The successive failures of France and Britain hadn't cowed Lajos Kossuth. If anything, they had made him see reality clearly.
The British so-called reinforcements and aid were nothing but pie in the sky. The legendary navy, hailed as the best in the world, had actually lost to Austria's river patrols.
As Lajos Kossuth saw it, the British Empire was nothing special. He might never have seen the sea, but he knew well enough what Austria's river patrols were capable of.
(One account claimed that when Lajos Kossuth reached the United States in 1851, he said it was his first voyage by ship.)
After all, the brave Magyars had once captured several Austrian warships of over a hundred tons each with nothing but sabers.
The British Navy that had been beaten by the Austrians probably wasn't all that formidable. Besides, no matter how strong the British navy was, they couldn't set foot ashore. Restoring the Magyars to glory was still up to him.
The plans of the future triumvirate in the Hungarian Army naturally came to his attention. The Croatians were numerous and well armed, and most lived in the mountains, making a frontal assault too difficult. So they would focus on winning them over.
Hungarian envoys promised Governor Jelacic that if Croatia joined Hungary's cause, they would all become glorious Magyars. And once they defeated the Austrian Empire, Vojvodina could be ceded to Croatia.
Jelacic, too, would become governor of three provinces and the first marshal of New Hungary. His power in the new country would be so immense that it would be no exaggeration to say he could rule the world.
But these promises first required Jelacic and his family to take Hungarian citizenship and become Magyars. Then he would have to persuade the Croatians to accept Magyarization. Finally,