Papers and Documents relating to the Foreign Relations of Hungary, Volume 1, 1919–1920 (Budapest, 1939)

Documents

IO 1919 August io. The Minister for Foreign Affairs ordered the liquidation of the provisional Ministry for Foreign Affairs at Szeged. I should like to remark in conclusion that the correspondence with our various representatives abroad, other correspondence and papers not specifically mentioned in this report concerning steps taken in the interest of natural or juristic persons, together with the archives of the Provisional Ministry for Foreign Affairs, have been placed in safety at Szeged and it is hoped that political conditions may soon permit their transfer to Budapest. Taking into consideration the oral negotiations conducted with the French generals, the political situation which faced the government at Szeged may be summed up as follows : The establishment and maintenance of the Provisional Government at Szeged was desired by the French because they expected to bring pressure thereby on the government of Béla Kun; moreover, they hoped in this way to retain control over the whole Hungarian anti-bolshevik movement and they believed that in this way they can avoid the danger of another anti-bolshevik move under foreign influence. But the French have not, from the point of view of international and internal politics, considered it desirable for the Szeged Government, and with it the national party, to get the upper hand; for this reason they have taken care to support a political movement opposing the Provisional Government and by playing the two parties against each other, to prevent effective action by us without rendering our existence impossible. The Minister for Foreign Affairs did not fail to reveal to the French that he fully understood the French policy and in recent times he informed the French that their policy will lead to the abdication of the Provisional Government. It seems also that the Serb Government was induced by the French to initiate friendly negotiations chiefly for the purpose of preventing the Szeged Government from seeking, and possibly finding, support elsewhere.