The soldiery down in the square turned their guns and machine-guns on the War Office.... That is how they waited for an answer. As a matter of fact most of the men did not care what happened. It was the confidential men who told them how to come here, and what to demand, and accordingly they came and demanded: “Let Bartha resign and be replaced by a civilian Minister of War who will organise a democratic army. The staff-officers must be dismissed from the War Office, and the proclamation concerning the Soldiers’ Council and the Confidential Men, suppressed by Bartha, must be put into execution at once. All the Minister’s special officers’ detachments are to be disbanded.” Finally they demanded that the officers should in future be elected by the ranks, and that rankers should be qualified to become officers. In the reception-room of the Prime Minister, Károlyi addressed the deputation, submitted, promised everything and—gave up Bartha. “I saw with pleasure,” he said, “the many thousands of soldiers, because it has afforded me the evidence of my own eyes that the Hungarian Government is not defenceless, but has a powerful army at its back.” As a matter of fact, at that moment the powerful army was not standing at his back but opposite him; an army that was good for nothing but to demonstrate in Budapest, and whose heroism was directed against his War Office, upon which its guns were trained. Then the soldiers marched to the offices of the Soldiers’ Council and Pogány addressed them in words full of vainglory: “This demonstration has shown that there are enough soldiers, and that the troops are in the hands of the confidential men. It has shown,” he shouted in rapture, “that discipline can be maintained, but only when it is the troops themselves who maintain it....” “Long live Pogány, the Minister of War ...” rose the cry under the red flag. And he, red with the effort of shouting, roared the following threats: “We won’t allow Budapest’s social-democratic army to be disbanded, just because it is social-democratic! We won’t tolerate the formation of independent peasants’ detachments!” “Long live the socialist army! Down with the peasants’ detachments!” came the shout back from the square. This morning something else was lost up there in the castle. Only a desperate effort made by secret organisation can help us now. The army of Hungary has passed entirely into the hands of Pogány-Schwarz, and the soldiers, drunk with joy, are shooting in the streets. * * * * * _December 13th-15th._ The die was cast yesterday in the Castle, and the red flag was hoisted.