The aim of this article is to offer a comparative analysis of the revolutionary dissolution of the Russian and the Austro-Hungarian Empires, and also to study the process of revolution-counter-revolution, in particular, the origins, classification, and results of the monarchist counter-revolution witnessed in the territories of the former Empires. The monarchist counter-revolution in Central and Eastern Europe emerged in these countries (Russia, Hungary, Finland) precisely as a response to Soviet power and Bolshevism, as an ideology and political practice. It would not have had a serious basis during the democratic republican period of the revolution that preceded Bolshevism. The factors involved in the emergence of a monarchist counter-revolution include the following: the existence of strong monarchist traditions in society, the presence of charismatic military and political leaders who professed monarchical views (for example, Lieutenant-General Baron Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim in Finland, Lieutenant-General Pavlo Skoropadsky in Ukraine, Major-General Pyotr Krasnov in the Don, Vice-Admiral Alexander Kolchak in Russia, Vice-Admiral Miklós Horthy in Hungary), and, finally, international military and diplomatic support from neighboring monarchies, for instance, the German Empire and the Kingdom of Sweden in the case of Finland, the German Empire and the Austro-Hungarian Empire in the cases of Ukraine and Don, and we can also consider, in a certain sense, the Kingdom of Romania in the case of Hungary. The monarchist counter-revolution developed at the periphery of each state (for example, in Finland, it was in Vaasa, in Hungary – Szeged, in Russia – Omsk), since the capitals were captured by the Bolsheviks. Admittedly, the monarchist counter-revolution was defeated in Russia, but, in Finland and Hungary, its victory had only a provisional character, since both Kingdoms existed without their kings due to Allied pressure.
THE REVOLUTION-COUNTER-REVOLUTION PROCESS IN CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE, 1917–1920: THE THEORETICAL OVERVIEW
