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''Freikorps'' (, "Free Corps") were German volunteer units that existed from the 18th to the early 20th centuries, the members of which effectively fought as mercenaries, regardless of their own nationality. In German-speaking countries the first so-called ''Freikorps'' "free regiments" ((ドイツ語:Freie Regimenter)) were formed in the 18th century from native volunteers, enemy renegades and deserters, and criminals. These sometimes exotically equipped units served as infantry and cavalry or, more rarely, as artillery. Sometimes in just company strength, sometimes in formations up to several thousand strong, there were also various mixed formations or legions. The Prussian ''von Kleist Freikorps'' included infantry, jäger, dragoons and hussars. The French Volontaires de Saxe combined uhlans and dragoons. In the early 20th century, ''Freikorps'' were raised to fight against the newly formed Weimar Republic, as well as their left-wing counterparts, through the early 1920s. These paramilitary organizations "roamed the countryside, killing with impunity."〔http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/27/opinion/history-without-hitler.html〕 "They engaged in bloody confrontations with republican loyalists and engineered some of the more notorious assassinations" of the Weimar period, and are widely seen as a "precursor to Nazism".〔http://www.nytimes.com/1987/06/21/books/the-women-they-feared.html〕 An entire series of Freikorps awards also existed, mostly replaced in 1933 by the Honor Cross for World War I veterans. == 18th century == The very first ''Freikorps'' were recruited by Frederick the Great during the Seven Years' War. On 15 July 1759, Frederick ordered the creation of a squadron of volunteer hussars to be attached to the 1st Regiment of Hussars (von Kleist's Own). He entrusted the creation and command of this new unit to Colonel Friedrich Wilhelm von Kleist. This first squadron (80 men) was raised in Dresden and consisted mainly of Hungarian deserters. This squadron was placed under the command of Lieutenant Johann Michael von Kovacs. At the end of 1759, the first 4 squadrons of dragoons (a.k.a. horse-grenadiers) of the ''Freikorps'' were organised. They initially consisted of Prussian volunteers from Berlin, Magdeburg, Mecklenburg and Leipzig but later recruited deserters. The ''Freikorps'' were regarded as unreliable by regular armies, so they were mainly used as sentries and for minor duties. These early ''Freikorps'' appeared during the War of the Austrian Succession and especially the Seven Years' War, when France, Prussia and the Habsburg Monarchy embarked on an escalation of petty warfare while conserving their regular regiments. Even during the last Kabinettskrieg, the War of the Bavarian Succession, ''Freikorp'' formations were formed in 1778. Germans, Hungarians, Poles, Lithuanians and South Slavs, as well as Turks, Tatars and Cossacks, were believed by all warring parties to be inherently good fighters. The nationality of many soldiers can no longer be ascertained with certainty as the ethnic origin was often described imprecisely in the regimental lists. Slavs were often referred to as "Hungarians" or "Croats", and Muslim recruits (Albanians, Bosnians, Tatars) as "Turks". For Prussia, the Pandurs and Croats were a clear model for the organization of such "free" troops. Frederick the Great created 14 "free infantry" (''Frei-Infanterie'') units, mainly between 1756 and 1758, which were intended to be attractive to those soldiers who wanted military "adventure", but did not want to have to do military drill. A distinction should be made between the ''Freikorps'' formed up to 1759 for the final years of the war, which operated independently and disrupted the enemy with surprise attacks and the free infantry which consisted of various military branches (such as infantry, hussars, dragoons, ''jäger'') and were used in combination. They were often used to ward off Maria Theresa's Pandurs. In the era of linear tactics, light troops had been seen necessary for outpost, reinforcement and reconnaissance duties. During the war, eight such volunteer corps were set up: * Trümbach's ''Freikorps'' (Voluntaires de Prusse) (FI) * Kleist's ''Freikorps'' (FII) * Glasenapp's Free Dragoons (F III) * Schony's ''Freikorps'' (F IV) * Gschray's ''Freikorps'' (F V) * Bauer's Free Hussars (F VI) * Légion Britannique (FV - of the Electorate of Brunswick-Lüneburg) * Volontaires Auxiliaires (F VI).〔Background, formation and numbering according to Bleckwenn (1986) Vol. IV, pp. 82ff〕 Because, with some exceptions, they were seen as undisciplined and less battleworthy, they were used for less onerous guard and garrison duties. In the so-called "petty wars", the ''Freikorps'' interdicted enemy supply lines with guerrilla warfare. In the case of capture, their members were at risk of being executed as irregular fighters. In Prussia the ''Freikorps'', which Frederick the Great had despised as "vermin", were disbanded. Their soldiers were given no entitlement to pensions or invalidity payments. In France, many corps continued to exist until 1776. They were attached to regular dragoon regiments as ''jäger'' squadrons. During the Napoleonic Wars, Austria recruited various ''Freikorps'' of Slavic origin. The Slavonic Wurmser ''Freikorps'' fought in Alsace. The combat effectiveness of the six Viennese ''Freikorps'' (37,000 infantrymen and cavalrymen), however, was low. An exception were the border regiments of Croats and Serbs who served permanently on the Austro-Ottoman border. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Freikorps」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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