"Progressives should not make the same mistake that Ernst ThƤlmann made in 1932. The leader of the German Communist Party, ThƤlmann saw mainstream liberals as his enemies, and so the center and left never joined forces against the Nazis. ThƤlmann famously said that āsome Nazi trees must not be allowed to overshadow a forestā of social democrats, whom he sneeringly called āsocial fascists.ā
After Adolf Hitler gained power in 1933, ThƤlmann was arrested. He was shot on Hitlerās orders in Buchenwald concentration camp in 1944."
Itās not old Junkers like von Hindenburg that theyād ally with. Itās other slightly different leftist factions and a few centrists.
The centrists were aligned with Hindenburg. Friekorps were just as avid commie-bashers as any National Socialist.
The main problem Ernst had was affiliating himself with the Russian Revolution and advocating for more of the same in Germany. That made him an enemy of nationalists during a period in which āInternational Jeweryā was the boogie man under everyoneās bed.
The idea that he could just strike up common cause with people who wanted him dead is absurd.
Particularly, there was huge overlap in membership between the Freikorps and the StĆ¼rmabteilung. So it is important to note that the Freikorps was a direct precursor to the Nazi brownshirts.