(, "Free
Corps
Corps (; plural ''corps'' ; from French , from the Latin "body") is a term used for several different kinds of organization. A military innovation by Napoleon I, the formation was first named as such in 1805. The size of a corps varies great ...
" or "Volunteer
Corps
Corps (; plural ''corps'' ; from French , from the Latin "body") is a term used for several different kinds of organization. A military innovation by Napoleon I, the formation was first named as such in 1805. The size of a corps varies great ...
") were
irregular German and other European
military volunteer units, or
paramilitary, that existed from the 18th to the early 20th centuries. They effectively fought as
mercenary
A mercenary, sometimes also known as a soldier of fortune or hired gun, is a private individual, particularly a soldier, that joins a military conflict for personal profit, is otherwise an outsider to the conflict, and is not a member of any ...
or
private armies
Private or privates may refer to:
Music
* "In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation''
* Private (band), a Denmark-based band
* "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorded ...
, regardless of their own nationality. In German-speaking countries, the first so-called ("free regiments", Freie Regimenter) were formed in the 18th century from native volunteers, enemy renegades, and
deserters
Desertion is the abandonment of a military duty or post without permission (a pass, liberty or leave) and is done with the intention of not returning. This contrasts with unauthorized absence (UA) or absence without leave (AWOL ), which a ...
. These, sometimes exotically equipped, units served as infantry and cavalry (or, more rarely, as artillery); sometimes in just
company strength and sometimes in formations of up to several thousand strong. There were also various mixed formations or legions. The Prussian included infantry,
jäger,
dragoons and
hussars. The French ''
Volontaires de Saxe'' combined
uhlans and dragoons.
In the aftermath of
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
and during the
German Revolution of 1918–19, consisting largely of World War I veterans were raised as
paramilitary militias. They were ostensibly mustered to fight on behalf of the government against the
Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic
The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR or RSFSR ( rus, Российская Советская Федеративная Социалистическая Республика, Rossíyskaya Sovétskaya Federatívnaya Soci ...
backed
German communists
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
attempting to overthrow the
Weimar Republic
The Weimar Republic (german: link=no, Weimarer Republik ), officially named the German Reich, was the government of Germany from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a Constitutional republic, constitutional federal republic for the first time in ...
. However, many also largely despised the Republic and were involved in assassinations of its supporters.
Origins
The first were recruited by
Frederick the Great
Frederick II (german: Friedrich II.; 24 January 171217 August 1786) was King in Prussia from 1740 until 1772, and King of Prussia from 1772 until his death in 1786. His most significant accomplishments include his military successes in the Sil ...
during the
Seven Years' War
The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict that involved most of the European Great Powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War (1754 ...
. On 15 July 1759, Frederick ordered the creation of a squadron of volunteer
hussars to be attached to the 1st Hussar Regiment (von Kleist's Own). He entrusted the creation and command of this new unit to Colonel Friedrich Wilhelm von Kleist. This first squadron (80 men) was raised in
Dresden
Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label= Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth ...
and consisted mainly of Hungarian deserters. This squadron was placed under the command of Lieutenant Johann Michael von Kovacs. At the end of 1759, the first four squadrons of
dragoons (also called horse grenadiers) of the were organised. They initially consisted of Prussian volunteers from Berlin, Magdeburg, Mecklenburg and Leipzig, but later recruited deserters. The were regarded as unreliable by regular armies, so they were used mainly as sentries and for minor duties.
These early appeared during the
War of the Austrian Succession
The War of the Austrian Succession () was a European conflict that took place between 1740 and 1748. Fought primarily in Central Europe, the Austrian Netherlands, Italy, the Atlantic and Mediterranean, related conflicts included King George ...
and especially the Seven Years' War, when France, Prussia, and the
Habsburg monarchy embarked on an escalation of
petty warfare while conserving their regular regiments. Even during the last
Kabinettskrieg, the
War of the Bavarian Succession, formations were formed in 1778. Germans, Hungarians, Poles, Lithuanians, and
South Slavs
South Slavs are Slavic peoples who speak South Slavic languages and inhabit a contiguous region of Southeast Europe comprising the eastern Alps and the Balkan Peninsula. Geographically separated from the West Slavs and East Slavs by Austri ...
