The reconstruction of South-Eastern Europe

THE RECONSTRUCTION OF

Slavs. It was necessary to reassure them as quickly as possible, as at any moment they might desert from the Italian battle-fields and hasten back to South Hungary, for the protection of their homes and their country against a possible Magyar attack. Vienna, therefore, decided to exploit the loyalty and authority of the new Ban of Croatia. Baron Jelaci¢ was invited to Innsbruck, where the Austrian Court was residing at the time. He was received with almost royal honours. But all his endeavours to secure some advantages for his people and country were in vain, although he pleaded before the Court with all the passion of a soldier, and the conviction of an honest experienced man, true to his King and his people. Vienna pursued its own plan and never went further than empty marks of personal honour for Jelaci¢é and evasive promises that the long-standing grievances of the SerboCroats should be redressed. But Jelacié was asked a service, he being the only man who could reassure the Serbo-Croat troops in Italy and inspire them with unswerving fidelity to the Austrian Crown. Straightforward and unsuspecting as a soldier, Ban Jela¢i¢ without hesitation left his proclamation to the Serbo-Croat troops in Italy—which served the purpose and interests of the Crown perfectly—in the hands of the Court officials at Innsbruck, on June 20th, 1848.

But as he rode back from Innsbruck to Zagreb,

78