Claim:
The Károlyi government did nothing to protect the territorial integrity of the country
Rebuttal:
The Károlyi government took several diplomatic steps – and some military ones – to protect the borders
In detail:
The Károlyi government protested in several diplomatic channels because the neighbouring countries were continuously violating the Belgrade Agreement. There were one or two instances when even troops were sent against the invaders (against the Czech and also in the south along the Mura river against smaller Serbian units). The topic of why it was a mistake to stand down the army so fast will be dealt with in a separate article below. One factor here might have been how Károlyi was too trustful of the power of diplomacy and the Wilsonian principles. Also he was hopeful for too long that the most important parts of the country would be occupied by the French army (in early November 1918 the French high command did indeed harbour similar ideas, but they were discarded by the end of November). This, in Károlyi’s view, would have been a guarantee against Romanian, Czech and Serbian occupation – however, these hopes turned out to be spurious.
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