The German Freikorps 1918-23

Description

The troops returning home to Germany after the 1918 Armistice found their country riven by internal unrest, and its eastern borders threatened. Though reluctant to support the new Republic, the many Free Corps formed by ex-Imperial soldiers fought furiously against Communist revolutionaries at home and Polish and Bolshevik Russian pressure on the frontiers. Later providing much of the manpower for the new Reichswehr, the Free Corps would have strong links with the nascent Nazi Party. This concise account of a little-known but central episode in the history of 20th century Germany is illustrated with rare photographs, and ten colour plates showing unprecedented details of uniforms and insignia.

Carlos Caballero Jurado was born in Ciudad Real, Spain, in 1957. He served as an NCO in the Spanish Army's Division Brunete (1st Armoured Division); and later graduated with a BA in History from the University of Alicante. He has written and co-written four Osprey titles; he is also the author of fourteen other books and numerous articles on military historical subjects, and his work has been translated into English and German. Ramiro Bujeiro, previously the illustrator of Osprey's Warrior 23: US Marine in Vietnam, and Elite 68: The Military Sniper since 1914, is an experienced commercial artist who lives and works in his native city of Buenos Aires, Argentina. His professional background includes many commissions as a figure illustrator and strip cartoonist for clients all over Europe and the Americas, including many years' work for IPC magazines in Great Britain.