114-609: The Freikorps Oberland ("Highlands Free Corps"; also Bund Oberland or Kameradschaft Freikorps und Bund Oberland ) was a voluntary paramilitary organization that, in the early years of the Weimar Republic , fought against communist and Polish insurgents. It was successful in the 1921 Battle of Annaberg and became the core of the Sturmabteilung (SA) in Bavaria while several members later turned against
228-722: A French company of Miners was captured and taken into service of the Republic. France also made extensive use of Free Companies and Legions. At the Battle of Fontenoy , deployment of the British attack column was hampered by the French 'Harquebusiers de Grassins'. After the Battle of Lauffelt, French light troops pursued the retreating allies, but were engaged in a bloody guerilla war with Austrian and Dutch light troops and Free Companies for
342-827: A church service took place in Schliersee to commemorate the members of the Freikorps killed in 1921. According to a statement of the president of Landsmannschaft Schlesien the event was regularly monitored by the State Office for the Protection of the Constitution . The commemorate became much smaller after 2007. Freikorps Freikorps ( German: [ˈfʁaɪˌkoːɐ̯] , "Free Corps " or "Volunteer Corps " ) were irregular German and other European paramilitary volunteer units that existed from
456-595: A division named the Feldherrnhalle Regiment, and there was also an SA Feldherrnhalle Division. Der neunte Elfte (9 November, literally 'the ninth of the eleventh') became one of the most important dates on the Nazi calendar, especially following the seizure of power in 1933. Annually until the fall of Nazi Germany, the putsch would be commemorated nationwide, with the major events taking place in Munich. On
570-449: A few seconds ... Hitler had turned them inside out, as one turns a glove inside out, with a few sentences. It had almost something of hocus-pocus, or magic about it. Hitler ended his speech with: "Outside are Kahr, Lossow and Seisser. They are struggling hard to reach a decision. May I say to them that you will stand behind them?" The crowd in the hall backed Hitler with a roar of approval. He finished: You can see that what motivates us
684-715: A kind of commando or guerrilla force. Throughout the 19th century, these anti-Napoleonic Freikorps 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 . The anti-Napoleonic movements in Germany, Russia and Spain in the early 1810s also produced their own style of poetry, hussar poetry or Freikorps poetry , written by soldier-poets. In Germany, Theodor Körner , Max von Schenkendorff and Ernst Moritz Arndt were
798-475: 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
912-657: A man". He was determined to put down the putsch with or without Lossow. Danner set up a command post at the 19th Infantry Regiment barracks and alerted all military units. Meanwhile, Captain Karl Wild, learning of the putsch from marchers, mobilised his command to guard Kahr's government building, the Commissariat , with orders to shoot. Around 23:00, Major-General von Danner, along with fellow generals Adolf Ritter von Ruith [ de ] and Friedrich Freiherr Kress von Kressenstein , compelled Lossow to repudiate
1026-523: A march against Germany's Weimar Republic government. But circumstances differed from those in Italy. Hitler came to the realisation that Kahr sought to control him and was not ready to act against the government in Berlin. Hitler wanted to seize a critical moment for successful popular agitation and support. He decided to take matters into his own hands. Hitler, along with a large detachment of SA , marched on
1140-558: A number of "Vrij compagnieën"(Free Companies), raised between 1745 and 1747 and made up of volunteers and French deserters, such as the Walloon Grenadier Company. Although mostly used for reconnaissance and harassing enemy columns, the companies were organised into a battalion and engaged at the engagement at Wouw and the Battle of Lauffelt . Some companies were accompanied by a company of Dragons or Hussars, such as Roodt's Company and Cornabé's Legion. And in late 1747,
1254-474: A ruling triumvirate. Hitler announced that he would hold 14 mass meetings beginning on 27 September 1923. Afraid of the potential disruption, one of Kahr 's first actions was to ban the announced meetings, placing Hitler under pressure to act. The Nazis, with other leaders in the Kampfbund , felt they had to march upon Berlin and seize power or their followers would turn to the communists. Hitler enlisted
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#17327662165751368-839: 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 , and SD ) and initiator of the Final Solution , was in Georg Ludwig Rudolf Maercker 's Freikorps as a teenager. Leader of the SS Heinrich Himmler enlisted in
1482-587: 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 to fight against communism and socialism in Germany or to exact some form of revenge on those they considered responsible. To
1596-618: A tactical mistake, Hitler decided to leave the Bürgerbräukeller shortly thereafter to deal with a crisis elsewhere. Around 22:30, Ludendorff released Kahr and his associates. The Bund Oberland, under the command of Max Ritter von Müller, was sent to seize weapons from the Army Engineer Barracks under the pretence of performing training manoeuvres. Oskar Cantzler, captain of the 1st company of the 7th Engineer Battalion, did not believe them, but allowed them to perform
