Editing Weimar paramilitary groups (section)

== Freikorps ==
{{Main|Freikorps}}

[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 146-2006-0049, Revolution in Bayern, Gardeschützendivision.jpg|thumb|335x335px|The Guards Cavalry Rifle Division ({{Lang|de|Garde-Kavallerie-Schützen-Division}}), a major ''Freikorps'' unit, enters Munich after crushing the [[Munich Soviet Republic]].]]
In the aftermath of [[World War I]] and during the [[German revolution of 1918–1919]], {{lang|de|Freikorps}} units consisting largely of World War I veterans were raised as paramilitary militias. They were armed with the rifles they had returned with from the front; infantry and cavalry units also had machine guns and mortars.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |last=Scriba |first=Arnulf |date=1 September 2014 |title=Freikorps |url=https://www.dhm.de/lemo/kapitel/weimarer-republik/revolution-191819/freikorps.html |access-date=21 July 2024 |website=Deutsches Historisches Museum |language=de}}</ref> While exact numbers are difficult to determine, it is estimated that some 500,000 men were formal Freikorps members with another 1.5 million participating informally.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Bucholtz |first=Mattheis |date=7 July 2017 |editor-last=Daniel |editor-first=Ute |editor2-last=Gatrell |editor2-first=Peter |editor3-last=Janz |editor3-first=Oliver |editor4-last=Jones |editor4-first=Heather |editor5-last=Keene |editor5-first=Jennifer |editor6-last=Kramer |editor6-first=Alan |editor7-last=Nasson |editor7-first=Bill |title=Freikorps |url=https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/freikorps/ |access-date=10 July 2024 |website=1914–1918-online. International Encyclopedia of the First World War |publisher=Freie Universität Berlin |doi=}}</ref>

In the early days of the German revolution, the [[Council of the People's Deputies]], the revolutionary government led by [[Friedrich Ebert]] of the [[Social Democratic Party of Germany|Social Democratic Party]], needed reliable troops in Berlin to protect its position. In consultation with the [[Oberste Heeresleitung|Army High Command]] (OHL), the Council reached an agreement to form the voluntary ''Freikorps'' units. Most of their members were anti-communist monarchists who saw no clear future in the revolutionary Germany that they had returned home to. They did not fight in support of the revolutionary government or the Weimar Republic after it was formed, but against its enemies from the political left, who they saw as Germany's enemies.<ref name=":3" />

''Freikorps'' units suppressed the [[Marxism|Marxist]] [[Spartacist uprising]] and were responsible for the extrajudicial executions of revolutionary communist leaders [[Karl Liebknecht]] and [[Rosa Luxemburg]] on 15 January 1919.<ref name="Jones_2004_p270">{{Cite book |last=Jones |first=Nigel |title=A brief history of the birth of the Nazis |date=2004 |publisher=Robinson |isbn=1-84119-925-7 |edition=Rev. & updated |location=London |page=270 |oclc=224053608}}</ref> The ''Freikorps'' also [[Freikorps in the Baltic|fought in the Baltic]] against [[Soviet Russia]] and were instrumental in putting down the [[Munich Soviet Republic]], the [[Ruhr uprising]] and the [[Silesian Uprisings#Third Uprising (1921)|Third Silesian uprising]]. The [[Kapp Putsch]] of March 1920, a failed attempt to overthrow the government of the Weimar Republic, drew its military support from the ''Freikorps'', in particular the [[Marinebrigade Ehrhardt]]. It was after the failure of the Kapp Putsch, and under Allied pressure to keep both Germany's official and unofficial military forces at the 100,000 man limit, that the ''Freikorps'' were officially disbanded in the spring of 1920. Some ''Freikorps'' members were then accepted into the ''[[Reichswehr]]'', Germany's official army, but more joined the [[Nazi Stormtroopers]] (SA), illegal far right formations such as the [[Organisation Consul]], or groups such as the [[Der Stahlhelm, Bund der Frontsoldaten|Stahlhelm]] that were associated with political parties.<ref name=":3" />

=== ''Freikorps'' units ===
For a list of major ''Freikorps'' units during the Weimar era, see [[Freikorps#Freikorps groups and divisions|''Freikorps'' groups and divisions]].