Oskar von Hutier

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Oskar von Hutier
Born27 August 1857
Erfurt, Province of Saxony
Died5 December 1934(1934-12-05) (aged 77)
Berlin, Nazi Germany
Allegiance German Empire
Service/branch Imperial German Army
Years of service1875–1919
RankGeneral der Infanterie
Battles/warsWorld War I
AwardsPour le Mérite

Oskar Emil von Hutier (27 August 1857 – 5 December 1934) was a

German Army
from 1875 to 1919, including war service.

During the

took Riga in 1917. The following year he was transferred to the Western Front to participate in Operation Michael that year. He is frequently but mistakenly credited with having created the stormtrooper tactics of small, rapid forces, which he employed to great effect during the Michael offensive. These tactics had been developed by other officers on the Western Front before he was reassigned there.[1]

After retiring from the Army in 1919, Hutier presided over the German Officers' League until his death on 5 December 1934. He was among leaders who contended that the Army had been betrayed by enemies at home.

Biography

Oskar von Hutier was born in

Prussian Military Academy beginning in 1885. There, he gained the attention of the General Staff, on which he subsequently served. He served as the Oberquartiermeister in 1911.[2]

Hutier married Fanni Ludendorff,[3] and had three children. Their son Oskar was seriously wounded at the Battle of Verdun in 1916.[4]

World War I

Map of German advance during Operation Michael, with Hutier's 18th Army, in the southern third, having the farthest advances

Hutier spent the first year of the First World War as a divisional commander in France. There, he commanded the 1st Guards Infantry Division in the Second Army. He commanded the unit during the First Battle of the Marne, and remained on the Western Front until April 1915, when he was transferred to the Eastern Front. There, on 4 April, he took command of the XXI Corps of the Tenth Army.[5][6] He briefly commanded the Army Detachment D from 2 January to 22 April in 1917. On 22 April, he was promoted to General der Infanterie (General of the Infantry) and placed in command of the Eighth Army.[6][7]

On 3 September 1917, Hutier, commanding the Eighth Army, ended the two-year siege of the Russian city of

Wilhelm II for seizing Riga.[7] His success there also impressed General Erich Ludendorff, who transferred Hutier to the Western Front in 1918.[11]

After arriving on the Western Front, Hutier was placed in command of the newly formed

Somme River toward Amiens in the span of fifteen days. Hutier's forces captured around 50,000 prisoners; Hutier was awarded the Oak Leaves to accompany his Pour le Mérite for this victory.[7] A contemporary French magazine credited Hutier with creating these infiltration tactics, which relied on small, flexible forces that moved rapidly, calling them "Hutier tactics", though he had had no significant role in developing them.[1]

Later in June, Hutier directed an offensive toward Noyon, which made initial gains but broke down in the face of stiff Allied resistance. For the rest of the war, Hutier's Eighteenth Army fought on the defensive while the Allies launched a strategic counter-offensive that culminated in Germany's total defeat by November.[7]

Later life

Following the

stabbed in the back" by domestic enemies on the home front. Hutier served as president of the German Officers' League from 1919 to shortly before his death in Berlin on 5 December 1934, at the age of 77.[6][7]

Decorations and awards

Citations

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Oskar von Hutier.
  1. ^ a b Gudmundsson, p. xiii
  2. ^ a b Pawley, p. 47
  3. ^ "From the Aisne to the Marne". The Independent. 15 June 1918. p. 436. Retrieved 6 January 2013.
  4. ^ Wheeler, p. 298
  5. ^ Tucker & Roberts, p. 899
  6. ^ a b c Pawly, p. 48
  7. ^ a b c d e f Tucker & Roberts, p. 900
  8. ^ Gudmundsson, pp. 114–l16
  9. ^ Gudmundsson, pp. 120–121
  10. ^ Barrett, pp. 52, 225
  11. ^ Gudmundsson, p. 120

References

Military offices
Preceded by Commander, XXI Corps
4 April 1915 – 2 January 1917 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Commander, Armee-Abteilung D
2 January 1917 – 22 April 1917 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Commander, 8th Army
22 April 1917 – 12 December 1917 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
New Formation
 Commander, 18th Army
22 December 1917 – 2 January 1919 		Succeeded by
Dissolved
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