Und Du?
A recruitment poster c. 1929 for the paramilitary veteran’s organization Der Stahlehm, Bund der Frontsoldaten (The Steel Helmet, League of Frontline Soldiers). Eyes obscured by the shadow cast by his M16 stahlhelm, the soldier’s austere gaze is set upon the reader to the backdrop of the Imperial German tricolor. By posing the simple question “And you?” the poster urges Germany’s citizens to do their part in restoring order to the Fatherland amidst the turbulent chaos that plagued the Weimar Republic. From liberal decadence, communist insurrection and scheming politicians, German nationalists were faced by adversaries on all fronts, just as the right-wing are today in the West.
The Stahlhelm was a monarchist, extra-legal paramilitary formation formed by veterans of the First World War. The league was a rallying point for revanchist and nationalistic elements within society, its members oriented towards the prior Imperial regime and being both anti-liberal and anti-democratic in character. They promoted the Dolchstosslegende (Stab-in-the-back legend), believing the politicians of the Weimar Republic to have sold their country out to the Allies.
Financing was provided by the Deutscher Herrenklub (German Gentlemen’s Club), an association of German industrialists, business magnates and Junker aristocrats. By 1930, the Stahlhelm had grown to around 500,000 standing members, making it the largest paramilitary organization in the Weimar Republic. After the National Socialist ascension to power, the Stahlhelm was subject to the process of national coordination (Gleichschaltung) instituted by the party, renamed Nationalsozialistischer Deutscher frontkämpfer-Bund (Stahlhelm) before being dissolved by decree on the 7th of December, 1935. Most of its members would go on to join the armed forces or other state-sanctioned paramilitaries such as the Schutzstaffel or Sturmabteilung.
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A recruitment poster c. 1929 for the paramilitary veteran’s organization Der Stahlehm, Bund der Frontsoldaten (The Steel Helmet, League of Frontline Soldiers). Eyes obscured by the shadow cast by his M16 stahlhelm, the soldier’s austere gaze is set upon the reader to the backdrop of the Imperial German tricolor. By posing the simple question “And you?” the poster urges Germany’s citizens to do their part in restoring order to the Fatherland amidst the turbulent chaos that plagued the Weimar Republic. From liberal decadence, communist insurrection and scheming politicians, German nationalists were faced by adversaries on all fronts, just as the right-wing are today in the West.
The Stahlhelm was a monarchist, extra-legal paramilitary formation formed by veterans of the First World War. The league was a rallying point for revanchist and nationalistic elements within society, its members oriented towards the prior Imperial regime and being both anti-liberal and anti-democratic in character. They promoted the Dolchstosslegende (Stab-in-the-back legend), believing the politicians of the Weimar Republic to have sold their country out to the Allies.
Financing was provided by the Deutscher Herrenklub (German Gentlemen’s Club), an association of German industrialists, business magnates and Junker aristocrats. By 1930, the Stahlhelm had grown to around 500,000 standing members, making it the largest paramilitary organization in the Weimar Republic. After the National Socialist ascension to power, the Stahlhelm was subject to the process of national coordination (Gleichschaltung) instituted by the party, renamed Nationalsozialistischer Deutscher frontkämpfer-Bund (Stahlhelm) before being dissolved by decree on the 7th of December, 1935. Most of its members would go on to join the armed forces or other state-sanctioned paramilitaries such as the Schutzstaffel or Sturmabteilung.
