For Freikorps units that started the German war against Czechoslovakia, see Sudetendeutsches Freikorps.
It has been suggested that this article should be split into articles titled Freikorps and Free corps. (discuss) (October 2022)
Armed Freikorps paramilitaries in Berlin in 1919
Freikorps (German:[ˈfʁaɪˌkoːɐ̯], "Free Corps" or "Volunteer Corps"[1]) 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 mercenaries or private military companies, regardless of their own nationality. In German-speaking countries, the first so-called Freikorps ("free regiments", Freie Regimenter) were formed in the 18th century from native volunteers, enemy renegades, and deserters. 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 von Kleist Freikorps included infantry, jäger, dragoons and hussars. The French Volontaires de Saxe combined uhlans and dragoons.
In the aftermath of World War I and during the German Revolution of 1918–19, Freikorps, consisting partially of WW1 veterans, were raised as paramilitary militias. They were ostensibly mustered to fight on behalf of the government[2] against the German communists attempting to overthrow the Weimar Republic.[3][4] However, many Freikorps also largely despised the Republic and were involved in assassinations of its supporters, later aiding the Nazis in their rise to power.[5][6][7]
^Wichmann's German Dictionary, or Pocket Dictionary of the German And English Languages, by K Wichmann, p. 109. Published by George Routledge & Sons, Ltd, London, E P Dutton & Co, New York, and The Mission Book Co., Ltd., Toronto. 1935.
^Haffner, Sebastian (2000). Defying Hitler. Picador. pp. 30–31, 33. ISBN 0-312-42113-3.
^William L. Shirer, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany, New York, Simon & Schuster, 2011, p. 55
^Heiden, Konrad (1944). Der Fuehrer: Hitler's Rise to Power. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company. pp. 21–22.
^Cite error: The named reference Jones_2004_p270 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Heiden, Konrad (1944). Der Fuehrer: Hitler's Rise to Power. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company. pp. 23–24.
^Heiden, Konrad (1944). Der Fuehrer: Hitler's Rise to Power. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company. pp. 88–89.
After 1918, the term Freikorps was used for the anti-communist paramilitary organizations that sprang up around the German Empire and the Baltics, as...
The Sudetendeutsches Freikorps (SFK) (Sudeten German Free Corps, also known as the Freikorps Sudetenland, Freikorps Henlein and Sudetendeutsche Legion)...
the Freikorps to his services, as they often completed tasks, missions, etc. with them in the final months of the war. Hoffmann saw the Freikorps Sauerland...
The Freikorps Oberland ("Highlands Free Corps"; also Bund Oberland or Kameradschaft Freikorps und Bund Oberland) was a voluntary paramilitary organization...
and were called "Freikorps" (Free Corps). The party affiliated groups and others were all outside government control, but the Freikorps units were under...
The British Free Corps (abbr. BFC; German: Britisches Freikorps) was a unit of the Waffen-SS of Nazi Germany during World War II, made up of British and...
Freikorps, then removed almost all of its members from the Reichswehr and limited Freikorps access to government funding and equipment. The Freikorps'...
the counterrevolutionaries was five formations: the Freikorps Reinhard, Freikorps Lützow, Freikorps Hülsen, Guards Cavalry Rifle Division and German Protection...
Oskar von Watter began to establish Freikorps units out of troops returning from the Western Front. Thus the Freikorps Lichtschlag was created in the area...
free corps. Freikorps Plehwe (Captain von Plehwe [de]): about 3,000 soldiers (the former 2nd Guard Reserve Regiment), before Libau Freikorps Diebitsch:...
other Freikorps awards were declared obsolete with World War I service thereafter recognized by a single award, known as the Honour Cross. Freikorps awards...
Member of the Freikorps and Nazi Party. Wilhelm Ehrlich, bank clerk and World War I veteran, born 8 August 1894. Member of the Freikorps and Nazi Party...
war, and purged of any mention of the Freikorps Caspari or Division Gerstenberg. Freikorps Lichtschlag Freikorps Oberland Marinebrigade Ehrhardt Schwarzwälder...
related to Freikorps. Axis History Factbook; Freikorps section – By Marcus Wendel and contributors; site also contains an apolitical forum Freikorps Master...
right-wing Freikorps. Consequently, the German Reichswehrminister (defence minister) Gustav Noske ordered the dissolution of the Freikorps Marinebrigaden...
him the services of 20,000 men of the Freikorps under Lt. General Burghard von Oven [de]. Oven and the Freikorps, along with Hoffmann's loyalist elements...
paramilitary award of the German Freikorps which was issued in the 1920s. Awarded under the authority of local Freikorps commander Major Kobe von Keppenfels...
but also of Freikorps paramilitary soldiers, who finally defeated the workers' uprising and reconquered the Ruhr area. While the Freikorps lost only 250...
White Russian units and the Freikorps moved on and captured Riga on 22 May 1919. After the capture of Riga, the Freikorps were accused of killing 300...
Sicarii Sich Battalion Silver Shirts Sturmabteilung Sudetendeutsches Freikorps Terror Against Terror Third Klan Ukrainian Insurgent Army Ukrainian People's...
estimated at 350,000, with more than 250,000 men enlisted in the various Freikorps ("free corps"), volunteer paramilitary units, largely consisting of returning...
Sicarii Sich Battalion Silver Shirts Sturmabteilung Sudetendeutsches Freikorps Terror Against Terror Third Klan Ukrainian Insurgent Army Ukrainian People's...
within the Reichswehr and by many paramilitary organizations including the Freikorps. It would see usage by right-wing conservative and liberal political parties...
extremist German nationalist ("Völkisch nationalist"), racist and populist Freikorps paramilitary culture, which fought against communist uprisings in post–World...
and calls went out for the formation of more Freikorps units. Since early December 1918, such Freikorps units had been forming from former frontline soldiers...
Sicarii Sich Battalion Silver Shirts Sturmabteilung Sudetendeutsches Freikorps Terror Against Terror Third Klan Ukrainian Insurgent Army Ukrainian People's...
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