Ludwig Maercker

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ludwig Maercker was a German General of World War I.

Following the Armistice of 1918 that saw the end of fighting and of the Bolshevik revolution that led to the creation of the Soviet Union, there were many examples of disturbances throughout Germany. Maercker suggested the formation of Freikorps (Free Corps} to suppress these and a number of formations formed themselves, usually around individual army officers.

A historian K P Fischer has noted:

"The backbone of the Free Corps units consisted of declassed imperial officers who were frightened by the prospects of giving up their privileged positions in German society. Having lost the war along with their warlord, they faced a bleak prospect under a Socialist regime that was known to be hostile to the old military establishment".