Levéltári Közlemények, 39. (1968)
Levéltári Közlemények, 39. (1968) 1. - FORRÁSKÖZLÉS - Karsai Elek: Brit diplomáciai iratok az 1921. évi húsvéti királypuccs történetéhez / 105–139. o.
116 Karsai Elek 7. Prága, 1921. január 11. Sir G. Clerk jelentése Earl Curzon-nak Benessel József főherceg trónigénye tárgyában folytatott beszélgetéséről SECRET My Lord, With reference to my telegram No. 6, Secret, of to-day, relative to the Archduke Joseph's, effort to obtain from the Minister for Foreign Affairs some support for, or withdrawal of opposition to, his candidature of the Hungarian throne, I have the honour to report that Dr. Benes asked me what attitude I considered he should adopt. I replied that, quite apart from the formal declarations of the Allies, in which His Excellency himself had taken a prominent part, I saw two obvious reasons, from his point of view, for refusal. One, that public opinion in this country was practically unanimously opposed to the Archduke and that any encouragement given by the Minister for Foreign Affairs would have to be kept absolutely secret, whereas it would certainly be disclosed and do him great harm and the Archduke no good. The other was that it was by no means certain that the Archduke would be accepted by more than a section of the Hungarian people and it seemed to me idle even to thing of modifying objections to any possible candidate to the Throne of Hungary, unless he were the recognized choice of the whole Hungarian people, or of an overwhelming majority. The Minister f° r Foreign Affairs entirely agreed and said that he was basing his refusal to withdraw his objections on just such considerations. His Excellency went on to say that, in his last conversation with M. Millerand in Paris the latter had asked his views on a possible occupant of the Hungarian throne, Dr. Benes had replied that there seemed to him only four possible candidates or groups of candidates, the ex-Emperor Karl, the Archduke Joseph, Admiral Horthy or a member of one of the great Hungarian families, or a prince of some foreign dynasty. The first had in any case excluded himself by refusing to renounce the Austrian throne, the second seemed impossible both because of the formal declarations of the Allies and of public opinion among the Jugo-Siavs and the Czecho-Slovaks, intertribal jealousies would probably rule out the third, and certainly there was up to the present no sign of any foreign Royal House providing the fourth solution. M. Millerand them said that his personal feeling was that the Archduke Joseph was the only possibility, but that he could not, and would not, say so publicly or officially, and he asked what was to be done, for Hungary was after all an essential part of Central Europe and he felt that until the internal form of Government had been settled, she would remain a source of unrest. Dr. Benes agreed, but thought that the republican sentiment in Hungary was stronger than was realized and that, given the difficulties of the Hungarians themselves in agreeing upon the choice of a king and the desire, which would steadily increase, to have the form of Government definitely settled one way or the other, he felt that it was not by any means unlikely that in the end there would be a Hungarian Republic. This may be so, but the process will probably be a long one, during which Hungary will remain a doubtful and disturbing factor in Central Europe. I have the honour to be, with the highest respect, My Lord, Your Lordship's most obedient, humble Servant, George T, Clerk Két oldalas, géppel írt tisztázat, George Clerk saját kezű aláírásával. — PRO FO 371. Hungary (21) 1920 — /. 180 — С 1212. — A jelentést január 17-én iktatták a Foreign Office-ban. A jelentés végén, az aláírás alatt a következő szöveg olvasható: „P. D. I have sent a copy of this Despatch to His Majesty's High Commissioner at Budapest."
