Full Description

Irregular paramilitary units formed from demobilised German soldiers after World War One. The FreikorpsFreikorps Full Description Irregular paramilitary units formed from demobilised German soldiers after World War One. The Freikorps were deployed by the Social Democratic government to suppress communist uprisings, most infamously murdering Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht in January 1919. Many Freikorps veterans later became founding members of the SA and the SS, bringing with them a culture of political violence and contempt for democratic institutions. Critical Perspective The use of the Freikorps by the Social Democrats to suppress the German Revolution was the republic’s original sin. By choosing order over socialist transformation and using right-wing paramilitaries to do it, the SPD created the armed culture of the extreme right that would eventually destroy them. The men who murdered Luxemburg were the men who later built the Nazi movement. were deployed by the Social Democratic government to suppress communist uprisings, most infamously murdering Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht in January 1919. Many Freikorps veterans later became founding members of the SA and the SS, bringing with them a culture of political violence and contempt for democratic institutions.

Critical Perspective

The use of the Freikorps by the Social Democrats to suppress the German Revolution was the republic’s original sin. By choosing order over socialist transformation and using right-wing paramilitaries to do it, the SPD created the armed culture of the extreme right that would eventually destroy them. The men who murdered Luxemburg were the men who later built the Nazi movement.