Document Type
Article
Publication Date
8-24-2025
Publication Source
Proceedings of the 2025 Berry Summer Thesis Institute
Abstract
The Freikorps (Free Corps) was a German paramilitary group that primarily consisted of former World War I soldiers who experienced post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and continued their military combat by suppressing communist revolutions in Germany throughout the early Weimar Republic. My research investigates how the German press in Munich covered the Bavarian Freikorps’ swift removal of armed communists and their violence against German civilians during the suppression of the Bavarian Soviet Republic in May 1919. This news coverage influenced how a large portion of German civilians viewed and interacted with German veterans of World War I and the Freikorps after the war. Thus, this study demonstrates how important it is for the modern media to properly represent PTSD of contemporary American veterans and their role within the current political situation to the American public.
For my research approach, I specifically examine the daily issues from the Münchener Post (Munich Post), a socialist newspaper, throughout the first two weeks of May 1919. These issues reported on the Freikorps’ first killings of armed communists in Munich, which allows me to evaluate how the Münchener Post initially viewed the Freikorps and how their perception changed throughout the Freikorps’ reign of terror. At first, the press neglected the violence of the Freikorps and portrayed them as dutiful soldiers that society desperately needed to combat the terrors of communism. Once the Freikorps started to kill innocent civilians, the press’s depiction of the Freikorps changed to a group of abusive soldiers.
Recently within the secondary research, historians have established that German civilians were initially complacent towards the Freikorps but eventually displayed extreme disdain towards the group. Therefore, the German press’s depiction of the Freikorps will help us further evaluate this development of civilian attitudes towards the Freikorps.
Keywords
Freikorps, Veterans, WWI, Media, Germany
Disciplines
European History | German Language and Literature | History | Military History
Sponsoring Agency
Berry Summer Thesis Institute
eCommons Citation
Kinder, Chase, "The German Press's Coverage of the Bavarian Freikorps" (2025). Proceedings of the Berry Summer Thesis Institute, 2025. 5.
https://ecommons.udayton.edu/uhp_bsti_2025/5
Included in
European History Commons, German Language and Literature Commons, Military History Commons
Comments
There are many people who supported me as I conducted my research throughout the summer, and I would like to thank each of them for their specific contributions. First and foremost, I am very appreciative of the Berry Family for their generous donation that gave me the opportunity to begin my research this summer. I am grateful for the seminars about research ethics that were led by Dr. Dorian Borbonus because they allowed me to reflect on the public benefits of my research. I am extremely thankful for my mentor, Dr. Oliver Knabe, who guided me through my research, taught me the value of writing, and thoroughly reviewed my work. I am glad that the entire cohort was always gracious enough to listen to me talk about my research because it gave me the opportunity to better express my topic. Lastly, I would like to thank my parents and siblings for encouraging me to pursue my goals this summer, even if it meant that I had to sacrifice time with them to work on my project.