, as well as Turks,
Tatars
The Tatars ()[Tatar]
in the Collins English Dictionary is an umbrella term for different Turki ...
and
Cossacks, were believed by all warring parties to be inherently good fighters. The nationality of many soldiers can no longer be ascertained as the ethnic origin was often described imprecisely in the regimental lists. Slavs (Croats, Serbs) were often referred to as "Hungarians" or just "Croats", and Muslim recruits (Albanians, Bosnians, Tatars) as "Turks".
For Prussia, the
Pandurs, who were made up of Croats and Serbs, were a clear model for the organization of such "free" troops. Frederick the Great created 14 "
free infantry" () units, mainly between 1756 and 1758, which were intended to be attractive to those soldiers who wanted military "adventure", but did not want to have to do military drill. A distinction should be made between the formed up to 1759 for the final years of the war, which operated independently and disrupted the enemy with surprise attacks, and the free infantry which consisted of various military branches (such as infantry, hussars, dragoons, ''jäger'') and were used in combination. They were often used to ward off
Maria Theresa's Pandurs. In the era of
linear tactics, light troops had been seen necessary for outpost, reinforcement and reconnaissance duties. During the war, eight such volunteer corps were set up:
*
Trümbach's (Voluntaires de Prusse) (FI)
*
Kleist Kleist, or von Kleist, is a surname.
von Kleist:
* August von Kleist (1818–1890), Prussian Major General
* Conrad von Kleist (1839-1900), German politician (German Conservative Party), member of Reichstag
*Ewald Georg von Kleist (ca. 1700–1748) ...
's (FII)
*
Glasenapp's Free Dragoons (F III)
* Schony's (F IV)
* Gschray's (F V)
*
Bauer's Free Hussars (F VI)
*
Légion Britannique (FV - of the
Electorate of Hanover)
* Volontaires Auxiliaires (F VI).
Because, with some exceptions, they were seen as undisciplined and less battleworthy, they were used for less onerous guard and
garrison duties. In the so-called "petty wars", the interdicted enemy supply lines with
guerrilla warfare. In the case of capture, their members were at risk of being executed as irregular fighters. In Prussia the , which Frederick the Great had despised as "vermin", were disbanded. Their soldiers were given no entitlement to pensions or invalidity payments.
In France, many corps continued to exist until 1776. They were attached to regular dragoon regiments as ''jäger''
squadrons. During the
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fre ...
, Austria recruited various of Slavic origin. The
Slavonic Wurmser fought in Alsace. The combat effectiveness of the six Viennese (37,000 infantrymen and cavalrymen), however, was low. An exception were the border regiments of Croats and Serbs who served permanently on the Austro-
Ottoman border.
Napoleonic era
in the modern sense emerged in Germany during the course of the Napoleonic Wars. They fought not so much for money but for patriotic reasons, seeking to shake off the French
Confederation of the Rhine
The Confederated States of the Rhine, simply known as the Confederation of the Rhine, also known as Napoleonic Germany, was a confederation of German client states established at the behest of Napoleon some months after he defeated Austria a ...
. After the French under Emperor
Napoleon
Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader wh ...
had either conquered the German states or forced them to collaborate, remnants of the defeated armies continued to fight on in this fashion. Famous formations included the
King's German Legion, who had fought for Britain in
French-occupied Spain and mainly were recruited from Hanoverians, the
Lützow Free Corps and the
Black Brunswickers.
The attracted many nationally disposed citizens and students. commanders such as
Ferdinand von Schill,
Ludwig Adolf Wilhelm von Lützow
Ludwig Adolf Wilhelm Freiherr von Lützow (18 May 17826 December 1834) was a Prussian general notable for his organization and command of the '' Lützow Freikorps'' of volunteers during the Napoleonic Wars.
Early life
Lützow was born in Berlin ...
or
Frederick William, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, known as the "Black Duke", led their own attacks on Napoleonic occupation forces in Germany. Those led by Schill were decimated in the
Battle of Stralsund (1809)
The Battle of Stralsund on 31 May 1809 was a battle during the Dano-Swedish War of 1808–1809 and Franco-Swedish War, part of the Napoleonic Wars, between Ferdinand von Schill's freikorps and Napoleonic forces in Stralsund. In a "vicious s ...
