# Diplomacy and the War/Part 4/Chapter 3

CHAPTER III.
The Soviet Republic.
The fundamental principle of the new system was the sole control of the working classes. Only workmen had the right to vote, and only workmen could be elected. Anyone who is not a member of the union even received a smaller ration than the others. The situation was like a reversal of the Middle Ages, with the difference that during the Middle Ages power was exercised by those who were the most educated and most capable of government, whereas the hegemony to-day was in the hands of the least educated. The system of the absolutism of the minority was established. Properly speaking, the control was not really even in the hands of the minority, but in the hands of a few tyrants who violated the country in the name of the minority and under the protection of arms. The dictatorship of the masses developed as usual into the dictatorship of a few. The lunacy which inspired the system was characterized by its May festivals. At a time when the majority of the people were threatened by death from starvation, these modern Neros obtained, by bartering away foodstuffs and animals, red cloth and red dyes in order to shroud the capital in red and ​to colour the Danube with their dyes. A system whose maturity is such can naturally be preserved only by means of the wildest terrorism. Thousands were cast into prison without any guilt whatever, merely because they possessed property, exercised political influence, or played a leading part in society. Innumerable murders were perpetrated. All newspapers, with the exception of the official papers of the Government, were prohibited. As terrorism is one of their main means, special troops of terrorists were formed chiefly consisting of criminals and sentenced prisoners. Those who were not murdered by the terrorists suffered the most terrible anxiety as the result of the methods of the troops. It is incredible with what ability the terrorists knew how to spread fear in Budapest and everywhere where they were in power. Everyone was convinced that he was the subject of constant espionage, and everyone felt that a careless word or an inconsidered action could cost him his life. No one can form any idea as to the horror which a few thousand terrorists created who did not live through this terrible time, or who did not see immediately after the liberation the population which had suffered by starvation, become anæmic and had been aged and rendered excessively nervous by the constant danger.
Hungarian society, which had been isolated in foreign countries, only heard what the tyrants in the capital allowed to be published. They gained a wrong view of the events of the world, and believed that the revolution was victorious everywhere, and for this ​reason it was necessary to accept the Soviet rule as the permanent régime. The Soviet rule, apart from its cruelty and lust for robbery, had the most terrible effects on account of its complete absence of knowledge and its inexperience. People who yesterday made boots or cleaned the streets, to-day made laws and devoted themselves to jurisprudence and the problems of administration. Those who had devoted their lives hitherto to politics and had done mental work were now obliged to do physical labour. Only very few had had any experience of that which they now had to do. The validity of law had ceased to exist, the law courts no longer functioned, and in the place of legal usage we find the whim of the moment and personal prejudice. There was no time to reconstruct, but only violence for purposes of destruction. National economy suffered under the disease of plunder and robbery. This procedure was dignified with the mantle of communistic principles, but generally it was merely the product of the desire to possess the property of others. Professional thieves, released out of prison, and more than doubtful personalities, continued their métier as leading personalities under the protection of arms. Even people who hitherto would never have misappropriated the property of others, now disregarded all moral restraint in this connection, because they saw that anything which they did not seize was "communized" by others.
The complete destruction of all the essentials of economic productivity wrought more damage even than ​theft and robbery. The enormous demands of the workmen rendered all economic undertakings futile. Industry and agriculture suddenly lost their expert control. Everything and everywhere leadership was in the hands of the uneducated. Within a short time, even the soundest banks and the soundest industrial undertakings failed, and agriculture suffered tremendous damage. The soil was badly looked after; no investments were made; and only robbery took place.
The crushing of trade, which became more complete from day to day, destroyed a large number of people. The complete lack of legal security destroyed all enterprise. The desire to work, which is created by the legitime desire of the individual for profit, and which incites to new inventions and great efforts, was substituted by a feeling of duty, public spirit and communistic morals. The Communists, however, were incapable of bringing about this substitution. The assiduity and care of the owner could not be replaced by communal ownership. The most careless organization predominated in nationalized concerns. Public property belonged to everybody and therefore nobody. The opposition between the various organs that controlled production, the relaxation of all discipline, the chaos of the countless "Councils," exercised a paralysing effect. The whole capital of charitable and humanitarian societies was requisitioned and wasted. The total effect of this state of affairs brought about such an impoverishment and such a reduction in production as had never occurred hitherto in so short a ​time, with the exception of Russia, where this fact was due to the same Bolshevistic régime.
The foreign policy of the Soviets was also catastrophic in its effects. In consequence of its nature and its fundamental principles, it was impossible to live in peace with bourgeois society, that is to say, with one's own neighbours. Lenin positively set the Soviet system the problem of preparing for the revolution of the proletariat in Eastern Europe. Enormous quantities of money were spent on this object. Apart from the fact that an enormous army was necessary for this purpose, the revolutionary propaganda used up incredible sums of money. The money that had been requisitioned from the banks and other concerns, the sale of the jewellery and silver that had been robbed from private owners, was spent for these propaganda purposes, except in so far as they were stolen by private individuals. The last farthing of the nation that had been ruined by the war and the disaster that followed in its wake, was used to organize strikes and upheavals in Vienna, Berlin and Hamburg.
