The designation of
Freikorps (
German for "Free
Corps") was originally applied to voluntary armies. The first freikorps were recruited by
Frederick II of Prussia in the eighteenth century during the
Seven Years' War. Other known freikorps appeared during the
Napoleonic Wars and were led for example by
Ferdinand von Schill and later
Ludwig Adolf Wilhelm von Lützow. The freikorps were regarded as unreliable by regular armies, so that they were mainly used as sentries and for minor duties.
However, the meaning of the word has changed over time. After
1918, the term was used for the
paramilitary organizations that sprang up around
Germany as soldiers returned in defeat from
World War I. They were the key
Weimar paramilitary groups active during that time. Many German veterans felt disconnected from civilian life, and joined a Freikorps in search of stability within a
military structure. Others, angry at their sudden, apparently inexplicable defeat, joined up in an effort to put down
Communist uprisings or exact some form of revenge (see
Dolchstoßlegende). They received considerable support from
Gustav Noske, Germany's Minister of Defense, who used them to crush the
Marxist Spartacist League, including the summary execution of
Karl Liebknecht and
Rosa Luxemburg on
January 15,
1919. They were also used to defeat and annex the
Bavarian Soviet Republic in
1919.
Several
Freikorps fought in the Baltic,
Silesia, and Prussia after the
end of World War I, sometimes with significant success even against
regular troops.
They were officially 'disbanded' in 1920; but some, instead of disbanding, attempted to overthrow the government in the
Kapp Putsch in March 1920 (which ended in disaster).
Some future members and leaders of the
Nazi Party had served in the Freikorps, including
Ernst Röhm, future head of the Sturmabteilung or
SA, and
Rudolf Höß, the future
Kommandant of
Auschwitz.
In
1919-
1920,
Adolf Hitler had just begun his political career as the leader of a tiny and as-yet-unknown party (the German Workers Party, soon renamed the National Socialist German Workers Party) in
Munich. Most Freikorps members, however, remained outsiders during the
Third Reich.
Hermann Ehrhardt and his deputy Commander Eberhard Kautter, leaders of the Viking League, refused to help Hitler and
Ludendorff in their
Beer Hall Putsch and conspired against them.
See also
Freikorps members:
External links
German language (Deutsch, ] (help info ) ) is a West Germanic language and one of the world's major languages.
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CORPS game system, or Complete Omniversal Role Playing System, is a generic role-playing game system. It was created by Greg Porter in 1998 .
When the game was first published, it was available in game stores and conventions.
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Frederick II
King of Prussia, Elector of Brandenburg
Frederick II, aged 68, by Anton Graff
Reign 1740 - 1786
Titles Frederick II of Prussia
Frederick IV of Brandenburg
Born January 24 1712
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Seven Years' War(i) (1754 and 1756–1763), incorporating the Pomeranian War and the French and Indian War, enveloped both European and colonial theatres. It is estimated that between 900,000 and 1,400,000 people died.
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Top: Battle of Austerlitz
Bottom: Battle of Waterloo
Date c.1803–1815
Location Europe, Atlantic Ocean, Río de la Plata, Indian Ocean
Result Coalition victory, Congress of Vienna
Combatants
Austria[a]
Portugal
Prussia
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Ferdinand Baptista von Schill (1776 - 1809), was a Prussian soldier who revolted unsuccessfully against French domination in May of 1809.
He was born in Saxony, and entered the Prussian cavalry at the age of twelve, he was still a subaltern of dragoons when he was wounded at
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Ludwig Adolf Wilhelm Freiherr[1] von Lützow (English: Louis Adolph William, Baron von Lützow) (May 18, 1782 – December 6, 1834) was a Prussian lieutenant general notable for his organization and command of a
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Paramilitary designates forces whose function and organization are similar to those of a professional military force, but which are not regarded as having the same status.[1] The term uses the Greek/Latin prefix para- ("beside"), also seen in words such as
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Anthem
"Das Lied der Deutschen" (third stanza)
also called "Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit"
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Clockwise from top: Trenches on the Western Front; a British Mark IV tank crossing a trench; Royal Navy battleship HMS Irresistible sinking after striking a mine at the Battle of the Dardanelles; a Vickers machine gun crew with gas masks, and German Albatros D.
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Paramilitary groups were formed throughout the Weimar Republic in the wake of Germany's defeat in World War I and the ensuing German Revolution. Some were created by political parties to help in recruiting, discipline and in preparation for seizing power.
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Military has two broad meanings. In its first sense, it refers to soldiers and soldiering. In its second sense, it refers to armed forces as a whole. Over the years, military units have come in all shapes and sizes.
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Communism
Basic concepts
Marxist philosophy
Class struggle
Proletarian internationalism
Communist party
Ideologies
Marxism Leninism Maoism
Trotskyism Juche
Left Council
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stab-in-the-back legend (German: Dolchstoßlegende, literally "Dagger stab legend") refers to a social myth and persecution-propaganda theory popular in Germany in the period after World War I through World War II.
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Gustav Noske (July 9, 1868 - November 30, 1946) was a German administrator. He served as the Defense Minister of Germany between 1919 and 1920. He was the first defense minister of the Weimar Republic.
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Marxism is both the theory and the political practice (that is, the praxis) derived from the work of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. Any political practice or theory that is based on an interpretation of the works of Marx and Engels may be called Marxism; this includes
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Spartacist League (Spartakusbund in German) was a left-wing Marxist revolutionary movement organized in Germany during and just after the politically volatile years of World War I.
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Karl Liebknecht (help info ) (August 13, 1871 - January 15, 1919) was a German socialist and a co-founder of the Spartacist League and the Communist Party of Germany.
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Rosa Luxemburg (Pol: Róża Luksemburg) (March 5, 1870/71 – January 15, 1919, was a Polish Marxist theorist, socialist philosopher, and revolutionary for the Social Democratic Party of the Kingdom of Poland, the German SPD, and the Independent Social
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January 15 is the 1st day of the year (2nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 0 days remaining.
Events
- 588 BC - Nebuchadrezzar II of Babylon lays siege to Jerusalem under Zedekiah's reign.
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The Bavarian Soviet Republic, also known as the Munich Soviet Republic (German: Bayerische Räterepublik or Münchner Räterepublik) was a short-lived government established after the assassination of Kurt Eisner.
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After 1918, the term Freikorps was used for the paramilitary organizations that sprang up around German Empire including
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The Silesian Uprisings (German: Aufstände in Oberschlesien; Polish: Powstania śląskie
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The Kapp Putsch —or more accurately the Kapp-Lüttwitz Putsch —was an attempt to overthrow the Weimar Republic, based in opposition to the imposed Treaty of Versailles at the end of World War I. It was branded right-wing, monarchist and reactionary afterwards.
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The National Socialist German Workers Party (German: (help info ) , or NSDAP, originally known as the DAP (this changed in 1920) and commonly known as the
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Ernst Julius Röhm, also spelled Ernst Roehm in English, (Munich November 28, 1887 – july 2, 1934) was a German military officer and later the commander and co-founder of the Nazi Sturmabteilung, also known as the SA.
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Sturmabteilung (help info ) or SA (German for "Storm department", usually translated as "stormtroop(er)s"), functioned as a paramilitary organization of the NSDAP — the German Nazi party.
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