; many were killed in battle or executed at Napoleon's command in the aftermath. The were very popular during the period of the
German War of Liberation (1813–15), during which von Lützow, a survivor of Schill's , formed his Lützow Free Corps. The anti-Napoleonic often operated behind French lines as a kind of commando or guerrilla force.
Throughout the 19th century, these anti-Napoleonic were greatly praised and glorified by German nationalists, and a heroic myth built up around their exploits. This myth was invoked, in considerably different circumstances, in the aftermath of Germany's defeat in
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
.
1815–71
Even in the aftermath of the Napoleonic era, were set up with varying degrees of success.
During the March 1848 riots, student were set up in Munich.
In
First Schleswig War of 1848 the of
''von der Tann'',
''Zastrow'' and others distinguished themselves.
In 1864 in Mexico, the French formed the so-called ''Contreguerrillas'' under former Prussian hussar officer, Milson. In
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
,
Garibaldi
Giuseppe Maria Garibaldi ( , ;In his native Ligurian language, he is known as ''Gioxeppe Gaibado''. In his particular Niçard dialect of Ligurian, he was known as ''Jousé'' or ''Josep''. 4 July 1807 – 2 June 1882) was an Italian general, pat ...
formed his famous ''
Freischar
The ''Freischar'' was the German name given to an irregular, volunteer military unit that, unlike regular or reserve military forces, participated in a war without the formal authorisation of one of the belligerents, but on the instigation of a ...
s'', notably the "Thousand of Marsala", which landed in Sicily in 1860.
Even before the
Franco-Prussian War of 1870/71, were developed in France that were known as
franc-tireurs.
Post–World War I
After
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
, the meaning of the word Freikorps changed compared to its past iterations. After 1918, the term referred to various —yet, still, loosely affiliated —
paramilitary organizations that sprang up across Germany following the country's defeat in World War I. Of the numerous
Weimar paramilitary groups active during that time, the Freikorps were, and remain, the most notable. While exact numbers are difficult to determine, historians agree that some 500,000 men were formal Freikorps members with another 1.5 million men participating informally.
Amongst the social, political, and economic upheavals that marked the early years of the
Weimar Republic
The Weimar Republic (german: link=no, Weimarer Republik ), officially named the German Reich, was the government of Germany from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a Constitutional republic, constitutional federal republic for the first time in ...
, the tenuous German government under
Friedrich Ebert, leader of the
Social Democratic Party of Germany (, SPD), utilized the Freikorps to quell socialist and communist uprisings.
Minister of Defence and SPD member
Gustav Noske also relied on the Freikorps to suppress the
German Revolution of 1918-19 as well as the
Marxist Spartacist League, culminating in the
summary execution
A summary execution is an execution in which a person is accused of a crime and immediately killed without the benefit of a full and fair trial. Executions as the result of summary justice (such as a drumhead court-martial) are sometimes includ ...
of revolutionary communist leaders
Karl Liebknecht and
Rosa Luxemburg on 15 January 1919.
Freikorps involvement in Germany and Eastern Europe
Bavarian Soviet Republic
The
Bavarian Soviet Republic was a short-lived and unrecognized socialist-communist state from 12 April 1919 - 3 May 1919 in Bavaria during the
German Revolution of 1918-19. Following a series of political revolts and takeovers from German socialists and then Russian-backed Bolsheviks,
Noske responded from Berlin by sending various Freikorps brigades to Bavaria in late April totalling some 30,000 men.
The brigades included
Hermann Ehrhardt's second Marine Brigade Freikorps, the
Gorlitz Freikorps under Lieutenant Colonel Faupel, and two
Swabian
Swabian or Schwabian, or ''variation'', may refer to:
* the German region of Swabia (German: "''Schwaben''")
* Swabian German, a dialect spoken in Baden-Württemberg in south-west Germany and adjoining areas (German:"''Schwäbisch''")
* Danube S ...
divisions from
Württemberg under General Haas and Major Hirl as well as the largest Freikorps in Bavaria commanded by
Colonel Franz Ritter von Epp.
While they were met with little Communist resistance, the Freikorps nonetheless acted with particular brutality and violence under Noske's blessing and at the behest of Major Schulz, adjutant of the
Lützow Freikorps, who reminded his men that it "
asa lot better to kill a few innocent people than to let one guilty person escape" and that there was no place in his ranks for those whose conscience bothered them.
