Századok – 2001

TANULMÁNYOK - Varga János: Utolsó kísérlet a román-magyar megegyezésre 1849 nyarán I/33

60 VARGA JÁNOS may have been influenced by the recent decision of the Hungarian parliament, which was unique in contemporary Europe in granting collective rights to the ethnic minorities. But his message was accidentally transferred to the commander-in-chief of the Hungarian troops in Transylvania, the Polish general Bern. Bern objected to the plan of the integration and regarded Iancu's conditions as utterly unacceptable. But the next day he lost a decisive battle against the Austrians, which suddenly increased the military importance of the Romanian troops. Accordingly, he tried to let Iancu know that he was willing to accept his conditions, and ordered him to join the Transylvanian army at the given place. But in the meantime the military situation turned hopeless. In the battle of Segesvár Bern's correspondence was captured by the Russians, and thus the contacts between Iancu and the Hungarian government were revealed to the invaders. The Romanian leader, lest he be accused of treason by his own compatriots, asked three months for rellection before taking his final decision. His reply of course amounted to a concealed rejection of the Hungarian offer, for it was evident that the war would end in the meantime, thus making the offer invalid anyway. The study follows this attempt from its inception until its slow death.