Halt - Freiwillige Vor [Halt - Volunteers Forward]

whole: the image occupies the upper three-quarters, set against a red and white background. The title is integrated and positioned lower centre, in red. The subtitle is separate and positioned in the lower quarter, in white gothic script. The text is separate and positioned in the lower quarter, in red gothic script. The subtitle and text are set against a black background. image: the head of a German 'Freikorps' soldier shouting, his eyes wide. Laurel wreaths are positioned either side of his head. text: Kunstanstalt CARL SABO Berlin S.W. 48 HALT Albert Birkle fec. Zurück wer deutsche Arbeit stören will Freiwillige vor Helft dem Landesschützenkorps Auch Ungediente werden angenommen. [Carl Sabo Art Office [address]. Halt. Albert Birkle fecit. Back with anyone wanting to disrupt German labour. Volunteers forward. Help the Regional Defence Corps. Men with no service record are also accepted.]

The 'Freikorps' were formed in Germany in late 1918 predominantly recruiting from unsettled, often disaffected, First World War army veterans. They were also joined by students and adventure-seekers with right-wing, nationalist tendencies. Acting as an auxiliary police force they were assigned to maintain order by the new post-war republican government in Germany. Yet, many units proved little more than violent private armies, answerable to none but their commanders as they sought to crush communist-inspired civil unrest. Nevertheless the ruling SDP viewed them as a necessary evil and ordered them to suppress left-wing insurrection in Berlin, the Ruhr and Munich, as well as to fight in the disputed territory of Upper Silesia. The more moderate units were eventually merged into the newly formed 'Reichswehr' in 1920. Whereas radical elements went underground, with some taking part in the Nazi party’s ‘Munich Putsch’ of 1923. Although the failure of the coup brought an end to the 'Freikorps' units, many of its members formed 'Sturm Abteilung' (SA) to serve under the Nazi’s. Others joined veteran’s organisations, such as 'Stahlhelm'.

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