Freikorps

The forerunner of the Nazi brownshirts was known as the Freikorps, a volunteer paramilitary created during WWI to bolster the Army.

A History of General Strikes 2008

In the years before 1933, a small division of self-titled Freikorps, made up mostly of unemployed ex-soldiers commanded by NCOs who had given themselves the rank of captain or higher, paraded occasionally through the streets.

The Dreamthief's Daughter Moorcock, Michael, 1939- 2001

Of course, this enabled the RAF to point out the unity of purpose between the right wing CDU-CSU West German government and the SPD (with obvious comparisons to the role played by the German Social Democrats after World War I when they used the right-wing militia known as the Freikorps to kill members of the revolutionary Spartacists).

Dissident Voice 2009

The German resistance to fascism was undercut in advance when the Social Democrat defense minister called in the Freikorps, which would form much of the backbone of the fascist movement

Matthew Yglesias » The Real German Resistance to Hitler: The Social Democrats 2009

Using Freikorps with members and commanders that ended up in the SA and later the SS to put down KPD lead groups is going to affect outlooks.

Matthew Yglesias » The Real German Resistance to Hitler: The Social Democrats 2009

But it set a precedent for the strength of right wing paramilitary forces, and that bolstering of the right wing Freikorps led to the militant fascism that destroyed the Social Democrats.

Matthew Yglesias » The Real German Resistance to Hitler: The Social Democrats 2009

“The German resistance to fascism was undercut in advance when the Social Democrat defense minister called in the Freikorps, which would form much of the backbone of the fascist movement, to crush leftist-led rebellions in German cities.”

Matthew Yglesias » The Real German Resistance to Hitler: The Social Democrats 2009

But it set a precedent for the strength of right wing paramilitary forces, and that bolstering of the right wing Freikorps led to the militant fascism that destroyed the Social Democrats.

Matthew Yglesias » The Real German Resistance to Hitler: The Social Democrats 2009

The German resistance to fascism was undercut in advance when the Social Democrat defense minister called in the Freikorps, which would form much of the backbone of the fascist movement, to crush leftist-led rebellions in German cities.

Matthew Yglesias » The Real German Resistance to Hitler: The Social Democrats 2009

“The German resistance to fascism was undercut in advance when the Social Democrat defense minister called in the Freikorps, which would form much of the backbone of the fascist movement, to crush leftist-led rebellions in German cities.”

Matthew Yglesias » The Real German Resistance to Hitler: The Social Democrats 2009