1710-465: Is neither self-conceit nor self-interest, but only a burning desire to join the battle in this grave eleventh hour for our German Fatherland ... One last thing I can tell you. Either the German revolution begins tonight or we will all be dead by dawn! Hitler, Ludendorff, et al. , returned to the main hall's podium, where they gave speeches and shook hands. The crowd was then allowed to leave the hall. In
1824-643: The Sturmabteilung (SA, literally "Storm Detachment"), the paramilitary wing of the NSDAP. On 26 September 1923, following a period of terror and political violence, Bavarian Prime Minister Eugen von Knilling declared a state of emergency, and Gustav Ritter von Kahr was appointed Staatskomissar ("state commissioner"), with dictatorial powers to govern the state. Along with von Kahr , Bavarian state police chief Colonel Hans Ritter von Seisser and Reichswehr General Otto von Lossow formed
1938-547: The Bürgerbräukeller , where Kahr was making a speech in front of 3,000 people. On the evening of 8 November 1923, 603 SA surrounded the beer hall and a machine gun was set up in the auditorium. Hitler, surrounded by his associates Hermann Göring , Alfred Rosenberg , Rudolf Hess , Ernst Hanfstaengl , Ulrich Graf , Johann Aigner, Adolf Lenk , Max Amann , Max Erwin von Scheubner-Richter , Wilhelm Adam , Robert Wagner and others (some 20 in all), advanced through
2052-613: 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 , who were named after
2166-1122: The Darlan Deal wherein Vichy French forces came over to the Allied side. Darlan was later assassinated by Fernand Bonnier de La Chapelle , an early member of the Corps Francs d'Afrique. They functioned as the Free French equivalent to the British Commandos . The Corps also included many Spanish and International old combatants of the Spanish Republican Army , 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 with
2280-534: The Gorlitz Freikorps under Lieutenant Colonel Faupel, and two Swabian 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 acted with particular brutality and violence under Noske's blessing and at the behest of Major Schulz, adjutant of
2394-792: 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 . On 25 November 1942, in the immediate aftermath of the Allied Invasion of Vichy French North Africa
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#17327662165752508-618: The Invasion of Germany . Notes Bibliography Hitlerputsch German government victory [REDACTED] Kampfbund [REDACTED] Weimar Republic The Beer Hall Putsch , also known as the Munich Putsch , was a failed coup d'état by Nazi Party leader Adolf Hitler , Generalquartiermeister Erich Ludendorff and other Kampfbund leaders in Munich , Bavaria , on 8–9 November 1923 , during
2622-661: The Kampfbund were scurrying around to arm themselves from secret caches, and seizing buildings. At around 03:00, the first casualties of the putsch occurred when the local garrison of the Reichswehr spotted Röhm's men coming out of the beer hall. They were ambushed while trying to reach the Reichswehr barracks by soldiers and state police; shots were fired, but there were no fatalities on either side. Encountering heavy resistance, Röhm and his men were forced to fall back. In
2736-672: 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 Freikorps attracted many nationally disposed citizens and students. Freikorps commanders such as Ferdinand von Schill , Ludwig Adolf Wilhelm von Lützow or Frederick William, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel , known as
2850-613: The Löwenbräukeller . These reports reached Major Sigmund von Imhoff of the state police. He immediately called all his green police units and had them seize the central telegraph office and the telephone exchange, although his most important act was to notify Major-General Jakob von Danner , the Reichswehr city commandant of Munich. As a proud war hero, Danner loathed the "little corporal" and those " Freikorps bands of rowdies". He also did not much like his commanding officer, Generalleutnant Otto von Lossow , "a sorry figure of
2964-522: The Lützow Freikorps , who reminded his men that it "[was] a 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 . There, Pölzing chose a dozen alleged communist workers—none of whom were actually communists, but members of
3078-665: 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
3192-598: The Napoleonic Wars , Austria recruited various Freikorps of Slavic origin. The Slavonic Wurmser Freikorps fought in Alsace . The combat effectiveness of the six Viennese Freikorps (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. During Napoleon's 1812 invasion of Russia ,
3306-693: The Nazis beginning in 1923. The rise of the Nazi Party 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 (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
3420-964: The Nazis in their rise to power. The first Freikorps appeared during the War of the Austrian Succession and especially during 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 , Freikorp formations were formed in 1778. Germans, Hungarians, Poles, Lithuanians, and South Slavs , as well as Turks, Tatars and Cossacks , were believed by all warring parties to be inherently good fighters. The nationality of many soldiers can no longer be ascertained as
