In 1848 and 1849, in the course of the Hungarian Revolution and War of Independence broke out the Serb uprising in the Délvidék. The rebels fought on the side of the Habsburg army (together with the German and Romanian regiments from Banat and numerous voluntiers from the Principality of Serbia) against the legitimate Hungarian government and the Hungarian Revolutionary Army. The fightings were characterized by largely ethnically-motivated, bloody atrocities on the civilians, mostly executed by the irregular Serb forces. One of the most illustrative events was the "Bloody Candlemas" of 1849 in Senta (Hungarian: "véres gyertyaszentelő"). On 2 February the Serb forces overrun and conquered the city, resulting mass looting, arson and massacre of the Hungarian inhabitants. In the following weeks of the occupation 2000-2800 civilians were killed partially with the assistance of the lokal Serbs.