This robbed money did not suffice for covering the expenses of the excellently paid and well-fed Red Army. This was due to the fact that enormous sums of money found their way out of the country, and a great deal was amassed privately. In consequence of this, the Bolshevists had to resort to the printing press. The value of money rapidly fell, and the good old money disappeared, while the new money was not accepted as payment. By this means the system dug ​its own grave. As the Government had no more money, it had to requisition by force, and thereby the existence of the agricultural districts was endangered. Hitherto the Soviet had not dared to touch the small landowner, but the peasant nevertheless became opposed to the Soviet, because his unfailing intuition told him that once the Councils were strong enough, they would communize the peasants' property as well. In this mood the order for requisition found him, and consequently his feelings developed into a wild and profound hatred. Is he really to be forced once more to leave his home and to face the foe? Even he, who is not a member of the proletariat, must go and fight, not for the protection of his country, but for the protection of the hated dictatorship of the proletariat. This dictatorship endangered the holiest traditions and convictions. It despised patriotism, suppressed the church from school life, threatened religious education, and undermined the discipline of the church. The dictatorship did not only violate the material interests of the country, but also injured the moral feelings of the population.
Counter-revolutions without proper preparation were therefore the order of the day. Many hundreds of brave people suffered martyrdom, many ended at the gallows, and many were murdered without being able to offer resistance. In the country the farmer fell a victim to the soldier. And all this bloodshed brought about no salvation. The martyrs did not save society, but on the contrary they created new suffering; but, at ​any rate, they served the interests of national honour, without which no regeneration can take place. The Soviet thereupon sought support from the agricultural labourers, but even they lost their confidence in the new system on account of the depreciation of the new currency. In spite of the enormous wages, which blinded them at first, many had to starve and were without shoes or clothing.
One of the weaknesses of the system was that it was dependent upon its enemies, the educated bourgeois. These worked against the system, and treason and sabotage made themselves felt in the ranks of the Red Army.
But even in the circles of industrial labour communism lost ground. Bread and clothing was wanted, and not socialization, politics and eternal meetings.
Only one more blow was needed, and the whole system which was rotten internally would collapse. This blow, however, could only come from outside, because the press, the railways, telephones, telegraphs, postal service and arms were in possession of the terrorists. In the territories which were occupied by the Entente there was little opportunity of organization on a large scale. The society which was divided between the Soviet and foreign rule was unable to organize itself with any success anywhere. If it had been possible to organize only a few thousand white troops, the days of the Soviet would have been numbered. Such a White Army, however, did not exist, and it was impossible to create one. Attempts were ​made in Austria and Bohemia, but these efforts were fruitless on account of the disfavour of the local Government.
In May it seemed as if we were faced by the final catastrophe in consequence of the Roumanian advance, but the Council of the Four in Paris did not allow the Roumanian army to proceed for reasons which are unknown to me. The Soviet again gained time, and the Red Army re-established itself once more. They succeeded in beating the Czechs and continued their work of destruction.
The final death-blow was dealt to communism by itself because they staked their own existence presumably on account of internal difficulties on one card. They determined to penetrate the Roumanian line and join the armies of Lenin. This attack of the Red Army caused the defensive of the Roumanians and then the counter-ofifensive, under pressure of which the dictatorship of the proletariat collapsed. When the Roumanian army stood at the gates of Budapest, the leaders of the Communists gave in, in the hope that they could save their lives and the masses of the people. As the Social Democrats shared the responsibility for the Soviet régime with the Communists, the reaction was so great that a Government of the pure Social Democrats, who were in the minority, was absolutely impossible. The reign of terror of the Left parties had to give way to a far greater reaction than was intended.
At the moment we still live in the era of counter-​revolution. We continue to live in a time when passion reigns supreme. Nothing but the permanent re-establishment of law and order and the dawn of work and reconstruction will announce the end of the revolution. However, we are on the way to convalescence. No matter how desperate the immediate past has been, no matter how sad the present is, I nevertheless trust implicitly in the future. The Hungarian nation will yet be a strong and useful prop to European society. It is their function to preserve that single branch of the Slav family of nations, and to preserve it in the interests of civilization and humanity. This branch has belonged for many hundreds of years to the western section of the world, and it can live and flourish nowhere in the world except here in Pannonia. If the possibility of development is not allowed to this people, not only will a nation be murdered, but the working section of mankind will be robbed of an irreplaceable member, and that during the age of self-determination and the loudly proclaimed freedom of small nations.
We will never on any account submit to this destruction. Our vitality is not exhausted, and therefore the future belongs to us! The age of lies is fleeting, and the interests of mankind, and therefore our rights, will lead us to victory!
The End.
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