[Ron Smith]

From 1918 to 1919 the Freikorps units were usually organized and led by ex-Imperial German Officers. Essentually War Lords who had complete control over their individual units. Although most Freikorps groups were Nationalist, and formed to fight the Communist and Anarchist factions. They often supported different National officials and or agendas, resulting in not only running gun battles between the Freikorps Units themselves, but often gun battles with the Police who may have supported a different official or agenda.

It was basically a wild west mentality with Freikorps units pitted against each other, the Police, Communists and Anarchists. During one period of a few months there were as many as 90 political assassinations. The Military and Landjägerei were busy putting down mutinies, or on the Eastern Frontier fighting the Poles and Czechs who were supported by the Russians, intent on taking back captured territory allotted to Germany by the Versailles Treaty.

So, if they marked their weapons at all, they would be very haphazard lacking any uniformity between the units.

In 1919 General Hans von Seekt a very charismatic and highly respected General managed to get control of the chaos. He began to dissolve the Freikorps units organizing them into a 100,000 man Reichswehr.

Later circa 1920-21 the Allied Commission mandated that it be reduced to 10,000 men. von Seekt complied by discharging all but the most experienced and battle hardened NCOs, known as "The Army of Sergeants".