German Republican Confederation

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The Republican Reichsbund (RRB, from 1922 German Republikanischer Reichsbund) was a non-partisan association of politicians from the parties of the so-called Weimar coalition ( SPD , DDP and Zentrum ), who supported the democratic and republican constitution of the Weimar Republic and the influence of anti-democratic forces wanted to fight in the state apparatus. It existed from 1921 to 1933.

history

The founding of the Republican Reich Association goes back to the Republican Leader Association , a group of officers and NCOs close to the SPD who were under strong pressure from right-wing circles in the Reichswehr , particularly in Bavaria.

The RRB was created in March 1921 after a preparatory committee had been set up in December 1920. The founding call signed u. a. the SPD politicians Gustav Bauer , Konrad Haenisch , Paul Löbe , Carl Severing , Friedrich Stampfer , the DDP politicians Theodor Heuss , Ernst Lemmer , Hermann Luppe , Otto Nuschke and the center politician Friedrich Dessauer as well as other personalities such as Minna Cauer , Carl von Ossietzky , Ludwig Quidde , Walther Schücking and Kurt Tucholsky .

The Reichsbund saw itself as a countermeasure to the resurgence of anti-republican and reactionary groups at the beginning of the 1920s. According to the founding appeal, they wanted to do “complementary work for all republican parties” and maintain the “ideal foundations and values ​​of the republican state ethos”.

Because of the fact that the Weimar Republic had a relatively small number of active democrats in state and society, the RRB developed only slowly. Its influence on political development therefore remained relatively small during its entire existence. In addition, a certain competitive situation arose from 1924 with the Reichsbanner black-red-gold . There were numerous personal overlaps in the management bodies of both organizations, with the Reichsbanner soon being clearly superior to the RRB in terms of membership and political influence. The weakening caused by the founding of the short-lived Republican Party of Germany (RPD), which was also brought into being by people from leadership bodies of the Reichsbund , remained of lesser importance . The desired “republican majority” in the Reichstag elections in 1924 failed, which led to a prolonged crisis in the Reichsbund.

It was only through the election of a new leadership and the redefinition of the tasks that the RRB was able to reappear in a wider public from September 1926. The main focus was now on propaganda against the strengthening of the right-wing forces, e. B. through the publication of brochures in higher editions, for example against the stab in the back legend or the dispute over the Young Plan .

After the formation of a new cabinet by Hermann Müller (SPD) in 1928, the focus was mainly on the propaganda support of the Reich government.

A characteristic of the RBB was the extensive use of state resources. In the beginning, the office of the organization was located in the Thuringian Ministry of the Interior, which was headed by the first chairman of the RBB, Carl Freiherr von Brandenstein . Later the Reichsbund also received funds from the Reich budget. At that time, co-chairman Carl Spiecker was the Reich Minister of the Interior's full-time special commissioner for combating National Socialism and therefore had the necessary financial resources, which were initially granted even after he left this position.

In March 1931, the Reichsbund played a key role in the establishment of the Cartel of Republican Associations of Germany (KRVD) and took over its organizational management. The managing director of the RRB Paul Heßlein took over the function of the managing chairman of the KRVD.

While the Reichsbund supported the government of Reich Chancellor Heinrich Brüning despite his increasingly distant stance towards the RRB, he fought his successor Franz von Papen and called for votes for parties loyal to the constitution in the 1932 Reichstag elections. In the meantime, the political influence of the Reichsbund dwindled more and more, which in November 1932 led to another crisis in the organization, which could no longer be overcome even by the election of a new leadership. After the seizure of power of the Nazi party, the Republican Reichsbund disbanded and many members went into exile.

Chairperson

Members

The membership consisted mainly of civil servants and intellectuals, which is why the Republican Reichsbund is also characterized as an "organization of the educated elite". It did not see itself (at least since the establishment of the Reich Banner in 1924) not as a mass organization, but as a platform for discussing and asserting common political interests.

Prominent members of the Reichsbund were in addition to the persons already listed above and a .: Eduard David , Joseph Joos , Heinrich Krone , Hugo Preuß , Karl Vetter , Bernhard Weiß , Joseph Wirth .

The number of members of the RRB is said to have been around 20,000 in 1923/24. In 1928 there were 60 local groups and so-called shop stewards in 200 localities.

See also

Category: RPD Member

literature

  • Werner Fritsch: Republican Reichsbund (RRB) 1921–1933 (from 1922 German Republican Reichsbund) . In: Dieter Fricke (Ed.) Ao: Lexicon on the history of parties, Volume 4 . Bibliographisches Institut, Leipzig 1986, pp. 97-101
  • Carsten Voigt: Combat leagues of the labor movement. The Reichsbanner Schwarz-Rot-Gold and the Rote Frontkampfbund in Sachsen 1924-1933 "(History and Politics in Saxony, Vol. 26) . Böhlau, Cologne - Weimar - Vienna 2009

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Werner Fritsch: Republikanischer Reichsbund (RRB) 1921–1933 (from 1922 German Republikanischer Reichsbund) . In: Dieter Fricke (Ed.) Ao: Lexicon on the history of parties, Volume 4 . Bibliographisches Institut, Leipzig 1986, p. 98.
  2. ^ Werner Fritsch: Republikanischer Reichsbund (RRB) 1921–1933 (from 1922 German Republikanischer Reichsbund) . In: Dieter Fricke (Ed.) Ao: Lexicon on the history of parties, Volume 4 . Bibliographisches Institut, Leipzig 1986, p. 98.
  3. ^ Werner Fritsch: Republikanischer Reichsbund (RRB) 1921–1933 (from 1922 German Republikanischer Reichsbund) . In: Dieter Fricke (Ed.) Ao: Lexicon on the history of parties, Volume 4 . Bibliographisches Institut, Leipzig 1986, p. 98.
  4. ↑ Ernst Feder: Today I spoke to ... diaries of a Berlin journalist 1926-1932. Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, Stuttgart 1971, p. 295 and Fritsch, p. 100.
  5. ↑ Werner Fritsch: Kartell Republican Associations of Germany (KRVD) , in: Dieter Fricke (Hrsg.) Ao: Lexicon for the history of parties, Volume 3 , Bibliographisches Institut, Leipzig 1985, p. 179
  6. ^ Carsten Voigt: Combat leagues of the labor movement. The Reichsbanner Schwarz-Rot-Gold and the Red Front Fighter League in Saxony 1924-1933 (History and Politics in Saxony, Vol. 26). Böhlau, Cologne - Weimar - Vienna 2009, p. 96.
  7. ^ Werner Fritsch: Republikanischer Reichsbund (RRB) 1921–1933 (from 1922 German Republikanischer Reichsbund) . In: Dieter Fricke (Ed.) Ao: Lexicon on the history of parties, Volume 4 . Bibliographisches Institut, Leipzig 1986, pp. 97, 100.