Editing Rodion Malinovsky (section)

===Romania and Hungary===
[[File:2° Fronte Ucraino parata della vittoria.jpg|thumb|Malinovsky leading a contingent from the [[2nd Ukrainian Front]] at the [[Moscow Victory Parade of 1945]].]]
In May 1944, Malinovsky was transferred to the [[2nd Ukrainian Front]]. He expelled the Germans from the remaining Soviet territory and participated in an unsuccessful invasion of the [[Balkans]] (the [[first Jassy–Kishinev Offensive]]) together with Marshal [[Ivan Konev]] and  Army General [[Fyodor Tolbukhin]] (who received Malinovsky's former command over the smaller 3rd Ukrainian Front). However, during the [[Jassy–Kishinev Offensive (August 1944)|second Jassy–Kishinev Offensive]] in late August and early September 1944, Malinovsky unleashed a highly successful Soviet version of the [[Blitzkrieg]]. Together with Tolbukhin, he destroyed or captured some 215,000 German,<ref>{{cite book |language=de |first=K. W. |last=Böhme |title=Die deutschen Kriegsgefangenen in sowjetischer Hand. Eine Bilanz |location=München |year=1966 |page=112 |oclc=246020642 }}</ref> and 200,000 Romanian troops,<ref>{{cite news |language=de |work=Siebenbürgische Zeitung |url=http://www.siebenbuerger.de/sbz/sbz/news/1093160289,50778,.html |title=Ein schwarzer Tag für die Deutschen |date=22 August 2004 }}</ref> forcing Romania to overthrow pro-German ''[[Conducător]]'' [[Ion Antonescu]], and switch from the Axis to the [[Allies of World War II|Allies]] camp (''see [[Romania during World War II]]''). A triumphant Stalin recalled Malinovsky to Moscow, and on 10 September 1944 made him [[Marshal of the Soviet Union]]. Malinovsky was also nominal head of the [[Allied Commission]] in Romania (represented by [[Vladislav Petrovich Vinogradov]]).<ref>{{cite book |language=ro |first=Adrian |last=Cioroianu |author-link=Adrian Cioroianu |title=Pe umerii lui Marx. O introducere în istoria comunismului românesc |publisher=[[Editura Curtea Veche]] |location=Bucharest |year=2005 |page=59 |isbn=973-669-175-6 }}</ref>

He continued his offensive drive, crossed the [[Southern Carpathians]] into [[Transylvania]] (entering [[Hungary|Hungarian]]-ruled [[Northern Transylvania]]), and on 20 October 1944, captured [[Debrecen]], defended by a large Axis force. His troops were tired after several months of combat and needed to be replenished and resupplied, but Stalin ordered Malinovsky to [[Battle of Budapest|take the Hungarian capital Budapest]], in order to open the road to Vienna and take Vienna before the [[Allies of World War II|Western Allies]]. With the help of Tolbukhin and the Romanian [[Romanian First Army|First]] and [[Romanian Fourth Army|Fourth]] armies, Malinovsky carried out Stalin's order, and faced [[Adolf Hitler]]'s determination to defend Budapest at any cost. The Germans and their Hungarian [[Arrow Cross Party]] allies tried to turn Budapest into a "German Stalingrad"; Hitler engaged the bulk of his Panzer troops (among them six [[Waffen SS]] divisions and five army Panzer divisions; one-fourth of the Wehrmacht's armor{{citation needed|date=December 2015}}), weakening German forces fighting the Red Army in [[Poland]] and [[Prussia]], as well as those engaging the Western Allies on the [[Rhine]]. Malinovsky's strategic and operational skills enabled him to overcome his troops' weakness and to conquer Budapest on 13 February 1945, following an exceptionally harsh battle. He captured 70,000 prisoners. Continuing his drive westward, Malinovsky routed Germans in Slovakia, liberated [[Bratislava]], on 4 April 1945 captured Vienna, and finally, on 26 April 1945 freed [[Brno]], second largest city in Czechoslovakia.

These new victories established the Soviet's supremacy over the [[Danube|Danubian]] heartland of Europe. In return, Stalin rewarded him with the highest Soviet military decoration of the period, the [[Order of Victory]]. Malinovsky ended his campaign in Europe with the liberation of [[Brno]] in the [[Czechoslovakia|Czech]] lands, observing a jubilant meeting of his and American advance forces.