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The modern reconstructed illustration of the Attila-line
Soviet Assault and German Counterattacks on the Atilla Lines of defence.
In 1944 when the Russian forces reached the borders of Hungary the Hungarian High Military Command planned to stop the attack in the Carpathian. The plan was successful, but when Romania deserted to the Russian side the southern front collapsed. Only a few German divisions escaped from Romania. So the Soviet forces could get around the German-Hungarian defence, and attack through the South-Carpathian and towards the Alfold. In the new situation, the defence forces had to create a new fortification system across the whole country. The defence of the capital was a major consideration in this new system. So in September 1944, the German commander Hans Freissner ordered to build the Attila-line around Budapest. This horseshoe-shaped line contained three zones (Attila I., Attila II., Attila III. lines). The line was completed in November. In the course of building, they created anti-tank dikes, trenches, rifle placements and field-artillery placements. The flaks which were built earlier also integrated into the system. The anti-tank dikes were the base of the defence lines. These 5–6 meters wide and 8–10 meters deep dikes have been dug by ten thousands of people. The dikes alone did not mean full defence. The Russian technical corps could easily get over these objects by erecting bridges over these dikes. So the defenders had to place rifle and artillery placements not so far behind the anti-tank dikes to arrest these Russian corps.
Defence lines in Europe and in Hungary
The goal of the fortifications is to enlarge own forces fight ability and to reduce the enemy’s chances and possibilities. The fortification is the synchronic usage of hiding, reinforcing the environment and conforming to it. The endurance of these fortifications depends on the time for the creation, the materials, the tools, the manpower and the impact of the enemy forces. On these grounds, there are two major types of fortifications: the field-fortifications and the permanent-fortifications. Many defence lines were created between the two great wars based on the WW I experiences. Almost every European Power built fortifications near its hazardous borders. The best-known example is the French Maginot-line along the German border. In front of this on the German side there was the Siegfried-line. The Russian Stalin-line, the Finnish Mannerheim-line, the Greek Metaxas-line all built in this period. The builders of these defence lines trusted their power very much but almost in every case they were disappointed. The new weapons in the WW II meant a new challenge and in some cases the lines became negligible because of the border modifications.
The Hungarian planners and contractors of that time studied the foreign examples, and they applied the foreign experiences and considered new theoretical and practical aspects when the Hungarian defence system was created. Thanks to this new approach the Hungarian forces succeeded in defence proportionately. The Árpád-line in the East- Carpathian stopped the Russian attack and held it up until the pull-out. If we take into consideration the conditions (the time for creation, the manpower, and the difference between the offensive and defensive forces) we can say that the Attila-line which defended Budapest turned out to be a great success. The real function of the Hungarian fortifications was to defend the oil-fields in Transdanubian region and to protect south eastern borders of Germany. The shape of such fortification system caused that Budapest endured one of the biggest sieges in the WW II.
