- Freikorps in the Baltic
After 1918, the term
Freikorps was used for theparamilitary organizations that sprang up aroundGerman Empire including in the Baltic states as soldiers returned in defeat fromWorld War I . It was one of the manyWeimar paramilitary groups active during that time.In 1917 the Russian
Bolshevik s ceded the Baltic areas to Germany under theTreaty of Brest-Litovsk . The Imperial German government established occupation governments inEstonia andLatvia and granted independence to apuppet government in Lithuania on March 25, 1918. The GermanOber Ost occupation authorities under command ofPrince Leopold of Bavaria favored theBaltic Germans , who had been the dominant social, economic, and political class inCourland ,Livonia , andEstonia since the 13th century. OnMarch 8 andApril 12 , 1918 the local Baltic German-dominated Land Council ofCourland and the United Land Council ofLivonia ,Estonia ,Riga and Ösel had declared themselves independent states, known as the Duchy of Courland and the Baltic State ("Baltischer Staat"), respectively. Both states proclaimed themselves to be in personal union withPrussia , although the German government never responded and acknowledged that claim.The Baltic lands were nominally recognized as a sovereign state by
Kaiser Wilhelm II onSeptember 22 ,1918 , half a year after the newly SovietRussia had formally relinquished all authority over its former Imperial Baltic provinces in theTreaty of Brest-Litovsk . OnNovember 5 ,1918 , a temporary Regency Council ("Regentschaftsrat") for theUnited Baltic Duchy , led byBaron Adolf Pilar von Pilchau , was formed on a joint basis from the two local Land Councils.Under the terms of the November 11, 1918 Armistice the German Army was required to withdraw its troops from all other countries on a timetable established by the Allied Control Commission. As elsewhere, pro-socialist soldiers’ councils controlled many German troop units in the Baltic area, but the Allied Control Commission insisted that the German troops remain to prevent the region be occupied by the Red Army. The Russian
Red Army was led by theLatvian Riflemen and they were making serious inroads into Estonia and Latvia. The Estonians offered tough resistance toRed Army and refused to ask for, or accept, German Army support. Instead, Scandinavian soldiers from Finland, Sweden, and Denmark came to their support. The Estonians, with this help and naval support from the British, were able to prevail over theRed Army after a year long fight.Meanwhile Latvian People's Council (
Tautas Padome ) proclaimed Latvia's independence from Russia on November 18, 1918. Latvian leaderKārlis Ulmanis requested German Freikorps support for assistance against the Bolsheviks. The British observer, Colonel SirHubert Gough , invoked Article 12 of the Armistice Agreement which provided that German troops must evacuate all territories belonging to the Russian Empire, but only "as soon as the Allies shall consider this desirable, having regard to the interior conditions of these territories."As many of the demoralized German soldiers were being withdrawn from Latvia, Major Bischoff formed a Freikorps unit called the Eiserne Brigade (translated: "Iron Brigade"). This unit was deployed to Riga and used to delay the
Red Army advance. Meanwhile, volunteers were sent from Germany and these soldiers, along with remnants of the German 8th Army and the Eiserne Brigade, were reconstituted into the Eiserne (Iron) Division. Also, theBaltic German s and some Latvians formed theBaltische Landeswehr . The official mission assigned to this force was to prevent anyRed Army advance into East Prussia, but its real mission was to help the Baltic Germans re-establish their own state or dominance in Latvia.Initially, the Iron Division was commanded by General
Rüdiger von der Goltz and the Baltische Landeswehr by Major Alfred Fletcher, a German of Scottish ancestry. In late February, only the seaport ofLiepaja remained in the hands of the German and Latvian forces. In March 1919, GeneralRüdiger von der Goltz was able to win a series of victories over the Red forces and enteredRiga . The main blow in the campaign was delivered by the German Freikorps, which first occupiedVentspils , the major port ofCourland , and then drove south to Riga. This attack appears to have been coordinated with the Estonians who drove the Bolsheviks from the northern part of Latvia.After the Bolsheviks were driven from Latvia, the Allies ordered the German government to withdraw its troops from the Baltic. General von der Goltz attempted to seize control of Latvia with the assistance of the local ethnic German population. Ulmanis was formally deposed, and a new
