Weimar Paramilitary Groups - Freikorps

Freikorps

See also: Freikorps

Freikorps were the brainchild of Major Kurt von Schleicher. The Freikorps were also called the "Black Reichswehr" (Black Army) for they were a 'secret' army outside the bounds of the Versailles Treaty. The idea was developed after the failure of an army unit to quell a small rebellion in Berlin at the Battle of the Schloss. The army unit, when confronted by a socialist group with women and children, threw down their weapons and either ran away or joined the protest group. This led Major von Schleicher to conceive an alternative to using Reichswehr units to quell "red" (socialist or communist) uprisings. He suggested to his superiors to form volunteer units recruited from the old Reichswehr and commanded by former Imperial officers under governmental control. This way the Reichswehr would avoid the stigma of having to fire on civilians and the government would be financially supporting these freikorps, leaving the Reichswehr to concentrate on training for real battle. Men who joined these units were called "Freebooters", and they often held strong right-wing and nationalist political views. The central Berlin government thought along with the central Reichswehr command that by paying and arming these 'black' soldiers, they might be able 'to tie them to the crib' and thus render them harmless.

The first organizer of a Freikorps unit was General Ludwig Maercker. His unit, the "Maercker Volunteer Rifles", were soon called to rush from city to city stamping out socialist uprisings. Because his unit was called upon to every corner of Germany, he hit upon the idea of forming Einwohnerwehren, local citizen militias to keep the peace. Later on, these groups grew into the Orgesch, (Organization Escherich) reserve militia units for the German Wehrmacht. They were under the command of Dr. Georg Escherich.

Other units were

• Freikorps von Lüttwitz named and commanded by General Walther Freiherr von Lüttwitz. This was an umbrella group with the following groups under it:
  • Potsdam Freikorps with 1,200 veterans
  • remnants of the Guards Rifle Cavalry Division
  • Reinhard Freikorps commanded by Colonel Wilhelm Reinhard.
    • Freikorps Suppe (a separate unit under the Reinhard Freikorps) with 1,500 men

• von Roeder's Scouts
• Iron Brigade from Kiel
• Kuntzel Freikorps
• Ostara League
• Freikorps Oberland/Oberland League
• Marinebrigade Ehrhardt. They were the first to use the swastika as a unit symbol. They participated in the Kapp Putsch in 1920.
• Wiking League