1-344-859 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Oskar von Hutier, German First World War general, 1926. Hutier established his reputation as a commander on the Eastern Front in World War I, making extensive use of so-called infiltration tactics whilst leading the German 8th Army. In 1918 he was transferred to the Western Front and placed in command of the newly formed 18th Army to spearhead the German Spring Offensive. His army was spectacularly successful in the early phase of the operation, capturing 50,000 prisoners and advancing some 40 miles into Allied territory. After the war he was prominent in expressing the view that Germany had not lost the war because it had been defeated on the battlefield but had been stabbed in the back by its politicians.