Editing Freikorps (section)

=== Affiliation with the Nazi Party ===
The rise of the [[Nazi Party]] led to a resurgence of Freikorps activity, as many members or ex-members were drawn to the party's marrying of military and political life and extreme nationalism by joining the ''[[Sturmabteilung]]'' (SA) and ''[[Schutzstaffel]]'' (SS).<ref name="Jones_2004_p270" /> Unlike in the [[German Revolution of 1918–1919|German Revolution of 1918–19]] or their involvement in Eastern Europe, the Freikorps now had almost no military value and were instead utilized by the Nazis as thugs to engage in street brawls with communists and to break up anarchist, communist and socialist meetings alongside the [[Sturmabteilung|SA]] to gain a political edge.<ref name=":3" /> Moreover, the Nazis elevated the Freikorps as a symbol of pure German nationalism, anti-communism, and militarized masculinity to co-opt the lingering social and political support of the movement.<ref name=":3" />

Eventually, [[Adolf Hitler]] came to view the Freikorps as a nuisance and possible threat to his consolidation of power. During the [[Night of the Long Knives]] in 1934, an internal purge of Hitler's enemies within the [[Nazi Party]], numerous Freikorps members and leaders were targeted for killing or arrest, including Freikorps commander [[Hermann Ehrhardt]] and [[Sturmabteilung|SA]] leader [[Ernst Röhm]]. In Hitler's [[Reichstag (Nazi Germany)|Reichstag]] speech following the purge, Hitler denounced the Freikorps as lawless "moral degenerates...aimed at the destruction of all existing institutions" and as "pathological enemies of the state...[and] enemies of all authority," despite his previous public adoration of the movement.<ref name="Jones_2004_p270" />