Merriam Press Siegrunen Monograph 2. Fifth Edition (January 2012). The battle for Budapest was the culmination of three and a half years of bitter, unequal struggle against Soviet Bolshevism and its capitalist allies. The Waffen-SS troops involved constituted the backbone of the defensive effort and took the severest losses. For IX SS Corps and the "Florian Geyer" and "Maria Theresia" Cavalry Divisions, Budapest was another Stalingrad. "Maria Theresia" in particular had the unfortunate distinction of being the only large formation of the Waffen-SS to be almost totally obliterated. This work details the vicious struggle from beginning to end, a struggle in which 40,000 defenders tied up almost half a million Soviet combat and support troops, buying the Germans much needed time. Contents: Chapter 1: Budapest: The City of the Unvanquished Heroes; Chapter 2: The Retreat from Eastern Hungary; Chapter 3: Development of the Budapest Defense Ring; Chapter 4: The SS Cavalry Division in the Karola Positions: November 1944; Chapter 5: The Budapest Bridgehead Takes Shape; Chapter 6: Budapest is Surrounded; Chapter 7: A Fight to the Finish: Budapest Will Not Surrender; Chapter 8: January 1945: The Hardest Month Imaginable; Chapter 9: The Final Struggle Begins; Chapter 10: Endkampf; Chapter 11: Breakout from Budapest; Chapter 12: The Formation of the SS-Totenkopf Reiterstandarten, 1939-1940; Chapter 13: Death of the Soviet Budapest Emissaries: Follow-up; Chapter 14: The Budapest Relief Attacks: Excerpts from the Diary of the 5th SS-Panzer Division "Wiking," 2-12 January 1945; Bibliography. 101 photos; 6 illustrations; 4 maps.