The Stormtroopers were special military troops which were formed in the last year of World War I as the German army developed new methods of attacking enemy trenches, called "infiltration tactics". Men trained in these methods were known as in German as Sturmmann (literally "storm man" or "assault man" but usually translated as Stormtrooper), formed into companies of Sturmtruppen (Storm Troops). Other armies have used the term "assault troops", "shock troops" or fire teams for specialist soldiers who perform the infiltration tasks of stormtroopers. Combatants Allied Powers: Russian Empire France British Empire Italy United States Central Powers: Austria-Hungary German Empire Ottoman Empire Bulgaria Commanders Nicholas II Aleksei Brusilov Georges Clemenceau Joseph Joffre Ferdinand Foch Herbert Henry Asquith Douglas Haig John Jellicoe Victor Emmanuel III Luigi Cadorna Armando Diaz Woodrow Wilson John Pershing Franz... In warfare, infiltration tactics involve small, lightly-equipped infantry forces attacking enemy rear areas while bypassing enemy front-line strongpoints, isolating them for attack by follow-on friendly troops with heavier weapons. ... SS-Sturmmann rank insignia Sturmmann is a German phrase translating as “Stormtrooper”. The word originated during World War I when Sturmmann was a position held by soldiers in German pioneer assault companies, also known as Shock troops. Following the defeat of Germany in 1918, Sturmmann became a paramilitary rank of... A fire team is the smallest recognized military unit. ...

With the withdrawal of Russia from World War I, the Germans were able to reinforce the Western Front with troops from the Eastern Front. This allowed them to take units out of the line and train in Hutier tactics (after Oskar von Hutier) to infiltrate and take trenches. For most of World War I, Allied Forces, predominantly those of France and the United Kingdom, were stalled at trenches on the Western Front. ... The Eastern Front refers to a theatre of war during the first World War in Central and, primarily, Eastern Europe. ... Oskar von Hutier (August 27, 1857-December 5, 1934) was one of Germanys most successful and innovative generals of World War I. Hutier spent the first year of the war as a divisional commander in France, performing well but not distinguishing himself until the spring of 1915, when he...

The methods developed to assault trenches during World War I before 1918 usually started with a lengthy artillery barrage all along the line followed by an assault from massed lines of infantry. Hutier suggested an alternate approach which consisted of these basic steps, combining some previous and some new attacks in a complex strategy:

1. A short artillery bombardment, featuring heavy shells mixed with numerous poison gas projectiles would concentrate on neutralizing the enemy front lines, but not to destroy them.
2. Under a creeping barrage, German shock troops (Sturmbatallione) would move forward and infiltrate the Allied defenses at previously identified weak points. They would avoid combat whenever possible and attempt to destroy or capture enemy headquarters and artillery strongpoints.
3. After the shock troops had done their job, German Army units, heavily equipped with machine guns, mortars and flamethrowers, would make heavy attacks along narrow fronts against any Allied strongpoints the shock troops missed. When the artillery was in place, officers could direct the fire wherever it was needed to accelerate the breakthrough.
4. In the last stage of the assault, regular infantry would mop up any remaining Allied resistance.

The new assault methods involved men rushing forwards in small groups using whatever cover was available and laying down covering fire for other groups in the same unit as they moved forwards. The new tactics, which were intended to achieve tactical surprise, were to attack the weakest parts of an enemy's line, bypass his strongpoints and to abandon the futile attempt to have a grand and detailed plan of operations controlled from afar. Instead, junior leaders could exercise initiative on the spot. Any enemy strong points which had not been over-run by stormtroopers could be attacked by second echelon troops following the stormtroopers. Rolling barrage is a military tactic in which massed artillery support an infantry advance by firing continuously at positions just in front of the advancing troops. ... // Riverboat of the U.S. Brownwater Navy deploying an ignited napalm mixture from riverboat mounted flamethrower in Vietnam A flamethrower is a mechanical device designed to project a long, controllable stream of fire. ...

On March 21, 1918 Germany launched a major offensive, "Operation Michael", against British Empire forces, using the new methods and tactics. Four successive German offensives followed, that of May 27 and for the first time in 4 years the stalemate of trench warfare was broken. However the German advance had stalled by July and the Allies began their Hundred Days Offensive. March 21 is the 80th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (81st in leap years). ... Year 1918 (MCMXVIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. ... The Spring Offensive (Operation Michael) was a German offensive along the Western Front during the First World War which marked the deepest advance by any side since 1914. ... // The British Empire in 1897, marked in pink, the traditional colour for Imperial British dominions on maps. ... May 27 is the 147th day (148th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar, with 218 days remaining. ... Trench warfare is a form of war in which both opposing armies have static lines of defence. ... The Hundred Days Offensive was the final offensive in World War I by the Allies against the Central Powers on the Western Front from August 8, 1918 to November 11, 1918. ...

See also

• Sturmabteilung

The seal of SA The   (SA, German for Storm Division, usually translated as stormtroops or stormtroopers) functioned as a paramilitary organization of the NSDAP – the German Nazi party. ...

References