Editing Shock troops

{{short description|Type of infantry for leading attacks}}
{{For|the 1967 film|Shock Troops (film)}}
'''Shock troops''', '''assault troops''', or '''storm troops''' are special formations created to lead [[Offensive (military)|military attack]]s. They are often better trained and equipped than other military units and are expected to take heavier casualties even in successful operations.

"Shock troop" is a [[calque]], a loose translation of the [[German language|German]] word '''''Stoßtrupp''''' (literally "thrust squad" or "push squad").{{efn|Although the German word ''Stoß'' is occasionally used to translate 'shock' or allude to a shock-like event, as in ''Erdstoß'' ([[seismic wave]]), in this case ''stoß'' derives directly from the verb ''stoßen'' (to push), referring to the original task of the ''Stoßtruppen'', known in German as ''vorstoßen'' (roughly: to carry the attack forward, to penetrate the enemy lines).}}  Assault troopers are typically organized for mobility with the intention that they will penetrate enemy defenses and attack into the enemy's vulnerable [[Rear (military)|rear areas]].  Any specialized, elite unit formed to fight an engagement via overwhelming assault (usually) would be considered shock troops, as opposed to "[[special forces]]" or [[commando]]-style units (intended mostly for [[covert operation]]s). However, both types of units could fight behind enemy lines, by surprise if required.

== Before 1914 ==

The [[Companion cavalry]] of [[Alexander the Great]] (356-326 BC) are described as being the first example of shock cavalry being used in Europe.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Hanson|first=Victor Davis|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XGr16-CxpH8C|title=Carnage and Culture: Landmark Battles in the Rise to Western Power|date=2007-12-18|publisher=Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group|isbn=978-0-307-42518-8|language=en}}</ref>

During the [[Paraguayan War]] (1864–1870), in which [[Paraguay]] fought against [[Brazil]], [[Argentina]], and [[Uruguay]], the Paraguayans deployed shock troops (composed of a mixture of dismounted cavalry and fit men who could row and swim) armed with sabres, cutlasses, knives, bayonets, pistols, and hand grenades. They attacked small fortified positions and boarded Brazilian river steamers.<ref>''Armies of the 19th Century: The Americas/The Paraguayan War'', Terry Hooker (P. 82)</ref>

==World War I==
{{Main|Stormtroopers (Imperial Germany)|Arditi|Yildirim Army Group}}
During the [[World War I|First World War]], many combatants faced the deadlock of [[trench warfare]]. On the Western Front in 1915, the Germans formed a specialized unit called the Rohr Battalion to develop assault tactics.  During the [[Brusilov Offensive]] of 1916, the Russian general [[Aleksei Brusilov]] developed and implemented the idea of shock troops to attack weak points along the Austrian lines to effect a breakthrough, which the main Russian Army could then exploit. The Russian Army had also formed [[Spetsnaz#History|hunter commando]] units in 1886 and used them in World War I to protect against ambushes, to perform reconnaissance and for low-intensity fights in no-man's-land.<ref>{{cite web |title=World War I |url=https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-i/world-war-i-history |website=HISTORY |date=11 August 2023 |language=en}}</ref>

The von Hutier tactics ([[infiltration tactics]]) called for special infantry assault units to be detached from the main lines and sent to infiltrate enemy lines, supported by shorter and sharper (than usual for WWI) artillery fire missions targeting both the enemy front and rear, bypassing and avoiding what enemy strong points they could, and engaging to their best advantage when and where they were forced to, leaving decisive engagement against bypassed units to following heavier infantry. The primary goal of these detached units was to infiltrate the enemy's lines and break their cohesion as much as possible. These formations became known as ''[[Stosstruppen|Stoßtruppen]]'', or shock troops, and the tactics they pioneered were the basis of post-WWI infantry tactics, such as the development of [[fire team]]s.

The same sort of tactical doctrine was widely espoused in British and French service in late 1917 and 1918, with variable results.{{cn|date=October 2024}} The British Army standard training manual for platoon tactics, SS 143, was used from February 1917 onwards and contained much of what was standard for German shock troops.<ref>Griffith, Paddy; ''Battle Tactics of the Western Front''; Yale University Press, New Haven, 1994</ref>

==See also==
* [[Forlorn hope]]
* [[Special forces]]
*[[Assault Engineering Brigades]]
*[[Stormtroopers (Imperial Germany)]]

==Notes==
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==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
*  Grau, Lester W. [https://fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/land/row/rusav.htm Russian-Manufactured Armored Vehicle Vulnerability in Urban Combat: The Chechnya Experience], Red Thrust Star, January 1997 "The Chechen lower-level combat group consists of 15 to 20 personnel subdivided into three or four-man fighting cells. ..."
* Штабс-ротмистр Танеев. О штурмовых частях Германской и Австро-Венгерской армий / Битва Гвардий - https://btgv.ru/history/rare/staff-rotmistr-taneyev-about-the-assault-units-of-the-german-and-austro-hungarian-armies/
[[Category:Infantry]]
[[Category:Special forces]]
[[Category:Types of military forces]]