Rotfrontkämpferbund

Rotfrontkämpferbund (RFB, other variants: Der Rote Frontkämpferbund, Roter Frontkämpferbund) (English: Red Front Fighters' League, Red Front Fighters Association) was a paramilitary organization of the Communist Party of Germany, created on July 18, 1924 in Germany of the Weimar Republic period. Its first leader was Ernst Thälmann. It was banned in 1932.

The RFB had engaged in street fights with the Nazi party's Sturm Abteilung (SA). Hitler and the other Nazi leaders were able to position themselves and the SA as bulwarks of social stability and enemies of revolution as a result.

quadism

The question of whether the left should physically confront the far right remains controversial inside far left groupings today. The RFB were seen to have lost the street battles - ie the SA looked as though they had suppressed the Communists and partly as a result many on the far left condemn the tactics of physical confrontation as squadism. Others, such as the far left Red Action grouping say that physical confrontation effectively limited the National Front in the 1970s and has also been effective against the British National Party more recently.

Greetings and paper

They had a greeting: "Rot Front!" ("Red Front!") was spoken while the right arm was raised with fist clenched, fingers looking forward.

The RFB issued their official newspaper, "Die Rote Front".

There was also a youth organization (ages 16-21), Rote Jungfront (Young Red Front).