Stahlhelm

The Stahlhelm Bund der Frontsoldaten (Steel Helmet League of Front-line Soldiers) was a German paramilitary group founded in November 1918 after the Armistice that ended World War I. Its initial purpose was to resist the spread of communism in Germany but it quickly became a focus for nationalism in the Weimar Republic. With its extreme right-wing views, particularly racism, it undermined democracy and forged a link with the DNVP. That party coalesced with the Nazis in January 1933, helping to smooth Hitler's path to power. The Stahlhelm members were absorbed into the SA in 1933, but their units were disbanded in 1935.