3534-650: The Nazis . The group was founded in April 1919 by Rudolf von Sebottendorf , president of the Thule Society . The cabinet of Johannes Hoffmann (SPD) had fled from the Bavarian Soviet Republic to Bamberg . Major Albert Ritter von Beckh (1870–1958) then assumed military control. Most of the volunteers came from Bavaria, and therefore the symbol of the Edelweiß was chosen. Its direct precursor
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3648-751: The Roman Velites . Much of the Corps was drawn from Henri d'Astier de la Vigerie and José Aboulker '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
3762-1084: The Silesian Uprisings of 1921 the Freikorps was ready and participated in the conquest of the eponymous hill in Annaberg in Upper Silesia . The Bavarians of the Freikorps Oberland were characterized by atrocities towards prisoners of war and the Polish civilians. The Freikorps also had a propaganda unit in Upper Silesia. It is believed to have ordered Feme murders and kidnappings. It had close connections with radical right-wing organizations in Bavaria. The murderers of Matthias Erzberger , Heinrich Tillessen and Heinrich Schulz did not only belong to Organization Consul , but also to "Arbeitsgemeinschaft Oberland".(Committee Oberland). Some members of Oberland were possibly involved with
3876-409: The Social Democratic Party —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 commemorates the incident. Historian Nigel Jones notes that as a result of
3990-540: The Weimar Republic , the tenuous German government under Friedrich Ebert , leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany ( Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands , SPD), used the Freikorps to quell socialist and communist uprisings. Minister of Defence and SPD member Gustav Noske also relied on the Freikorps to suppress the Marxist Spartacist uprising , culminating in the summary executions of revolutionary communist leaders Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg on 15 January 1919. The Bavarian Soviet Republic
4104-415: The Weimar Republic . Approximately two thousand Nazis marched on the Feldherrnhalle , in the city centre, but were confronted by a police cordon, which resulted in the deaths of 15 Nazis, four police officers, and one bystander. Hitler escaped immediate arrest and was spirited off to safety in the countryside. After two days, he was arrested and charged with treason . The putsch brought Hitler to
4218-501: 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) ; many were killed in battle or executed at Napoleon's command in the aftermath. The Freikorps were very popular during the period of the German War of Liberation (1813–15), during which von Lützow, a survivor of Schill's Freikorps , formed his Lützow Free Corps. The anti-Napoleonic Freikorps often operated behind French lines as
4332-430: The "Thousand of Marsala", which landed in Sicily in 1860. Even before the Franco-Prussian War of 1870/71, Freikorps were developed in France that were known as franc-tireurs . After World War I , 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 were established in Germany following
4446-402: The 16 fallen were the first losses and the ceremony was an occasion to commemorate everyone who had died for the movement. On 9 November 1935, the dead were taken from their graves and to the Feldherrnhalle . The SA and SS carried them down to the Königsplatz , where two Ehrentempel ('honour temples') had been constructed. In each of the structures, eight of the dead Nazis were interred in
4560-768: 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
4674-674: The Bavarian government. The trial judge, Neithardt, was sympathetic toward Hitler and held that the relevant laws of the Weimar Republic could not be applied to a man "who thinks and feels like a German, as Hitler does." The result was that the Nazi leader remained in Germany. Though Hitler failed to achieve his immediate goal, the putsch did give the Nazis their first national attention and propaganda victory. While serving their "fortress confinement" sentences at Landsberg am Lech , Hitler, Emil Maurice and Rudolf Hess wrote Mein Kampf . The putsch had changed Hitler's outlook on violent revolution to effect change. From then his modus operandi
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4788-468: The Bund Oberland on 9 November 1923. Weber was sent to prison the same day and later accused in the Hitler-Process and sentenced to five years in prison. Former members of the Bund worked with extreme-right terror organization Organisation Consul . On 9. January 1924 they killed separatist leader Franz Josef Heinz in the French-occupied Palatinate. After the end of the ban, the Bund was re-established in February 1925. By 1930 there were differences within
4902-419: The DAP on 12 September 1919. He soon realised that he was in agreement with many of the underlying tenets of the DAP, and rose to its top post in the ensuing chaotic political atmosphere of postwar Munich. By agreement, Hitler assumed the political leadership of a number of Bavarian revanchist "patriotic associations", called the Kampfbund . This political base extended to include about 15,000 members of
