Reichsbanner

a militarized organization that existed in Germany from 1924 to 1933 and was founded to defend the Weimar Republic from monarchical reaction and fascist terror.

While the Social Democratic Party was its guiding force, the Reichsbanner also had among its members adherents of the left bourgeois parties. The right-wing Social Democrats who directed the Reichsbanner were opposed to forming a united front with the Communist Party and with the workers’ self-defense detachments that the Communist Party had created. However, the members of the Reichsbanner (3.5 million in 1932) and the members of the detachments frequently joined forces to repulse fascist gangs. Soon after coming to power, the fascists disbanded the organization.