On 5 May 1919, Lieutenant Georg Pölzing, one of Schulz's officers, travelled to the town of
Perlach outside of
Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and ...
. There, Pölzing chose a dozen alleged communist workers — none of whom were actually communists, but members of the
Social Democratic Party
The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology.
Active parties
For ...
— and shot them on the spot.
The following day, a Freikorps patrol led by Captain Alt-Sutterheim interrupted the meeting of a local Catholic club, the St Joseph Society, and chose twenty of the thirty members present to be shot, beaten, and bayoneted to death.
A memorial on Pfanzeltplatz in
Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and ...
commemorates the incident.
Historian
Nigel Jones notes that as a result of the Freikorps' violence, Munich's undertakers were overwhelmed, resulting in bodies lying in the streets and decaying until mass graves were completed.
Eastern Europe
The Freikorps also fought against communists and
Bolsheviks
The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...
in Eastern Europe, most notably
East Prussia,
Latvia,
Silesia
Silesia (, also , ) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Silesia, Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at around 8,000,000. S ...
, and
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...
. The Freikorps demonstrated fervent anti-Slavic racism and viewed
Slavs and
Bolsheviks
The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...
as "sub-human" hordes of "ravening wolves".
To justify their campaign in the East, the Freikorps launched a campaign of propaganda that falsely positioned themselves as protectors of Germany's territorial hegemony over
Lithuania,
Latvia, and
Estonia
Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, an ...
as a result of the
Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (also known as the Treaty of Brest in Russia) was a separate peace treaty signed on 3 March 1918 between Russia and the Central Powers ( Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and the Ottoman Empire), that ended Russi ...
and as defenders against Slavic and Bolshevik hordes that "raped women and butchered children" in their wake.
Historian
Nigel Jones highlights the Freikorps'"usual excesses" of violence and murder in Latvia which were all the more unrestrained since they were fighting in a foreign land versus their own country.
Hundreds were murdered in the Freikorps' Eastern campaigns, such as the massacre of 500
Latvian civilians suspected of harbouring
bolshevik
The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...
sympathies or the capture of
Riga which saw the Freikorps slaughter some 3,000 people.
Summary executions via firing squads were most common, but several Freikorps members recorded the brutal and deadly beatings of suspected communists and particularly communist women.
Freikorps identity and ideals
Freikorps ranks were composed primarily of former
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
soldiers who, upon
demobilization, were unable to reintegrate into civilian society having been brutalized by the violence of the war physically and mentally. Combined with the government's poor support of veterans, who were dismissed as being
hysterical when suffering from
post-traumatic disorder, many German veterans found comfort and a sense of belonging in the Freikorps.
Jason Crouthamel notes how the Freikorps' military structure was a familiar continuation of the frontlines, emulating the ''Kampfgemeinschaft'' (battle community) and ''Kameradschaft'' (camaraderie), thus preserving "the heroic spirit of comradeship in the trenches". Others, angry at
Germany's sudden, seemingly inexplicable defeat, joined the Freikorps in an effort to fight against communism and socialism in Germany or to exact some form of revenge on those they considered responsible. To a lesser extent, German youth who were not old enough to have served in World War I enlisted in the Freikorps in hopes of proving themselves as patriots and as men.
Regardless of reasons for joining, modern German historians agree that men of the Freikorps consistently embodied post-
Enlightenment masculine ideals that are characterized by "physical, emotional, and moral 'hardness'".
Described as "children of the trenches, spawned by war" and its process of brutalization, historians argue that Freikorps men idealized a militarized
masculinity of aggression, physical domination, the absence of emotion (hardness).
They were to be as "swift as greyhounds, tough as leather,
ndhard as
Krupp steel" so as to defend what remained of German conservatism in times of social chaos, confusion, and revolution that came to define the immediate
interwar era.
Although
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
ended in Germany's surrender, many men in the Freikorps nonetheless viewed themselves as soldiers still engaged in active warfare with enemies of the traditional German empire such as communists and
Bolsheviks
The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...
, Jews,
socialists
Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the econ ...
, and
pacifists
Pacifism is the opposition or resistance to war, militarism (including conscription and mandatory military service) or violence. Pacifists generally reject theories of Just War. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaigne ...
.