5016-454: 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 as a result of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk and as defenders against Slavic and Bolshevik hordes that "raped women and butchered children" in their wake. Historian Nigel Jones highlights the Freikorps's "usual excesses" of violence and murder in Latvia which were all
5130-409: The Education and Propaganda Department of the Bavarian Army under Captain Karl Mayr , of which Hitler became an agent. Captain Mayr ordered Hitler, then an army Gefreiter (not the equivalent of lance corporal, but a special class of private) and holder of the Iron Cross , First Class, to infiltrate the tiny Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (" German Workers' Party ", abbreviated DAP). Hitler joined
5244-536: The Freikorps and carried a flag in the 1923 Beer Hall Putsch . Rudolf Höss joined the East Prussian 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. Although many high-ranking National Socialists were former Freikorps fighters, recent research shows that former Freikorps fighters were no more likely to be involved in National Socialist organisations than
5358-412: 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 , numerous Freikorps members and leaders were targeted for killing or arrest, including Freikorps commander Hermann Ehrhardt and SA leader Ernst Röhm . In Hitler's Reichstag speech following the purge, Hitler denounced
5472-466: The Freikorps as lawless "moral degenerates...aimed at the destruction of all existing institutions" and as "pathological enemies of the state...[and] enemies of all authority," despite his previous public adoration of the movement. Numerous future members and leaders of the Nazi Party served in the Freikorps. Martin Bormann , eventual head of the Nazi party Chancellery and Private Secretary to Hitler, joined Gerhard Roßbach's Freikorps in Mecklenburg as
5586-416: The Freikorps radicalized Western and German norms of male self-control into a perpetual war against feminine-coded desires for domesticity, tenderness, and compassion amongst men. Historians Nigel Jones and Thomas Kühne note that the Freikorps' displays of violence, terror, and male aggression and solidarity established the beginnings of the fascist New Man upon which the Nazis built. The extent of
5700-429: 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
5814-402: 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,
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#17327662165755928-463: The Freikorps' violence, Munich's undertakers were overwhelmed, resulting in bodies lying in the streets and decaying until mass graves were completed. The Freikorps also fought against communists and Bolsheviks in Eastern Europe, most notably East Prussia , Latvia , Silesia , and Poland . The Freikorps demonstrated fervent anti-Slavic racism and viewed Slavs and Bolsheviks as "sub-human" hordes of "ravening wolves". To justify their campaign in
6042-399: The Kampfbund was guided by Adolf Hitler . On 8 November 1923 the Bund activated many members and participated actively in the Hitlerputsch . Members of the Bund, led by Ludwig Oestreicher took Jewish people as hostages. Because of his participation in the coup attempt the Bund Oberland e. V. was banned in Bavaria and, by the end of 1923, across Germany. Gustav Ritter von Kahr dissolved
6156-407: The Nazis as thugs to engage in street brawls with communists and to break up anarchist, 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 came to view
6270-457: The SA had disrupted a meeting of the Bayernbund ('Bavaria Union') which Otto Ballerstedt , a Bavarian federalist, was to have addressed, and the Nazi troublemakers were arrested as a result. Hitler ended up serving just over a month of a three-month jail sentence. Judge Georg Neithardt was the presiding judge at both of Hitler's trials. Hitler's trial began on 26 February 1924 and lasted until 1 April 1924. Lossow acted as chief witness for
6384-451: The SS stood guard between a lower plaque. Passers-by were required to give the Nazi salute . The putsch was also commemorated on three sets of stamps. Mein Kampf was dedicated to the fallen and, in the book Ich Kämpfe (given to those joining the party c. 1943), they are listed first even though the book lists hundreds of other dead. The header text in the book read "Though they are dead for their acts they will live on forever." The army had
6498-438: 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
6612-523: The University of Munich rioted and marched to the Feldherrnhalle to lay wreaths. They continued to riot until 9 November, when they learned of Hitler's arrest. Kahr and Lossow were called Judases and traitors. Two days after the putsch, Hitler was arrested and charged with high treason in the special People's Court . Some of his fellow conspirators, including Rudolf Hess, were also arrested, while others, including Hermann Göring and Ernst Hanfstaengl, escaped to Austria . The Nazi Party's headquarters
6726-409: The action was not directed at the police and Reichswehr, but against "the Berlin Jew government and the November criminals of 1918". Dr. Karl Alexander von Mueller, a professor of modern history and political science at the University of Munich and a supporter of Kahr, was an eyewitness. He reported: I cannot remember in my entire life such a change in the attitude of a crowd in a few minutes, almost
