Esterhazy at the head of the Ministry. The Count had the reputation of being a very intelligent, gifted magnate, but it was felt that to fit him for such a position it would have been necessary that he should have at least won his spurs as a politician. Tisza was now leader of the Opposition, and he was at the head of a blindly devoted majority. The strongest member of the Esterhazy Government was Dr. William Vaz- sonyi, a former lawyer who represented the Socialist party in the Cabinet and was appointed Minister of Justice. To him was entrusted the task of bringing before the House proposals for electoral reform in accordance with the new spirit of the times. He had scarcely drafted the bill before every sub-sec- tion of it became the object of unworthy chaffering. Even Count Michael Karolyi, who had posed as one of the most zeal- ous champions of far-reaching democratic ideas, is said to have expressed his willingness to oppose the enfranchisement of illiterates in return for the appointment of a member of his party as Secretary of State in the Ministry of Justice. When it was obvious that the members of the Government were in vio- lent disagreement among themselves, and Esterhazy's health broke down under the strain, it became necessary to find another prime minister. On the advice of Count Czernin, the Austro- Hungarian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Alexander Wekerle was appointed on Aug. 20. He had held the office several times before, was distinguished for his financial ability, and, in spite of his mistakes in the past, had the reputation of possessing one of the wisest heads in Hungary. But the task imposed upon him was beyond his powers. The situation had been rendered more difficult by the failure of the State to provide Austria- Hungary with bread-stuffs by taking over the rich harvest of 1917, with the result that forestallers and war profiteers had hastened to buy it up and withdraw it from the market. Wekerle soon tendered his resignation; but, on the failure of the Minister of Finance, Szterenyi, to form a new Cabinet, he consented to remain in office. The members of the Cabinet who had urged the immediate settlement of the franchise question Apponyi, Esterhazy, Bela Foldes and Vazsonyi now retired.
The End of the Monarchy. The whole political life of Hun- gary was sick, owing, on the one hand, to the opposition of Tisza to the radical reform of the franchise projected by Vaz- sonyi, and, on the other hand, to the ambition of Count Karolyi, who wished to get into office at any cost. The latter was not particularly gifted, and was more of an intriguer than a states- man; but he had been thrust into the foreground by the Opposi- tion, which used this popularity-hunting aristocrat as a battering- ram to break down obstacles that stood in the way of their plans, and the part he was called on to play had turned his head. He really believed that his destiny was to shape the fate of Hungary, and his whole soul was intent on becoming Minister-President. Karolyi did not disguise his opinion that in politics all means are legitimate, if they lead to power. While assuring the King of his fidelity, he maintained secret relations with the Radical, and even with Bolshevist, elements. Impatient at the post- ponement of his ambitious hopes, he declared openly that he would keep no bounds, which agreed with his announcement in Parliament on Oct. 18 1918 that he intended henceforth to substitute deeds for words. At the same time he made skilful use of a means which gained him great popularity, viz., his supposed intimate relations with the Entente Powers, by means of which he promised to procure for the country the peace for which it earnestly longed. It was indeed this war-weariness which accounted for the amazing influence which Karolyi actually exercised, the secret of which was that he was believed to be the one man who could bring peace to Hungary. But Karolyi over- estimated both his own abilities and his influence with the Entente. Because he had formerly always taken up in Parlia- ment an attitude of hostility to the Triple Alliance, he believed that he had only to hold out his hand to the Entente Powers and these would at once grant Hungary favourable terms of peace. In view of the danger threatening from Karolyi and the Radicals, Tisza the " granite head " as Prince Ludwig Windischgratz called him at last showed himself not indis-
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posed to make concessions in the matter of franchise reform. He was even prepared to come to terms with his old antagonist Andrassy, to propose him for the office of Foreign Minister, and to support him. Into the midst of this confusion fell like a bombshell the young Emperor-King's manifesto of Oct. 16, which proclaimed the liquidation of the monarchy and its trans- formation into a Federal state. It was the most unfortunate of all Charles's actions. The immediate and logical result of the manifesto, which destroyed dualism, was that Hungary declared that she had recovered her rights as a separate state and that henceforth she would be bound to Austria solely by the personal union of the Crown.
Meanwhile the power of social democracy had grown ever greater and greater. Nothing had been done to satisfy its burning desire for universal and secret suffrage, and it was there- fore in the highest degree discontented. Among wide classes of the population the failure to carry out the oft-repeated prom- ise of an e'xtension of the franchise, especially in the case of the soldiers, had shattered all confidence in the King and the Gov- ernment. The ground was thus prepared for the most Radical party cries to take root and flourish. All authority was under- mined, and its place was taken by a deep-rooted hatred of the governing classes who had hitherto directed the destinies of the country. At this crisis, which called for a strong guiding brain and hand, the throne was occupied by a sovereign who, though quite well-meaning, was too inexperienced and too weak to do the right thing. The representatives of the power of the State showed themselves no less weak; it was as though every- one had conspired to paralyse all the organs of the State and to destroy its order. As is always the case at the outbreak of revolutions, men who had hitherto avoided the light now rose to the surface from the lower depths. An atmosphere had been created in which it was possible for such Catilinarian figures as Count Michael Karolyi and his fellows to flourish. The revo- lutionary spirit had received rich nourishment from Bela Kun, who had returned from captivity in Russia, liberally provided with Bolshevist money, and employed himself in spreading the doctrines of Lenin and Trotsky in the barracks and among the troops at the front. In the same spirit, on Oct. 25 1918, and on Karolyi's suggestion, a National Council was organized.
Karolyi in Power. It now became fatally clear that every- one was agreed that the King had no choice but to appoint Karolyi Minister- President in succession to Wekerle, who had resigned. Even Tisza advised this course. Thus the helm of the State was to be put into the hands of the man who based his policy on the world-revolution which was to enforce peace. It was not, however, as yet clear that a violent revolution would be successful. On the night of Oct. 29-30 Oskar Jaszi, the prin- cipal mob leader, told his comrade Kunfi that they would probably both be hanged on the morrow; for they feared that Field-Marshal Lukachich would lead his troops against them and make an end once for all of revolutionary nonsense. But when, towards the morning of the 3oth, the general had not put in an appearance, they regained courage. In the half-light of dawn bands of soldiers, seduced by the revolutionary propa- ganda, began to concentrate in the region about the Hotel Astoria, carrying red and national flags, and shouting "Long live Karolyi! Long live the Revolution!" Soon the tidings spread abroad that Karolyi had been appointed Minister- President. When Jaszi stepped out on to the balcony of the Hotel Astoria and announced the King's decision to the assem- bled crowds, he was met with cries of " The King? Who is the King now? It is not the King who nominated Karolyi. He is Minister- President by the will of the Revolution. Long live the Republic!" It was a victory for the mob, and its immediate effect was to make the position of Andrassy, the newly appointed Foreign Minister in Vienna, impossible. Karolyi at once ordered the withdrawal of the Hungarian troops from the front, in conformity with Lenin's prescription making the dissolution of the army the essential condition precedent to the social revolution. This sealed the fate of Hungary, which was thus rendered absolutely defenceless.