puppet government headed by PastorAndrievs Niedra was proclaimed. Pastor Niedra was a Latvian Lutheran minister with pro-German sympathies. The Germans convinced the British to postpone the withdrawal of German Freikorps units because this would give the Bolsheviks a free hand. Britain backed down after recognizing the gravity of the military situation, and the White Russian units and the Freikorps moved on and captured Riga on May 23, 1919.After the capture of Riga, the Freikorps were accused of killing 300 Latvians in Mitau, 200 in Tukkum, 125 in Dunamunde, and over 3,000 in Riga. The Latvian nationalists then turned against the German Freikorps and sought assistance from the Estonian troops which had occupied Latvian territory north of the Daugava River. General von der Goltz ordered his troops to advance north towards the Latvian city of
Cēsis . The objective of the German forces had now clearly become the establishment of German supremacy in the Baltic by eliminating the Estonian military, not the defeat of the Bolsheviks. The Estonian commander GeneralJohan Laidoner , insisted the Germans withdraw to a line south of theGauja river. He also ordered Estonian army to seize theGulbene railroad station.On June 19, 1919, the Iron Division launched an attack to capture
Cēsis . Initially, the Freikorps captured the town ofStraupe and continued their advance towardLimbaži . The Estonians launched a counterattack and drove the Freikorps out ofLimbaži . On June 21, the Estonians received reinforcements and immediately attacked the Landeswehr under Fletcher, who was forced to withdrawn from an area to the northeast ofCēsis . The Iron Division attacked fromStraupe towards Stalbe in an effort to relieve pressure on the Landeswehr. On the morning of June 23, the Germans began a general retreat toward Riga.The Allies again insisted that the Germans withdraw their remaining troops from Latvia, and intervened to impose a cease fire between the Estonians and the Freikorps when the Estonians were about to march into Riga. The British insisted that Count von der Goltz leave Latvia, and he turned his troops over to General Bermondt's White Russian Army. Colonel Sir
Hubert Gough , a British officer, was given command of the Landeswehr, and Major Fletcher, its former commander was also ordered out of Latvia. Major Bischoff created a German Legion from over a dozen Freikorps units and turned these units to General Bermondt. In all, the Germans transferred over 14,000 men, 64 aircraft, 56 artillery pieces, and 156 machine guns. Six cavalry units and a field hospital also went over to Bermondt. Bermondt'scoup attempt was subsequently defeated by the Latvian Army, which received assistance from British and French warships and Estonian armoured trains.The Freikorps had saved Latvia from capture by the Red Army in the spring of 1919. However, the Freikorps' goal of creating a German dominated state in Courland and Livonia failed. Many of the German Freikorps members who served in the Baltic left Latvia with the belief that they had been "stabbed in the back" by the
Weimar Republic under presidentFriedrich Ebert . Hundreds of Baltic Freikorps soldiers had planned to settle in Latvia, and for those who had fought there, the land made a lasting impression and many of them longed for the day that they could return there. The Baltic Freikorps characterized their struggle against the Reds as the "Ritt gen Osten," (the ride towards the East), and more than one Freikorps unit returned to Germany and planned for the day of the return.ee also
*
Aftermath of World War I
*Latvian Riflemen
*Latvian War of Independence
*Estonian Liberation War
*United Baltic Duchy
*Ober Ost External links
* [http://www.lib.byu.edu/~rdh/wwi/ Archive World War I documents assembled by volunteers of the World War I Military History List]
* [http://www.lib.byu.edu/~rdh/wwi/links.html World War I Resources on the web]
* [http://www.axishistory.com/index.php?id=5773 Axis History Factbook; Freikorps section] – By Marcus Wendel and contributors; site also contains an apolitical forum
* [http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-37316 Latvia - Encyclopædia Britannica Article]
* [http://pygmy-wars.50megs.com/history/latvia/latviaintro.html Pygmy Wars (personal site) with emphasis on the Battle of Cēsis]
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