6840-461: The aftermath of World War I and during the German Revolution of 1918–19 , Freikorps , consisting partially of World War I veterans, were raised as paramilitary militias. They were ostensibly mustered to fight on behalf of the government against the German communists attempting to overthrow the Weimar Republic . However, many Freikorps also largely despised the Republic and were involved in assassinations of its supporters, later aiding
6954-492: The aftermath of the Napoleonic era , Freikorps were set up with varying degrees of success. During the March 1848 riots, student Freikorps were set up in Munich. In First Schleswig War of 1848 the Freikorps 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 , Giuseppe Garibaldi formed his famous Freischars , notably
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#17327662165757068-409: The armed militia organisation Reichskriegsflagge , were shot down accidentally in a burst of machine gun fire during the occupation of the War Ministry as the result of a misunderstanding with II/Infantry Regiment 19. Also honoured as a martyr in Mein Kampf was Karl Kuhn (born 7 July 1875), a head waiter in a restaurant. Allegedly he took part in the putsch as a member of the Freikorps Oberland, and
7182-491: The attention of the German nation for the first time and generated front-page headlines in newspapers around the world. His arrest was followed by a 24-day trial, which was widely publicised and gave him a platform to express his nationalist sentiments. Hitler was found guilty of treason and sentenced to five years in Landsberg Prison , where he dictated Mein Kampf to fellow prisoners Emil Maurice and Rudolf Hess . On 20 December 1924, having served only nine months, Hitler
7296-437: The auditorium under heavy guard. Heinz Pernet , Johann Aigne and Scheubner-Richter were dispatched to pick up Ludendorff, whose personal prestige was being harnessed to give the Nazis credibility. A telephone call was made from the kitchen by Hermann Kriebel to Ernst Röhm , who was waiting with his Bund Reichskriegsflagge in the Löwenbräukeller , another beer hall, and he was ordered to seize key buildings throughout
7410-423: The average male population in Germany. During World War II , there existed certain armed groups loyal to Germany that went under the name "Freikorps". These include: In France , 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
7524-475: The battles of Krasnoi and the Berezina . Freikorps 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 . After the French under Emperor Napoleon 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
7638-501: The brutal and deadly beatings of suspected communists and particularly communist women. Freikorps ranks were composed primarily of former World War I 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 hysterical when suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder , many German veterans found comfort and
7752-549: 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 African Commando Group (GCA) on 13 July 1943 in Dupleix , Algeria , today seen as a forebear to the postwar Parachutist Shock Battalions and the modern day 13th RDP . The GCA went on to fight at Pianosa , Elba , Salerno , Provence , Belfort , Giromagny , Alsace , Cernay , Guebwiller , Buhl , and
7866-405: The city. At the same time, co-conspirators under Gerhard Rossbach mobilised the students of a nearby infantry officers' school to seize other objectives. Hitler became irritated by Kahr and summoned Ernst Pöhner , Friedrich Weber , and Hermann Kriebel to stand in for him while he returned to the auditorium flanked by Rudolf Hess and Adolf Lenk. He followed up on Göring's speech and stated that
7980-492: The course of events had been stained with blood, came to be known as the Blutfahne ('blood flag') and was brought out for the swearing-in of new recruits in front of the Feldherrnhalle when Hitler was in power. Shortly after he came to power, a memorial was placed at the south side of the Feldherrnhalle crowned with a swastika . The back of the memorial read Und ihr habt doch gesiegt! ('And you triumphed nevertheless!'). Behind it, flowers were laid, and either policemen or
8094-422: The crowded auditorium. Unable to be heard above the crowd, Hitler fired a shot into the ceiling and jumped on a chair, yelling: "The national revolution has broken out! The hall is surrounded by six hundred men. Nobody is allowed to leave." He went on to state that the Bavarian government was deposed and declared the formation of a new government with Ludendorff. Hitler, accompanied by Hess, Lenk, and Graf, ordered
8208-400: The defeat in World War I. Of the numerous Weimar paramilitary groups active during that time, the Freikorps were, and remain, the most notable. While 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
8322-404: The end, Hitler served just over eight months of this sentence before his early release for good behaviour. Prison officials allegedly wanted to give Hitler deaf guards, to prevent him from persuading them to free him. Although the trial was the first time that Hitler's oratory was insufficient, he used the trial as an opportunity to spread his ideas by giving speeches in the courtroom. The event
8436-595: 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". Inspired by the Slavic troops in Austrian service, France, the Dutch Republic and other nations began employing "Free Troops", usually consisting of infantry and cavalry units. The Dutch Republic employed
