bavarikon4UReturn of the Front-Line Soldiers to Bavaria, in late 1918
At the end of WWI, about 900,000 Bavarian soldiers fought on all European war fronts as well as in Palestine and East Africa. Most of them were stationed on the western front together with other German troops and tried to prevent the advance of the far superior Allied troops.
After the Compiègne armistice on 11 November 1918, the 900,000 Bavarian soldiers returned home. The march back took place on foot or by train and was quite disciplined. Depending on their location of departure, the units reached their home garrisons between December 1918 and February 1919, where the units that had already returned were dissolved on 10 January 1919.
Since only a small part of the soldiers could be integrated into the standing army, the returnees expected an uncertain future. Due to the economic and military demobilisation, there were few jobs available. In March and April 1919, many former soldiers were finally admitted to the Freikorps associations (irregular militia). Initially, however, in Bavaria's larger garrison towns there were large numbers of unemployed, some of whom were susceptible to the slogans of left- and right-wing extremists.