Prominent Freikorps member Ernst von Solomon described his troops as "full of wild demand for revenge and action and adventure…a band of fighter…full of lust, exultant in anger."
Expanding upon this, in Klaus Theweleit's two-volume study of Freikorps masculinity and identity, ''
Male Fantasies'', Theweleit argues that men in the Freikorps radicalized Western and German norms of male self-control, as well as about cold, tough, and hard masculinity, into a perpetual war against their very antithesis, women and
femininity — most notably femininely-coded desires for domesticity, tenderness, and compassion within men.
Historians
Nigel Jones and
Thomas Kühne agree with Theweleit's gendered framework of understanding masculinity within the Freikorps, noting that their displays of violence, terror, and male aggression and solidarity established the beginnings of the fascist
New Man that the
Nazis built upon.
Demobilization
The extent of the Freikorps' involvement and actions in Eastern Europe, where they demonstrated full autonomy and rejected orders from the
Reichswehr and German government, left a negative impression with the state.
By this time, the Freikorps had served
Ebert's purpose of suppressing revolts and communist uprisings. After the failed
Kapp-Lütwitz Putsch in March 1920 that the Freikorps participated in, the Freikorps' autonomy and strength steadily declined as
Hans von Seeckt, commander of the Reichswehr, removed all Freikorps members from the army and restricted the movements' access to future funding and equipment from the government.
Von Seeckt was successful, and by 1921 only a small yet devoted core remained, effectively drawing an end to the Freikorps until their resurgence as far-right thugs and street brawlers for the
Nazis beginning in 1923.
Affiliation with the Nazi Party
The rise of the
Nazi Party
The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported t ...
led to a resurgence of Freikorps activity, as many members or ex-members were drawn to the party's marrying of military and political life and extreme nationalism by joining the ''
Sturmabteilung'' (SA) and ''
Schutzstaffel
The ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS; also stylized as ''ᛋᛋ'' with Armanen runes; ; "Protection Squadron") was a major paramilitary organization under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany, and later throughout German-occupied Europe ...
'' (SS).
Unlike in the
German Revolution of 1918-19 or their involvement in Eastern Europe, the Freikorps now had almost no military value and were instead utilized by the Nazis as thugs to engage in street brawls with communists and to break up communist and socialist meetings alongside the
SA to gain a political edge.
Moreover, the Nazis elevated the Freikorps as a symbol of pure German nationalism, anti-communism, and militarized masculinity to co-opt the lingering social and political support of the movement.
Eventually,
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and the ...
came to view the Freikorps as a nuisance and possible threat to his consolidation of power. During the
Night of the Long Knives in 1934, an internal purge of Hitler's enemies within the
Nazi Party
The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported t ...
, numerous Freikorps members and leaders were targeted for killing or arrest, including Freikorps commander
Hermann Ehrhardt
Hermann Ehrhardt (29 November 1881 – 27 September 1971) was a German naval officer in World War I who became an anti-republican and anti-Semitic German nationalist Freikorps leader during the Weimar Republic. As head of the Marine Brigad ...
and
SA leader
Ernst Röhm. In Hitler's
Reichstag speech following the purge, Hitler denounced the Freikorps as lawless "moral degenerates…aimed at the destruction of all existing institutions" and as "pathological enemies of the state…
ndenemies of all authority," despite his previous public adoration of the movement.
Nazi Legacy
Numerous future members and leader of the Nazi Party served in the Freikorps.
Martin Bormann, eventual head of the Nazi party Chancellery and Private Secretary to Hitler joined the
Gerhard Roßbach's Freikorps in
Mecklenburg as a Section leader and quartermaster.
Reich Farmers' Leader and Minister of Food and Agriculture
Richard Walther Darré was part of the Berlin Freikorps.
Reinhard Heydrich, future chief of the
Reich Security Main Office (including the
Gestapo,
Kripo
''Kriminalpolizei'' (, "criminal police") is the standard term for the criminal investigation agency within the police forces of Germany, Austria, and the German-speaking cantons of Switzerland. In Nazi Germany, the Kripo was the criminal poli ...
, and
SD) and initiator of the
Final Solution, was in the
Georg Ludwig Rudolf Maercker
Georg Ludwig Rudolf Maercker (21 September 1865 in Baldenburg – 31 December 1924 in Dresden) was a German general of World War I.