8550-406: The event and Heinrich Himmler spoke in his place. As the war went on, residents of Munich came increasingly to dread the approach of the anniversary, concerned that the presence of the top Nazi leaders in their city would act as a magnet for Allied bombers. Every Gau (administrative region of Germany) was also expected to hold a small remembrance ceremony. As material given to propagandists said,
8664-527: 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: Because, some exceptions, they were seen as undisciplined and less battleworthy, they were used for less onerous guard and garrison duties. In
8778-548: The government forces forced Hitler and Ludendorff to flee Munich, it was the origin of the Blutfahne ('blood flag'), which was stained with the blood of two SA members who were shot: the flag bearer Heinrich Trambauer, who was badly wounded, and Andreas Bauriedl, who fell dead onto the fallen flag. A bullet killed Scheubner-Richter. Göring was shot in the leg, but escaped. The rest of the Nazis scattered or were arrested. Hitler
8892-566: The guidance of Weber, Bund Oberland approached continuously to the radical people under Adolf Hitler and Ernst Röhm . Together with the "Wehrverband Reichsflagge" and the SA the Bund formed the "Arbeitsgemeinschaft vaterländischer Kampfverbände" in January 1923 . In September 1923 they joined with the Nazi Party and other national organizations to form the "Deutscher Kampfbund". From 25 September 1923,
9006-407: The help of World War I general Erich Ludendorff in an attempt to gain the support of Kahr and his triumvirate. However, Kahr had his own plan with Seisser and Lossow to install a nationalist dictatorship without Hitler. The putsch was inspired by Benito Mussolini 's successful March on Rome . From 22 to 29 October 1922, Hitler and his associates planned to use Munich as a base for
9120-574: The hosts of occasional political rallies. One of Munich's largest beer halls was the Bürgerbräukeller , which became the site where the putsch began. After the Treaty of Versailles , which ended World War I , Germany declined as a major European power. Like many Germans of the period, Hitler, who had fought in the German Army but still held Austrian citizenship at the time, believed
9234-413: The hussar Denis Davydov , a warrior-poet , formed volunteer partisan detachments functioning as Freikorps during the French retreat from Moscow . These irregular units operated in conjunction with Field Marshal Mikhail Kutuzov 's regular Russian Imperial Army and Ataman Matvei Platov 's Cossack detachments, harassing the French supply lines and inflicting defeats on the retreating Grande Armée in
9348-597: The immediate interwar era . Although World War I 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 , Jews, socialists , and pacifists . Prominent Freikorps member Ernst von Salomon described his troops as "full of wild demand for revenge and action and adventure...a band of fighter...full of lust, exultant in anger." In 1977, German sociologist Klaus Theweleit published Male Fantasies, in which he argues that men in
9462-437: The manoeuvres inside the building. He locked the building with the 400 men inside and positioned two machine guns at the entrance. Hitler attempted to have the men released, but Cantzler refused. Hitler considered using artillery to destroy the building but chose not to. The night was marked by confusion and unrest among government officials, armed forces, police units, and individuals deciding where their loyalties lay. Units of
9576-568: The meantime, the Reichswehr officers put the whole garrison on alert and called for reinforcements. In the morning, Hitler ordered the seizure of the Munich city council [ de ] as hostages . By mid-morning on 9 November, Hitler realised that the putsch was going nowhere. The putschists did not know what to do and were about to give up. At this moment, Ludendorff cried out, "Wir marschieren!" ('We will march!'). Röhm's force together with Hitler's (a total of approximately 2000 men) marched out – but with no specific destination. On
9690-515: The military leaders were young former officers, who were studying. Most of the members were between 20 and 30 years old and had the experience of fighting either in the World War I or in the fights in Bavaria, the Ruhr area, or in Upper Silesia. They had enough weapons, although many were stored and maintained by the Reichswehr . The Bund may have been supported by the father-in-law of Friedrich Weber, national publisher Julius Friedrich Lehmann . Under
9804-421: 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 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
9918-529: The most famous soldier-poets from the Freikorps. Their lyrics were for the most part patriotic, republican, anti-monarchical and anti-French. In Russia, the leader of the guerrilla army, Davydov, invented the genre of hussar poetry, characterised by hedonism and bravado. He used events from his own life to illustrate such poetry. Later, when Mikhail Lermontov was a junker ( cadet ) in the Russian Imperial Army, he also wrote such poetry. Even in
10032-606: The murder of USPD politician Karl Gareis (1889–1921). In summer 1922 the Bund became separated because of the question of whether Bund Oberland should be integrated into Bund Bayern und Reich . The civil wing formed Bund Treu Oberland , later Blücherbund . The military wing was led by veterinarian Friedrich Weber . In 1922 the Bund Oberland had a few hundred members.By November 1923 there were around 2000 members in Bavaria. Amongst them were many students, employees, members of free professions, and also some workers. Most of
