not come to be realized. We opposed all determined revoluntionary powers without daring or being capable of using armed force. In the circumstances, it would have been better to have given way earlier. History has proved that the lawful constitution collapses when its representatives do not make concessions in time, or if they do not dare to continue the battle to the end once it has been started.
My undertaking was rendered almost hopeless by the fact that, when I travelled to Vienna, no Government had as yet been formed in Budapest which shared my point of view as to policy. I started on my journey without hope, but I was determined, no matter what might happen to me, to make the only possible attempt that was left to us. (October 25.) When I took over the Ministry, the situation was as follows:
The Revolution might break out at any moment in Budapest. Order had to be maintained by the weak Government which had already resigned and which had lost the confidence of the public. The most terrible news was announced from our fronts. The offensive of the Italians was continued with all its might. The first document into which I cast a glance was the report of the Archduke Joseph, that popular Hungarian soldier, who declared that the Hungarian troops did not wish to continue the fight at a great distance from the Hungarian frontier and that they wished to be ordered home. The realization of their desire would have involved the immediate collapse of the Italian front, and would have exposed us to all the ghastly
