Mercenaries Without Pay: The Freikorps in the Weimar Republic, Silesia, and the Baltic

Introduction

The collapse of the German Empire in November 1918 did not only mark the end of the monarchy but also the breakdown of the military order that had shaped Germany since unification. Millions of soldiers returned from the First World War, while revolution, economic hardship, and territorial conflicts placed enormous pressure on the young republic. Out of this situation emerged the Freikorps – volunteer military formations consisting primarily of former frontline soldiers, officers, and non-commissioned officers.¹

The Freikorps were neither regular armed forces nor simple civilian militias. They possessed military structures, their own command hierarchies, and in some cases continued to possess weapons and equipment from the former Imperial German Army. During the first years of the Weimar Republic, they carried out missions within Germany, fought in contested border regions, and participated in military operations in the Baltic region.²

The term “mercenaries without pay” describes the particular position of these formations: many of their members fought outside a regular army and without a secure professional future. Their motivations often arose from military comradeship, national ideas, personal loyalty to the wartime frontline community, or the struggle against Bolshevism.³

The Emergence of the Freikorps after the First World War

With the armistice of 11 November 1918, the dissolution of the German Army began. Demobilization brought millions of soldiers back into a society deeply shaken politically and economically. At the same time, a power vacuum emerged, as the new republican government possessed only limited military capabilities.⁴

While workers’ and soldiers’ councils emerged in several German cities and revolutionary movements demanded fundamental political change, the government under Friedrich Ebert sought to preserve state authority. Since regular troops were initially only available to a limited extent, the government relied on volunteer military formations.⁵

These formations often emerged from former frontline units. Many soldiers struggled to reintegrate into civilian life after years of warfare. Former officers assumed leadership positions and organized the Freikorps according to the military traditions of the Imperial Army. However, there was no centralized organization; instead, numerous independent formations existed alongside each other.⁶

Among the best-known units were the Ehrhardt Naval Brigade, the Roßbach Freikorps, and the von Epp Freikorps. Their names usually derived from their commanders, many of whom came from the officer corps of the former Imperial Army.⁷

The Freikorps in the Early Weimar Republic

The first major deployments of the Freikorps took place within Germany. The republican government used them primarily against revolutionary movements, as they possessed military experience and could be deployed quickly.⁸

In January 1919, Freikorps units participated in the suppression of the Spartacist uprising in Berlin. A few months later, they were also deployed against the Bavarian Soviet Republic in Munich. These operations made the Freikorps an important, but also controversial, element of the early republic’s efforts to maintain order.⁹

Militarily, the Freikorps differed significantly from improvised civilian defense groups. Many members possessed frontline experience, tactical knowledge, and strong unit cohesion. At the same time, numerous formations developed their own political ideas and increasingly saw themselves not merely as military auxiliaries of the state, but as an independent political force.¹⁰

The Struggle for Upper Silesia

After the end of the First World War, Upper Silesia became one of the most important areas of conflict between Germany and Poland. The region possessed major economic importance due to its industrial resources and was also ethnically mixed. The Treaty of Versailles provided for a plebiscite to determine the future status of the region.¹¹

Between 1919 and 1921, three Silesian uprisings took place. While Polish insurgents attempted to support the incorporation of the region into Poland through armed action, German self-defense organizations and Freikorps formations were established on the German side.¹²

The fighting for Annaberg in May 1921 became particularly significant. German Freikorps units attacked the strategically important hill and succeeded in capturing it after heavy fighting. The operation later became an important symbol of remembrance among former Freikorps circles.¹³

The conflict ultimately ended with an international decision dividing Upper Silesia. The fighting demonstrated that the Freikorps continued to serve as militarily organized formations even after the revolutionary conflicts inside Germany had declined.¹⁴

The Freikorps in the Baltic Region

While the importance of the Freikorps within Germany gradually declined, parts of the movement shifted their activities to the Baltic region. Following the collapse of the Russian Empire and the end of the German occupation, the region became the scene of a complex civil war involving various political and military forces.¹⁵

The Baltic states of Latvia and Estonia faced considerable pressure from Bolshevik forces. In this situation, German volunteer formations emerged, initially presenting themselves as forces intended to halt the spread of Bolshevism. One of the most significant formations was the Iron Division (Eiserne Division).¹⁶

The Iron Division consisted largely of former German soldiers and Freikorps members. Under German command, it developed into an effective military formation and participated in 1919, together with Baltic forces, in battles against the Red Army. One of its most important military successes was the recapture of Riga in the spring of 1919.¹⁷

The Iron Division and the West Russian Liberation Army

During the further course of 1919, an unusual military cooperation developed. Parts of the German Freikorps joined the West Russian Liberation Army under Pavel Bermondt-Avalov. This army consisted of Russian monarchists, former Tsarist officers, and German volunteers.¹⁸

This cooperation was particularly remarkable because former enemies of the First World War now fought alongside each other. German and Tsarist Russian forces had fought against one another on the Eastern Front between 1914 and 1918. Only a few years later, representatives of both sides stood together against the Bolsheviks.¹⁹

The common anti-Bolshevik struggle united these different groups, although their political goals were by no means identical. While Russian representatives sought the restoration of a Russian state, parts of the German Freikorps pursued their own ideas regarding Germany’s future role in the Baltic region.²⁰

Bermondt-Avalov’s attempt to capture Riga in autumn 1919 ultimately failed due to resistance from Latvian forces. After the defeat, the West Russian Liberation Army collapsed, and most German Freikorps members left the Baltic region.²¹

The End of the Freikorps

With the implementation of the Treaty of Versailles, the dissolution of the Freikorps formations began. The treaty limited the German armed forces to 100,000 soldiers, making the continued existence of large volunteer military formations impossible.²²

Some former Freikorps members were integrated into the Reichswehr. Others transferred into police forces or joined political veterans’ organizations. Thus, the existence of the Freikorps as an independent military movement largely came to an end.²³

Readiness: Nevertheless, their history remained closely connected with the political and military conflicts of the immediate post-war period. Within only a few years, these formations had fought in various conflicts and crisis zones throughout Europe and became a symbol of the unstable transition between the German Empire and the Weimar Republic.

Bibliography

Blanke, Richard: Orphans of Versailles: The Germans in Western Poland 1918–1939. Lexington 1993.

Gerwarth, Robert: The Vanquished: Why the First World War Failed to End, 1917–1923. London 2016.

Knigge, Jobst: Kontinuität deutscher Kriegsziele im Baltikum. Hamburg 2003.

Kolb, Eberhard: The Weimar Republic. Munich 2009.

Sauer, Bernhard: “Vom Mythos eines ewigen Soldatentums. Der Feldzug deutscher Freikorps im Baltikum im Jahre 1919.” In: Zeitschrift für Geschichtswissenschaft 43 (1995).

Schulze, Hagen: Freikorps und Republik 1918–1920. Boppard 1969.

Waite, Robert G. L.: Vanguard of Nazism: The Free Corps Movement in Postwar Germany 1918–1923. Cambridge, MA 1952.

Footnotes

1. See Schulze; Waite.
2. See Schulze.
3. See Waite.
4. See Gerwarth.
5. See Schulze; Kolb.
6. See Waite.
7. See Schulze.
8. See Kolb; Schulze.
9. See Gerwarth.
10. See Waite.
11. See Blanke.
12. See Blanke.
13. See Schulze.
14. See Blanke.
15. See Sauer.
16. See Sauer; Knigge.
17. See Sauer.
18. See Knigge.
19. See Sauer.
20. See Knigge.
21. See Sauer.
22. See Schulze.
23. See Waite.