10146-733: The night of 8 November, Hitler would address the Alte Kämpfer ('Old Fighters') in the Bürgerbräukeller (after 1939, the Löwenbräu , in 1944 in the Circus Krone Building ), followed the next day by a re-enactment of the march through the streets of Munich. The event would climax with a ceremony recalling the 16 killed on the Königsplatz . The anniversary could be a time of tension in Nazi Germany. The ceremony
10260-601: The organization because the strong Austrian branch accepted the leadership of Austrofascist Ernst Rüdiger Starhemberg , whose specifically Austrian brand of fascism was in marked contradiction to the Pan-Germanism of Hitler and the Nazis. After the War, in 1951, the old fighters gathered around Ernst Horadam and founded the still-existing traditional community Kameradschaft Freikorps und Bund Oberland . Some authors regard this as an extreme right organization. As late as 2006,
10374-656: The prosecution. Hitler moderated his tone for the trial, centring his defence on his selfless devotion to the good of the people and the need for bold action to save them, dropping his usual anti-Semitism. He claimed the putsch had been his sole responsibility, inspiring the title Führer or 'leader'. The lay judges were fanatically pro-Nazi and had to be dissuaded by the presiding Judge, Georg Neithardt , from acquitting Hitler outright. Hitler and Hess were both sentenced to five years in Festungshaft [ de ] ('fortress confinement') for treason. Festungshaft
10488-604: The putsch. There was one member of the cabinet who was not at the Bürgerbräukeller: Franz Matt , the vice-premier and minister of education and culture. A staunchly conservative Roman Catholic , he was having dinner with the Archbishop of Munich , Cardinal Michael von Faulhaber and with the Nuncio to Bavaria , Archbishop Eugenio Pacelli (who would later become Pope Pius XII ), when he learned of
10602-560: The putsch. He immediately telephoned Kahr. When he found the man vacillating and unsure, Matt made plans to set up a rump government-in-exile in Regensburg and composed a proclamation calling upon all police officers, members of the armed forces, and civil servants to remain loyal to the government. The action of these few men spelt doom for those attempting the putsch. The next day the archbishop and Rupprecht visited Kahr and persuaded him to repudiate Hitler. Three thousand students from
10716-559: The remainder of the campaign. For Prussia, the Pandurs , who were made up of Croats and Serbs , were a clear model for the organization of such "free" troops. On 15 July 1759, Frederick the Great 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)
10830-559: The so-called "petty wars", the Freikorps 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 Freikorps , 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
10944-631: The spur of the moment, Ludendorff led them to the Bavarian Defence Ministry. However, at the Odeonsplatz in front of the Feldherrnhalle , they met a force of 130 soldiers blocking the way under the command of State Police Senior Lieutenant Michael von Godin [ de ] . The two groups exchanged fire, which resulted in the deaths of 16 Nazis, four police officers, and one bystander. Although their defeat by
11058-494: The treaty to be a betrayal, with the country having been "stabbed in the back" by its own government, particularly as the German Army was popularly thought to have been undefeated in the field. For the defeat, Hitler scapegoated civilian leaders, Jews and Marxists , later called the "November Criminals". Hitler remained in the army in Munich after the war. He participated in various "national thinking" courses, organised by
11172-423: 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, [and] hard as Krupp steel" so as to defend what remained of German conservatism in times of social chaos, confusion, and revolution that came to define
11286-492: The triumvirate of Kahr, Seisser and Lossow into an adjoining room at gunpoint and demanded they support the putsch and accept the government positions he assigned them. Hitler had promised Lossow a few days earlier that he would not attempt a coup, but now thought that he would get an immediate response of affirmation from them, imploring Kahr to accept the position of Regent of Bavaria. Kahr replied that he could not be expected to collaborate, especially as he had been taken out of
11400-496: The visitor book) was later sold at auction, it was noted that Ludendorff had visited Hitler a number of times. The case of the resurfacing papers was reported in Der Spiegel on 23 June 2006; the new information (which came out more than 30 years after Shirer wrote his book, and which Shirer did not have access to) nullifies Shirer's statement. Police units were first notified of trouble by three police detectives stationed at
11514-423: The war, 14 " free infantry " ( Frei-Infanterie ) units were created, 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 Freikorps formed up to 1759 for the final years of the war, which operated independently and disrupted the enemy with surprise attacks, and
