The German word Freikorps has been on my mind often lately. It’s a word with which most readers will not be familiar. The English translation, “Free Corps,” is obvious, perhaps, but the purpose of the group less so.

The Freikorps appeared in Germany in 1918, in the wake of its defeat in World War 1. Most members were soldiers angry over Germany’s defeat in the war, unemployed or marginally employed young people, and other angry loners found on the fringes of society. Collectively, members were intensely nationalistic and strongly conservative in their political orientation.

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Government Response to the Freikorps

The German government did not reign in these vigilantes. Instead, it used them to put down movements for greater democracy in several major German cities and regions. Using thuggish tactics, the Freikorps plundered and terrorized opponents. They murdered several left-leaning politicians, most notably Walter Rathenau, Germany’s Foreign Minister, in 1922.

Another reason for Rathenau’s murder, besides his political convictions, was his Jewish faith. A fact that should help the reader guess where the rest of this blog post leads. Eventually, the German government distanced itself from the Freikorps, replacing them with a more organized police force. But the individual members didn’t simply disappear. Instead, many drifted into the Nazi ranks. The most infamous of these individuals was Ernst Röhm, who later led the Nazi SA (Sturmabteilung, or Assault Division), better known as the Brownshirts.

The Freikorps thrived in postwar Germany because many of the German people, especially those in a position of political leadership, valued order and authority more than they valued liberty or individual rights. Members, antidemocratic in the extreme, were willing to use violence and repression to stifle political disagreement, abetted by quiescent authorities. The fact that these people were key contributors to the rise of the Nazis should give one pause. As was so often the case in Europe in the 1920s and 1930s, people feared danger from the political left. In fact, as we know now, the true danger came from the political right. It’s a lesson any true believer in democracy should keep in mind when considering the proper response to political dissent.

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