Balaton Operation

The Balaton Operation, also called "Operation Spring Awakening", took place during the Second World War. In Germany it is known as the "Partisan Offensive", and in the USSR as the "Balaton Defensive Operation". It was Nazi Germany's last offensive battle. Following the political changes in Bulgaria in the second half of 1944, the country's new leadership decided to join the anti-Hitler coalition. The fighting took place from 6 to 16 March around Lake Balaton. Hungary and Nazi Germany fought on one side, and the Soviet Union, Bulgaria and the Yugoslav partisans on the other. The objective was to secure the last substantial oil reserves still available to the European Axis powers and prevent the Soviet Red Army from advancing towards Vienna.

The battle ended in victory for the Bulgarian and Soviet forces. The operation's failure led Hitler to issue the “weapons order” to Dietrich, asserting that the troops “were not fighting as the situation demanded”. As a mark of disgrace, the Waffen-SS units involved in the battle were ordered to remove their titles. Dietrich did not pass this order on to his troops for two reasons. First, the order had already been partly fulfilled, since the cuff bands had been removed from uniforms under a secrecy measure ordered on 30 January 1945. Second, there was no need to disgrace his men further after the disastrous defeat they had just suffered.