Editing Operation Spring Awakening (section)

== Background ==
On 12 January [[Adolf Hitler|Hitler]] received confirmation that the Soviet Red Army had begun a massive winter offensive through Poland, named the [[Vistula–Oder offensive]].<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|title=Hitler's Last Offensive: Operation Spring Awakening|url=https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/2016/10/31/hitlers-last-offensive-operation-spring-awakening/|date=2016-10-31|website=Warfare History Network|language=en-US|access-date=2020-05-05}}</ref> Hitler ordered [[OB West]] Field Marshal [[Gerd von Rundstedt]] to withdraw the following units from active combat in the [[Battle of the Bulge]]: [[I SS Panzer Corps]] with [[1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler]] (LSSAH) and [[12th SS Panzer Division Hitlerjugend]], along with [[II SS Panzer Corps]] with [[2nd SS Panzer Division Das Reich]] and [[9th SS Panzer Division Hohenstaufen]].<ref name=":2"/> These units were to be refitted by 30 January and attached to the [[6th Panzer Army]] under the command of [[Sepp Dietrich]] for the upcoming Operation Spring Awakening. Hitler wanted to secure the extremely vital [[Nagykanizsa]] oil fields of southern Hungary, as these were the most strategically valuable assets remaining on the Eastern Front.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Duffy|first=Christopher|title=Red Storm on the Reich: The Soviet March on Germany, 1945|date=2002|publisher=Castle Books|isbn=0-7858-1624-0|location=Edison, NJ}}</ref> The deadline of 30 January proved impossible for refitting to be completed.

As Operation Spring Awakening would be of great importance, lengthy preparation and strategic care was taken to preserve the operation's secrecy. But while the 6th Panzer Army was refitting in Germany, Hitler ordered a preliminary offensive with a similar object to be conducted,<ref name="hitlers-last-offensive" /> resulting in [[Operation Konrad III]] beginning 18 January. The objectives of Konrad III included relieving besieged [[Budapest]] and the recapturing of the [[Transdanubia]] region. By 21 January, only 5 days into Operation Konrad III, the Germans had taken the towns of [[Dunaújváros|Dunapentele]] and [[Adony]] which are on the Western shore of the [[Danube]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Számvéber|first=Norbert|title=Kard a Pajzs Mögött – A "Konrád" hadműveletek története,1945 2.bővített kiadás|publisher=PeKo Publishing|year=2013|isbn=978-963-89623-7-9|location=Budapest|pages=221–222}}</ref> Their push resulted in the annihilation of the Soviet [[7th Mechanized Corps (Soviet Union)|7th Mechanized Corps]]. This sudden and savage push caused the Soviet command to contemplate an evacuation to the opposite shore of the Danube.<ref name=":0" /> Before the end of the 4th day, the Germans had recaptured 400 square kilometers of territory, an achievement comparable to the initial German gains during the Ardennes offensive and the Western Front in December 1944.{{sfn|Frieser|2007|p=913}} At the height of Operation Konrad III, January 26, the Axis front lines had reached within 20&nbsp;km of Budapest's southern perimeter, and within about 10&nbsp;km of the northern perimeter, but their forces were exhausted.<ref name="hitlers-last-offensive" />

From 27 January through 15 February, the Soviets conducted numerous successful counter-attacks, forcing the Germans to give up the greater portion of their territorial gains, pushing the front line back to the area between [[Lake Velence]], the village of [[Csősz]], and [[Lake Balaton]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Számvéber|first=Norbert|title=Kard a Pajzs Mögött – A "Konrád" hadműveletek története, 1945 2.bővített kiadás|publisher=PeKo Publishing|year=2013|isbn=978-963-89623-7-9|location=Budapest|pages=456}}</ref> This area had the Margit Line running right through it, and would see more fighting in the upcoming Operation Spring Awakening. [[File:Defencive-lines-in-Hungary-1945.png|thumb|Margit Line in Western Hungary (1944–45)<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Juhász|first=Attila|title=New achievements in WW II. military historical reconstruction with GIS|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/281644815|journal=ResearchGate}}</ref>|alt=|right]]By mid-February, the Soviet bridgehead across the [[Hron|Garam River]] north of [[Esztergom]] was identified as a threat. This bridgehead would jeopardize the upcoming Spring Awakening's southeastern push past Lake Balaton to secure the southern [[Hungarian oilfields (disambiguation)|Hungarian oilfields]] while also exposing a straight route towards [[Vienna]]. Thus, beginning on 17 February, [[Operation Southwind]] began the effort to secure the Garam bridgehead from the [[2nd Ukrainian Front]], and by 24 February the task was successfully achieved, proving to be the very last successful German offensive of the war.