(German: "Free Corps") Private German paramilitary groups that first appeared in late 1918 after Germany's defeat in World War I. Composed of ex-soldiers and unemployed youth and led by ex-officers, they eventually included over 65 corps of varying sizes.
Most were nationalistic and radically conservative, and they were employed unofficially to put down left-wing revolts throughout Germany. Initially sanctioned by the government, they came to be viewed as a nuisance and a threat and were supplanted by regular army and police or absorbed by new units of the Nazis and other political parties.