Paramilitary violence as fodder for political radicalisation? The example of the German Freikorps which fought in the Baltic region after WWI Cover Image

Paramilitaarne vägivald kui poliitilise radikaliseerumise toitepinnas? I maailmasõja järel Baltikumis võidelnud Saksa vabakorpuste näide
Paramilitary violence as fodder for political radicalisation? The example of the German Freikorps which fought in the Baltic region after WWI

Author(s): Jan-Philipp Pomplun
Contributor(s): Toomas Hiio (Translator)
Subject(s): Geography, Regional studies, Military history, Political history, Recent History (1900 till today), Studies in violence and power, Nationalism Studies, Pre-WW I & WW I (1900 -1919)
Published by: Tallinna Ülikooli Kirjastus
Keywords: WWI; Weimar Republic; Freikorps; wars of independence in the Baltic countries; war youth and WWI veterans; national socialist organisations;

Summary/Abstract: The article discusses the history of the Freikorps (“Free Corps”) formed in Germany aft er WWI, in a comparative analysis of two Freikorps which were recruited in Germany and fought in the Baltic region, and two Freikorps which only fought in Germany. The article compares the members of those Freikorps – the Baden assault battalion Kurland and the Von Medem Freikorps which fought in the Baltic region and the Würzburg Freikorps and the Haas battalion which operated only in Germany – on the basis of their generational affiliation as well as their subsequent involvement in national socialist organisations. It is concluded that the claims that the Freikorps members who fought in the Baltic region mostly belonged to the “war youth” generation who did not fight in WWI and whose fighting in the Baltic region caused their radicalisation manifested by their higher than average membership in the NSDAP, SS and SA, cannot be corroborated on the basis of the analysed units.

  • Issue Year: 6/2016
  • Issue No: 1
  • Page Range: 117-135
  • Page Count: 19
  • Language: Estonian