Following the Armistice of 1918 that saw the end of fighting and of the Bolshevik revolution that led to the cr ...
's Freikorps as a teenager.
Leader of the
SS Heinrich Himmler enlisted in the Freikorps and carried a flag in the
1923 Beerhall Putsch.
Rudolf Höss joined the
East Prussian
East Prussia ; german: Ostpreißen, label=Low Prussian; pl, Prusy Wschodnie; lt, Rytų Prūsija was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 187 ...
Volunteer Freikorps in 1919 and eventually became commander of the
Auschwitz extermination camp.
Ernst
Röhm, eventual leader of the
SA, supported various
Bavarian Freikorps groups, funnelling them arms and cash.
Freikorps groups and divisions
*
Iron Division (Eiserne Division, related to Eiserne Brigade and
Baltische Landeswehr)
** Fought in the Baltic.
** Defeated by the Estonian Army and Latvian Army in the
Battle of Cēsis
** Trapped in
Thorensberg by the Latvian Army. Rescued by the Rossbach Freikorps.
* Volunteer Division of Horse Guards (Garde-Kavallerie-Schützendivision)
** Killed
Rosa Luxemburg and
Karl Liebknecht, 15 January 1919
** Led by Captain
Waldemar Pabst
** Disbanded on order of Defence Minister
Gustav Noske, 7 July 1919, after Pabst threatened to kill him
*
Freikorps Caspari
** Fought against the
Bremen Soviet Republic
** Fought under the command of
Walter Caspari
*
Freikorps Lichtschlag
** Fought against the
Red Ruhr Army
** Fought under the command of
Oskar von Watter
*
** Under the command of
Franz Ritter von Epp
** Members include:
Ernst Röhm,
Rudolf Hess,
Eduard Dietl,
Hans Frank
Hans Michael Frank (23 May 1900 – 16 October 1946) was a German politician and lawyer who served as head of the General Government in Nazi-occupied Poland during the Second World War.
Frank was an early member of the German Workers' Par ...
,
Gregor Strasser and
Otto Strasser.
*
** Occupied Munich following the revolution of April 1919.
** Commanded by Major Schulz
*
Marinebrigade Ehrhardt
The Marinebrigade Ehrhardt, also known as the Ehrhardt Brigade, was a Freikorps unit of the early Weimar Republic. It was formed on 17 February 1919 as the Second Marine Brigade from members of the former Imperial German Navy under the lea ...
(The Second Naval Brigade)
** Participated in the Kapp Putsch of 1920
** Disbanded members eventually formed the
Organisation Consul, which performed hundreds of political assassinations
*
Marinebrigade Loewenfeld (The Third Naval Brigade)
** Participated in the Kapp Putsch of 1920
* (Maercker's Volunteer Rifles, or )
** Founded by
Ludwig Maercker
Georg Ludwig Rudolf Maercker (21 September 1865 in Baldenburg – 31 December 1924 in Dresden) was a German general of World War I.
Following the Armistice of 1918 that saw the end of fighting and of the Bolshevik revolution that led to the cr ...
** Members include:
Reinhard Heydrich,
Eggert Reeder
SS-''Gruppenführer'' Eggert Reeder (22 July 1894, Poppenbüll – 22 November 1959, Wuppertal) was a German jurist, civil servant, and district president of several regions. Reeder served as civilian administrator of Wehrmacht occupied Be ...
,
Ernst von Salomon
Ernst von Salomon (25 September 1902 – 9 August 1972) was a German novelist and screenwriter. He was a Weimar-era national-revolutionary activist and right-wing Freikorps member.
Family and education
He was born in Kiel, in the Prussian pro ...
,
Alfred Toepfer
Alfred Carl Toepfer (13 July 1894 in Hamburg – 8 October 1993 in Hamburg) was a German entrepreneur, owner of the company Toepfer International and founder of the Alfred Toepfer Foundation. He helped to shape the original internal markets of th ...
and
Walter Warlimont
Walter Warlimont (3 October 1894 – 9 October 1976) was a German staff officer during World War II. He served as deputy chief of the Operations Staff, one of departments in the ''Oberkommando der Wehrmacht'' (OKW), the Armed Forces High Comma ...
