Under the influence of the mob, Karolyi, before Hadek could form his ministry, was the successful leader of the revolution and was created President on the morning of October 31. On receipt of this news I immediately sent in my resignation. In fact, my presumptive successor, the brother of the previous Minister for Foreign Affairs, Count Czernin, had already been selected when I remained in office at His Majesty's request. On the day of my resignation, the fifth day after our petition for a separate peace, news was received from the Entente which gave rise to great hopes that the Entente was prepared to negotiate and would make conditions which would save our existence. In the meantime our army did wonders. The army resisted for days, in spite of her corrupt interior. The soldiers at the front who were not touched by the agitation from behind fought heroically. The reserves, however, refused to obey and failed utterly. In such circumstances the resistance could only last for days, or perhaps only for hours, and consequently we decided to take steps in the interest of an immediate armistice. (October 29.) The illusions from which the German General Staff suffered were made plain by the reply they gave us when we informed them that we intended to demand an armistice (November). They told us to endure until snowfall set in in the passes in the Tyrol, and that they—the Germans—would help us on to our legs again in the spring. This is the news that we received at a time when we could not witness the unnecessary bloodshed for a single day longer, and even
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DIPLOMACY AND THE WAR
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