Operation Spring Awakening

Overview

Operation Spring Awakening was the last major German offensive of World War II. The operation was referred to in Germany as the Plattensee Offensive and in the Soviet Union as the Balaton Defensive Operation. It took place in Western Hungary on the Eastern Front and lasted from 6 March until 15 March 1945. The objective was to secure the last significant oil reserves still available to the European Axis powers and prevent the Red Army from advancing towards Vienna. The Germans failed in their objectives.

Overview adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Significance

Operation Spring Awakening, launched in western Hungary in March 1945, was the last major German offensive of World War II. Its objectives were to secure the final significant oil reserves available to the Axis powers in Europe and to block a Soviet advance toward Vienna. The offensive, known to the Soviets as the Balaton Defensive Operation, pitted roughly 260,000 German troops against a Soviet force nearly double that size. The Germans failed to achieve either objective. The failure left Axis fuel supplies critically exposed and removed the last German capacity for large-scale offensive action on the Eastern Front, opening the path for Soviet forces under commanders including Fyodor Tolbukhin and Rodion Malinovsky to press westward toward the Austrian capital. Spring Awakening thus marked the definitive end of German strategic initiative on the Eastern Front.

Forces & casualties

Commanders (17)