During the early years of the Weimar Republic paramilitary organizations were commonplace. With the dissolution of the Imperial Army after the German defeat in World War I, the new republican government needed a means to ensure its authority and fostered volunteer troops known as Freikorps. These units could be raised and led by any with both the financial and charismatic means to do so and held no uniform model or political motivation. They saw the most action during the German Revolution, along the Eastern Border, and in the Ruhr. Their campaigns during the Revolution secured the position of the new administration but split the Labor Parties which prevented a majority government from forming for much of the 1920s. The string of short-lived cabinets prevented the stabilization of the Weimar Government, provided strong extra-constitutional powers to the President, and created the opportunity for previously fringe radical parties to become legitimate coalition members. After the acceptance of the Treaty of Versailles and the implementation of its restrictions, these units became highly disillusioned and hostile towards the Weimar Government and drifted towards the political Right. Led by nationalistic generals and political officials who wanted to reject the Treaty, the Freikorps units that emerged from the Revolution attempted several times to violently overthrow the government, but none would succeed. Their failures and the continued pressure of the Entente to disband all paramilitaries pushed the remaining Freikorps fighters into police units, the border guard, secret military reserves, and labor groups. They would reappear whenever Germany’s borders became threatened, but gradually lost support in the stability of the Golden Age of Weimar in the mid-1920s. Unwilling to accept the government and wholly disperse, Freikorps members moved into politics itself via war veteran organizations and the growing Right-wing parties. Having fought to support and later destroy the Weimar Government, they knew the only way to bring about the change they wanted to see would be to enter the system itself. Raised to provide authority to the Republic, the Freikorps greatly weakened the political Left, allowed the Right time to recuperate, bolstering their ranks in the 1930s. / A Thesis submitted to the Department of History in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of History. / Spring Semester 2019. / April 2, 2019. / Freikorps, German, Interwar Period, Paramilitaries, Weimar Republic / Includes bibliographical references. / Jonathan A. Grant, Professor Directing Thesis; George Williamson, Committee Member; Jennifer Koslow, Committee Member.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_709744 |
| Contributors | Ellis, David Sloan (author), Grant, Jonathan A. (Professor Directing Thesis), Williamson, George S. (Committee Member), Koslow, Jennifer Lisa (Committee Member), Florida State University (degree granting institution), College of Arts and Sciences (degree granting college), Department of History (degree granting departmentdgg) |
| Publisher | Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English, English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, text, master thesis |
| Format | 1 online resource (114 pages), computer, application/pdf |
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