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Admin moved page In what ways did the Freikorps influence interwar Germany (1918-1933)? to In what ways did the Freikorps influence interwar Germany (1918-1933)
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[[File: Freikorps 3.jpg|250px|thumb|left|Mutinous German sailors in 1918]]
The period after the end of WWI in Germany has fascinated historians for decades. This turbulent era saw the rise of Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist Party. After the near anarchy that engulfed Germany after 1918, the country was deeply divided between left and right. The Freikorps played a key part in the drama that unfolded in post-war Germany. These paramilitaries were only active for a brief period, but they changed the history of Germany. The Freikorps were instrumental in defeating the radical left and the Communist revolutions in Germany. Then they became the greatest threat to the Weimar Republic, especially during the Kapp Putsch. The Freikorps also paved the way for the rise of Hitler's National Socialist Party.
====Background====
====Freikorps 1918-1923====
[[File: Freikorps One.jpg|300px|thumb|left|Freikorps in the Saar (1919)]]
By 1919 the socio-economic situation was so dire, that the communists and other extreme leftists believed that the time had arrived for revolution. All over Germany - workers, councils and revolutionary committees seized control of cities in the period from late 1918 to mid-1919. From Bremen to Munich there were mini Communist Revolutions.<ref> Waite, Robert <i>Vanguard of NazismN.azism: The Free Corps Movement in Post-War Germany, 1918–1923</i> (New York, Norton & Company, 1997), p. 14 </ref>
The Spartacist Revolt led by Rosa Luxembourg and Karl Liebknecht sought to seize Berlin in January 1919. It was the most serious left-wing revolt of the Weimar era. The revolutionaries occupied public buildings all over the city. The Social Democratic government did not have sufficient forces to put down the revolt turned to the Freikorps in the city and in the surrounding districts. The veterans easily quelled the revolt and murdered its leaders in cold blood. Soon after the Freikorps put down the revolt they took part in wave of terror in the city and beyond. The Freikorps targets and killed many left-wingers in and around Berlin.
The various units officially disbanded, but the individual Freikorps members went underground and formed a clandestine terrorist network. They attempted to undermine the Weimar Republic, by assassinating leading supporters of the democracy. Among their victims was Walther Ratheneau, a prominent German-Jewish industrialist, and statesman. However, these terrorist outrages did not seriously destabilize the Weimar Republic. By 1925 as the Weimar entered its most stable period and the Freikorps largely ceased their violence.
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====The Freikorps and the Communist Revolt====