*
Freikorps Oberland
** Kurt Benson
* (Rossbach)
** Founded by
Gerhard Roßbach
** Rescued the Iron Division after an extremely long march across Eastern Europe.
** Members include:
Kurt Daluege and
Rudolph Hoess
*
** Formed by Czech German nationalists with Nazi sympathies which operated from 1938 to 1939
** Part of Hitler's successful effort to absorb Czechoslovakia into the Third Reich
World War II
During
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
, there existed certain armed groups loyal to
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...
that went under the name "Freikorps". These include:
*
Sudetendeutsches Freikorps, a
German nationalist paramilitary that fought against
Czechoslovakia
, rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי,
, common_name = Czechoslovakia
, life_span = 1918–19391945–1992
, p1 = Austria-Hungary
, image_p1 ...
for annexation of the
Sudetenland into Germany.
*
Free Corps Denmark
Free Corps Denmark ( da, Frikorps Danmark) was a unit of the Waffen-SS during World War II consisting of collaborationist volunteers from Denmark. It was established following an initiative by the National Socialist Workers' Party of Denmark (DN ...
, a
Danish volunteer collaborationist group in the
Waffen-SS that was founded by the
National Socialist Workers' Party of Denmark, and participated in the
invasion of the Soviet Union.
*
British Free Corps, a
British collaborationist Waffen-SS unit made up of British and
Dominion
The term ''Dominion'' is used to refer to one of several self-governing nations of the British Empire.
"Dominion status" was first accorded to Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Newfoundland, South Africa, and the Irish Free State at the 1926 ...
prisoners of war.
Use in other countries
France
In
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
, a similar group (but unrelated to the Freikorps) were the "Corps Franc". Starting in October 1939, the French Army raised a number of Corps Franc units with the mission of carrying out ambush, raid, and harassing operations forward of the
Maginot Line during the period known as the
Phoney War (Drôle de Guerre). They were tasked with attacking German troops guarding the
Siegfried Line. Future
Vichy collaborationist,
Anti-Bolshevik and
SS Major Joseph Darnand was one of the more famous participants in these commando actions.
In May 1940, the experience of the Phoney War-era Corps Franc was an influence in creating the
Groupes Francs Motorisé de Cavalerie (GFC) who played a storied role in the delaying operations and last stands of the
Battle of France, notably in the defenses of
the Seine and
the Loire. Between April – September 1944, the
Corps Franc de la Montagne Noire unit operated as part of the
French Resistance
The French Resistance (french: La Résistance) was a collection of organisations that fought the German occupation of France during World War II, Nazi occupation of France and the Collaborationism, collaborationist Vichy France, Vichy régim ...
.
Corps Francs d'Afrique
On 25 November 1942, in the immediate aftermath of the
Allied Invasion of Vichy French North Africa the Corps Francs d'Afrique (CFA) (African Corps Franc) was raised in
French Morocco within the
Free French Forces by
General Giraud. Giraud drew the members of the all-volunteer unit from residents of Northern Africa of diverse religious backgrounds (Christian, Jew, and Muslim) and gave them the title of ''Vélite'', a name inspired by the elite light infantry of
Napoleon's Imperial Guard
An imperial guard or palace guard is a special group of troops (or a member thereof) of an empire, typically closely associated directly with the Emperor or Empress. Usually these troops embody a more elite status than other imperial forces, i ...
, who were named after the
Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
* Rome, the capital city of Italy
* Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lett ...
Velites
''Velites'' (singular: ) were a class of infantry in the Roman army of the mid-Republic from 211 to 107 BC. ''Velites'' were light infantry and skirmishers armed with javelins ( la, hastae velitares), each with a 75cm (30 inch) wooden shaft the ...
. Much of the Corps was drawn from
Henri d'Astier de la Vigerie Henri d'Astier de La Vigerie (11 September 1897 – 10 October 1952) was a French soldier, ''Résistance'' member, and conservative politician.
Life
Henri d'Astier was born in Villedieu-sur-Indre, a small village in the Indre département of centr ...
and
José Aboulker
José Aboulker (5 March 1920 – 17 November 2009) was a French Algerian Jew and the leader of the anti-Nazi resistance in French Algeria in World War II. He received the U.S. Medal of Freedom, the Croix de Guerre, and was made a Companio ...
