Hungary became the primary theatre of operations on the eastern front after the withdrawal of Romania from the war on August 23, 1944. The goal of the Soviet command was to occupy Budapest on the march toward the Vienna region. The Budapest breakout went down in history as one of the most desperate operations of the Second World War. Nearly half the soldiers who participated, 17,000 men perished in the space of a few days. The ultimate responsibility rests with the supreme leaders, Stalin and especially Hitler