Fruhlungswachen

To the Germans, it was Operation Fruhlungswachen.  For the Soviets, it was the Battle for Lake Balaton.  For the western allies, it was, evidently, a minor skirmish.  US history books say that the Battle of the Bulge was the last German offensive of WWII, but this is tunnel vision.  Fruhlungswachen was just as ambitious and perhaps even more desperate, but was erased from Western history because it doesn't fit their narrative.

The purpose of Fruhlungswachen (Awakening of Spring in German) was extremely ambitious.  The idea was first to relieve pressure on Vienna and Prague.  Second, it was hoped that they could get back into Budapest and re-establish what was their last ally--Hungary.  The German High Command also hoped to encircle a huge Soviet Army south of Budapest as well.  Finally, the last oil reserves of the Axis (which really only included Germany at this point) were South of Lake Balaton.

It cannot be understated how crucial this was.  While Germany had developed a method for production of synthetic oil, this was largely useful for lesser applications like lubricants and diesel fuel.  In any case, production of synthetic fuel never rose above 15% of demand and was mostly located in Police, Poland, which by March of 1945 was under heavy Soviet Pressure already.

Any hope that Germany had of continuing the war depended on access to the oil fields of Southern Hungary.  Given this, it isn't surprising that the Germans chose to strike at the Soviets so late in the war.  Really, what was more surprising was that they struck at the Western Allies in December when their life's blood was flowing out to their southeast.

I recently visited Hungary and while I was there, I took some time to visit some of the Soviet era monuments to that battle.

This battle took place in two phases and rather resembled the Battle of Kursk.  The Soviets had dug in deep defenses and planned to trap German armor in rows of anti-tank defenses.  The German offensive, based largely on the technical superiority of their PzKwIIB Royal Tiger tanks fell apart largely because of their inherent unreliability, lack of operational mobility and a predictable lack of fuel.  It also had to be noted that the German technical edge was not nearly as great as it had been at Kursk, as they were largely met by new Soviet IS-2m tanks which were, if not a 1:1 match for the Royal Tiger, certainly nearer to it than the T34/76 was to the Panther.

Once the German offensive broke against the multiple lines of Soviet defenses, the Soviets, as was their wont, counterattacked.  Leaving behind dozens of sophisticated vehicles, the Germans were hurled back toward Vienna.  This second phase of the operation proved a horrible experience of running away from the heavy Red Army tanks and speedy T34/85's.

The geographic area of the battlefield is likewise huge, encompassing most of Western Hungary.  It was also an international affair, as the Germans had a great deal of Hungarian fascist stragglers and the Soviets by this time were employing Romanian, Bulgarian and even Yugoslavian fighters alongside the Red Army.

One thing I can say about physically being on the battlefield is that you get a very good sense of the difficulties armies faced.  The ground in Western Hungary is very fertile, but not well drained.  There are lots of thickly-vegetated boggy patches that are not immediately clear on aerial photographs.  Buildings are of mud-brick and rather shabby construction.  What is perhaps more important, you can turn to the West and see the Austrian foothills--knowing that this was the boundary to the Reich and YOUR back is to it or that the end of the war was THIS tantalizingly close..  It must have been intimidating or motivating for the troops fighting there.

Finally, seemingly every village has a monument to the Red Army troops that gave their lives "liberating" Western Hungary.  And there are a LOT of names on those plaques.  Usually even small villages had 30-50 names, suggesting the ferocity of the fighting and the dedication to which the Germans fought for every inch.

Next week I will look over some of the scenarios depicted in Operation Fruhlungswachen.