reasons for the failure of the stormtroops have been suggested. The initial attack was against the British section of the front, which was the most strongly held. The leading units were not relieved or rotated out of action and became exhausted. The terrain contained many rivers, towns, forests and canals which slowed the advance. The 1918 influenza epidemic. The capture of British stores which contained large quantities of alcohol—"not for lack of German fighting spirit, but on account of the abundance of Scottish drinking spirit!" 3rd and 46th Assault Company With three infantry battalions, the German 703rd Infantry Battalion, some machine-gun, cavalry, and artillery units, the 3rd Assault Company, and the 46th Assault Company counterattacked the Egyptian Expeditionary Force during the Sinai and Palestine Campaign. At the First Battle of Amman, during the First Transjordan attack on Amman at the end of March 1918, the attackers were forced back to the Jordan River. 23rd Assault Detachment 24th Assault Company With the 3rd Battalion 145th Infantry Regiment (24th Infantry Division) and the 8th and 9th Cavalry Regiments (3rd Cavalry Division), the 24th Assault Company (24th Infantry Division) pushed the Egyptian Expeditionary Force back from Es Salt at the end of April 1918 during the Second Transjordan attack on Shunet Nimrin and Es Salt. 46th Assault Company This assault company remained in reserve at Amman during the attack on Es Salt. Effect on the Weimar Republic According to Vanguard of Nazism by Robert G. L. Waite and Male Fantasies by Klaus Theweleit, some of the psychological and social aspects of the Stormtrooper experience found their way into the paramilitary wings of every political party during the Weimar Republic, which were largely made up of World War I veterans and younger recruits whom they trained. For example, the formal barrier between officers and enlisted men was largely broken down and replaced by a fierce loyalty. There was also a "brutalization" process owing to the uniquely violent conditions of trench warfare. Such units included the monarchist Stahlhelm, the paramilitary Roter Frontkämpferbund wing of the Communist Party of Germany, and the Sturmabteilung, the name of which was commandeered by the Nazi Party for its own paramilitary wing. Austro-Hungarian assault units During the winter of 1914–1915 large parts of the Eastern Front switched to trench warfare. To cope with the new situation many Austro-Hungarian regiments spontaneously formed infantry squads called Jagdkommandos. These squads were named after