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The Freikorps were a paramilitary force that was born out of the defeat of the German army in WWI. These mainly ex-soldiers played a critical role in the early years of the Weimar Republic. The paramilitaries ideology was conservative and nationalistic. The weak Weimar Republic was faced with a series of Communist-inspired revolts and they had to rely on these paramilitaries to control them. The Social Democrats were forced to rely on the paramilitaries, even though they hated the Weimar Republic to defeat its left-wing enemies.
These ex-soldiers and extreme nationalists suppressed the Communist-inspired revolts and helped to save the young democracy. However, the unlikely defenders of the Weimar Republic became its greatest foe. They almost helped in the overthrow of the German Revolution in 1920. In the past, historians regarded the Freikorps as the decisive influence on the National Socialist Party and their forerunners. The relationship between the paramilitaries and the Nazis National Socialist Party was complex. Hitler was not influenced by the beliefs or the tactics of the paramilitaries. However, the former Freikorps helped to swell the ranks of the National Socialist Party and inspired the development of the SA.
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