11628-411: Was acquitted . Both Röhm and Wilhelm Frick , though found guilty, were released. Göring, meanwhile, had fled after suffering a bullet wound to his leg, which led him to become increasingly dependent on morphine and other painkilling drugs. This addiction continued throughout his life. One of Hitler's greatest worries at the trial was that he was at risk of being deported back to his native Austria by
11742-451: Was a short-lived and unrecognized socialist-communist state from 12 April – 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,
11856-656: Was arrested two days later. In a description of Ludendorff's funeral at the Feldherrnhalle in 1937 (which Hitler attended but without speaking) William L. Shirer wrote: "The World War [One] hero [Ludendorff] had refused to have anything to do with him [Hitler] ever since he had fled from in front of the Feldherrnhalle after the volley of bullets during the Beer Hall Putsch." However, when a consignment of papers relating to Landsberg prison (including
11970-562: Was cancelled in 1934, coming as it did after the so-called Night of the Long Knives . In 1938, it coincided with the Kristallnacht , and in 1939 with the attempted assassination of Hitler by Johann Georg Elser . With the outbreak of war in 1939, security concerns caused the re-enactment of the march to be suspended, never to be resumed. However, Hitler continued to deliver his 8 November speech through 1943. In 1944, Hitler skipped
12084-517: Was extensively covered in the newspapers the next day. The judges were impressed (Presiding Judge Neithardt was inclined to favouritism towards the defendants prior to the trial), and as a result, Hitler served just over eight months in prison and was fined 500 ℛ︁ℳ︁ . Due to Ludendorff's story that he was present by accident, an explanation he had also used in the Kapp Putsch , along with his war service and connections, Ludendorff
12198-485: Was fatally shot by the police. In reality, Kuhn was an innocent bystander. He was working as a waiter in a nearby restaurant when he stepped outside to watch, after which he was killed in the crossfire. The 15 fallen insurgents, as well as the bystander Karl Kuhn, were regarded as the first "blood martyrs" of the Nazi Party and were remembered by Hitler in the foreword of Mein Kampf . The Nazi flag they carried, which in
12312-664: Was raided, and its newspaper, the Völkischer Beobachter ( The People's Observer ), was banned. In January 1924, the Emminger Reform , an emergency decree, abolished the jury as trier of fact and replaced it with a mixed system of judges and lay judges in Germany's judiciary . This was not the first time Hitler had been in trouble with the law. In an incident in September 1921, he and some men of
12426-598: Was raised in Dresden 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 Freikorps were organised. They initially consisted of Prussian volunteers from Berlin, Magdeburg, Mecklenburg and Leipzig, but later recruited deserters. The Freikorps were regarded as unreliable by regular armies, so they were used mainly as sentries and for minor duties. . During
12540-479: Was released. Once released, Hitler redirected his focus towards obtaining power through legal means rather than by revolution or force, and accordingly changed his tactics, further developing Nazi propaganda . In the early 20th century, many of the larger cities of southern Germany had beer halls , where hundreds, and sometimes thousands, of people would socialise in the evenings, drink beer and participate in political and social debates. Such beer halls also became
12654-689: Was the "Kampfbund" within the Thule Society, which also was against the Bavarian Soviet Republic. In May 1919 the Freikorps Oberland fought against the Bavarian Soviet Republic. Elements of the Freikorps, combined with Freikorps Epp became the Reichswehr Brigade 21, which in 1920 fought in the Ruhr uprising . The Freikorps itself was dissolved on 21 October 1919. and all the members went to Organization Escherich . In
12768-458: Was the mildest of the three types of jail sentence available in German law at the time; it excluded forced labour, provided reasonably comfortable cells, and allowed the prisoner to receive visitors almost daily for many hours. This was the customary sentence for those whom the judge believed to have had honourable but misguided motives, and it did not carry the stigma of a sentence of Gefängnis (common prison) or Zuchthaus (disciplinary prison). In
12882-577: Was to do everything "strictly legal". The process of "combination", wherein the conservative-nationalist-monarchist group thought that its members could piggyback on, and control, the National Socialist movement to garner the seats of power, was to repeat itself ten years later in 1933 when Franz von Papen asked Hitler to form a legal coalition government. The 15 deceased are listed in Hitler's dedication to Mein Kampf . Scheubner-Richter
12996-486: Was walking arm-in-arm with Hitler during the putsch; he was shot in the lungs and died instantly. He brought Hitler down and dislocated Hitler's shoulder when he fell. He was the only significant Nazi leader to die during the putsch. Of all the party members who died in the putsch, Hitler claimed Scheubner-Richter to be the only "irreplaceable loss". According to Ernst Röhm , Martin Faust and Theodor Casella, both members of
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