was revealed by an interjection of the Deputy Johann Hock in the Chamber of Deputies: "After the peace they will hold us by the throat. At present we are doing it to them." The press in no way assisted me, but, quite on the contrary, made every effort to discredit me and to prevent the Entente from entering into negotiations with me. Now that the fetters of the Centre had been removed, the press found no moderation. They called me a servant of Germany, an annexionist, an oligarch, an intriguer, they called me "the Chancellor" who gave up Hungarian independence for the sake of his personal ambition, at a moment when it would have been possible to realize it. A destructive spirit spread through the newspapers. They did everything for the sake of popularity, and they were controlled by their subscribers and the extreme elements. In Austria the Germans called me a traitor and a deserter. It was quite impossible for me to defend myself against these insults, as the revelation of our weakness was not permissible. I was also attacked on account of my policy of concluding a separate peace by those who had made the continuation of the war impossible by their pacifism.
The situation could only have been saved if a quick answer had been received from the Entente and if negotiatons could have been begun without delay. Events took a different course. The tactics of the Entente consisted in prolonging the negotiations. It was easy for the Entente to wait. Our power of resistance had gradually been exhausted.