's
Géo Gras French Resistance Group which had been responsible for the
Algiers Insurrection where the Resistance seized control of Algiers on the night of 8 November 1942 in coordination with the
Allied landings happening that same night. In taking over Algiers, they managed to capture both
Admiral Darlan and
General Juin, which led to the
Darlan Deal wherein
Vichy French
Vichy France (french: Régime de Vichy; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was the fascist French state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II. Officially independent, but with half of its ter ...
forces came over to the Allied side.
Darlan was later assassinated by
Fernand Bonnier de La Chapelle
Fernand Bonnier de La Chapelle (4 November 1922 – 26 December 1942) was a royalist member of the French resistance during World War II. He assassinated Admiral of the Fleet François Darlan, the former chief of government of Vichy France and th ...
, an early member of the Corps Francs d'Afrique. They functioned as the
Free French equivalent to the
British Commandos
Royal Marines from 40 Commando on patrol in the Sangin">40_Commando.html" ;"title="Royal Marines from 40 Commando">Royal Marines from 40 Commando on patrol in the Sangin area of Afghanistan are pictured
A commando is a combatant, or operativ ...
. The Corps also included many Spanish and International old combatants of the
Spanish Republican Army
The Spanish Republican Army ( es, Ejército de la República Española) was the main branch of the Armed Forces of the Second Spanish Republic between 1931 and 1939.
It became known as People's Army of the Republic (''Ejército Popular de la Rep� ...
, which had sought refuge in Northern Africa in 1939.
The Corps Francs d'Afrique, under command of
Joseph de Goislard de Monsabert, went on to fight
Rommel's Afrikakorps in
Tunisia
)
, image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg
, map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa
, image_map2 =
, capital = Tunis
, largest_city = capital
, ...
with the U.S.
5th Army. They fought alongside the
British 139th Brigade at
Kassarine and
Sidi Nasr, where they famously conducted a heroic bayonet charge, facing two to one odds, against the
Italian 34th Battalion of the 10th Bersaglieri near the mountain of
Kef Zilia on the road to
Bizerte, taking 380 prisoners, killing the Italian battalion commander, and capturing the plans for
Operation Ausladung. They participated in
the capture of Bizerte in May 1943.
For its actions, the Corps Franc d'Afrique was awarded the Croix de Guerre.
The CFA formally was dissolved on 9 July 1943, with its members and equipment forming the corps of the newly created Groupe des Commandos d'Afrique, African Commando Group (GCA) on 13 July 1943 in Damous, Dupleix, French Algeria, Algeria, today seen as a forebear to the postwar 11e régiment parachutiste de choc, Parachutist Shock Battalions and the modern day 13th Parachute Dragoon Regiment, 13th RDP. The GCA went on to fight at Pianosa#History, Pianosa, Invasion of Elba, Elba, Operation Avalanche, Salerno, Operation Dragoon, Provence, 1st Army (France)#1944–1945, Belfort, Fort de Giromagny, Giromagny, Battle of Alsace, Alsace, Cernay, Haut-Rhin#Second World War, Cernay, Guebwiller, Buhl, Bas-Rhin, Buhl, and the Western Allied invasion of Germany, Invasion of Germany.
See also
*Awards of the German Freikorps, Freikorps Awards
*Landsknecht
*List of defunct Paramilitary Organizations
* List of Free Corps
* List of Freikorps members
* List of paramilitary organizations
*
Organisation Consul
* Freikorps Sauerland
* Battle of Annaberg
*
Free Corps Denmark
Free Corps Denmark ( da, Frikorps Danmark) was a unit of the Waffen-SS during World War II consisting of collaborationist volunteers from Denmark. It was established following an initiative by the National Socialist Workers' Party of Denmark (DN ...
* Viking League related Freikorps activities
* Free company Medieval units with some similarities
* Heimwehr
References
Notes
Bibliography
*
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External links
*
{{Authority control
Freikorps,
Military units and formations established in 1759
1759 establishments in Prussia
1918 establishments in Germany
Military units and formations established in 1918
Military units and formations disestablished in 1939
1939 disestablishments in Germany
Anti-communism in Germany
Military history of Germany
Political repression in Germany
Terrorism in Germany
Counter-revolutionaries
German Revolution of 1918–1919
Right-wing politics in Europe