Operation Spring Awakening

Operation Spring Awakening
Part of World War II, Eastern Front
German units during the Lake Balaton Offensive, March 1945
Date 6–16 March 1945 Location Lake Balaton, Hungary Coordinates: 46°59′N 18°21′E / 46.983°N 18.350°E / 46.983; 18.350 Result Soviet victory
Belligerents
Germany Hungary	Soviet Union  Bulgaria Yugoslav Partisans
Commanders and leaders
Josef Dietrich (6th SS Panzer Army)	Fyodor Tolbukhin (3rd Ukrainian Front)
Strength
465,050 men	431,000 men (initially) 700 AFVs
Casualties and losses
German data: Total casualties: 12,358 31 tanks Soviet data: Total causalties: ~27,000 300 artillery and mortars 500 tanks 200 planes	Total casualties: 32,889 8,492 killed and missing 24,407 wounded and sick 152 tanks

Operation Frühlingserwachen ("Spring Awakening") (6 – 16 March 1945) was the last major German offensive of World War II. The offensive was launched in Hungary on the Eastern Front. This offensive was also referred to in Germany as the Plattensee Offensive, in the Soviet Union as the Balaton Defensive Operation (6 – 15 March 1945), and in English as the Lake Balaton Offensive.

The offensive begun by the Germans in great secrecy on 6 March 1945. They launched attacks in Hungary near the Lake Balaton area. This area included some of the last oil reserves still available to the Axis. The operation involved many German units withdrawn from the failed Ardennes Offensive on the Western Front, including the 6th SS Panzer Army. Almost inevitably, Operation Spring Awakening was a failure for the German Army.

After the Ardennes offensive failed, in Hitler’s estimation, the Nagykanizsa oilfields southwest of Lake Balaton were the most strategically valuable reserves on the Eastern Front. Hitler ordered Sepp Dietrich's 6th SS Panzer Army to take the lead and move to Hungary in order to protect the oilfields and refineries there.

The Germans planned to attack against Soviet General Fyodor Tolbukhin's 3rd Ukrainian Front. The 6th SS Panzer Army was responsible for the primary thrust of the German attack. The army was to advance from an area north of Lake Balaton on a wide front. They were to push east through the Soviet 27th Army and to the Danube River. After reaching the river, one part of the army would turn north creating a northern spearhead. The northern spearhead would advance through the Soviet 6th Guards Tank Army and move along the Danube River to retake Budapest, which had been captured on 13 February 1945. Another part of 6th SS Panzer Army would then turn south and create a southern spearhead. The southern spearhead would move along the Sio Canal to link up with units from German Army Group E, which was to thrust north through Mohács. If successful, the meeting of the southern spearhead and of Army Group E would encircle both the Soviet 26th Army and the Soviet 57th Army.

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