The Stosstruppen, also known as Sturmtruppen or as Stormtroopers, were specialist infantry soldiers of the Imperial German Army during the last years of World War I, serving as a breaching unit. The Sturmtruppen were selected from among the German army's best soldiers: sturmtruppen had to be under 25 years of age, mentally and physically tough, single, athletic, and aggressive.
The Stosstruppen were trained for "limited target attacks" and forays into enemy trenches, as well as to engage in attritional warfare with the objective of killing off enemy soldiers to facilitate strategic goals. Starting with the creation of Assault Battalion No. 5 (Rohr) in September 1915, the German army began training assault detachments as a means of breaking out of the impasse of trench warfare, and these detachments would overcome no man's land and break through enemy lines in predefined points in order to allow subsequent waves to liquidate their isolated opponents. Stormtrooper squadrons operated with autonomy, utilizing Hutier tactics (Stosstruppen would move forward in dispersed order after a creeping barrage, destroy or capture enemy headquarters and artillery strongpoints, and clear the way for a general infantry attack to mop up enemy resistance). In 1918, the closing of the Eastern Front led to the German Army retraining many Eastern units as stormtroopers and unleashing them on the Allies during Operation Michael. However, the Stormtroopers began their attack against the British section of the front, which was the most strongly held. Their leading units were not relieved or rotated out of action and became exhausted, while rivers, towns, forests, and canals slowed the German advance. The Stormtroopers suffered heavy losses, and the final German offensive of the war failed. After the war, the Stormtroopers were disbanded, and many of these unemployed shock troops would later join the Black Reichswehr and other paramilitary organizations during the Weimar era. In addition, the breakdown of the barrier between officers and enlisted men due to the introduction of autonomous "storm battalions" and its replacement by a fierce loyalty led to many World War I veterans and younger recruits joining units such as the monarchist Der Stahlhelm, the paramilitary Rotfront wing of the KPD, and the Sturmabteilung ("Stormtroopers") of the NSDAP.