Weimar paramilitary groups

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Weimar paramilitary groups were militarily organized units that were formed outside of the regular German Army following the defeat of the German Empire in World War I. The most prominent of them, the Freikorps, were combat units that were supported by the German government and used to suppress uprisings from primarily the Left, but also the Right. There were also Citizens' Defense (Einwohnerwehr) groups to maintain public order and paramilitary groups associated with specific political parties or institutions to protect and promote their interests. Most who volunteered for the paramilitary groups came from the 6 million German soldiers who returned from the war to a country in the midst of the turmoil of the German revolution, which overthrew the Hohenzollern monarchy and established the Weimar Republic. The Freikorps especially took part in significant fighting in the Baltics, Silesia, and Berlin during the Spartacist uprising and in the Ruhr during the 1920 uprising there. The paramilitary...

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