Rheinische Volkspflege

The Rheinische Volkspflege (RVP) was a propaganda organisation founded on 1 August 1919 as part of the Reichszentrale für Heimatsdienst (Reich Central Office for Home Service), the official press department of the Weimar Republic. It provided an umbrella organisation for a variety of educational and nationalistic movements during the occupation of the Rhineland by allied forces as accepted by the Treaty of Versailles.[1] The name can be translated as "Protectors of the Rhenish people".[2]

The organisation was first established under the leadership of Alfred von Wrochem, until differences of opinion between him and his superiors led to his replacement in June 1921. Von Wrochem subsequently published Die Kolonisation der Rheinlande durch Frankreich to present his views in 1922. However his use of official documents led to further disapproval from the Heimatsdienst.[3]

The RVP had a political department which was co-ordinated the production of anti-French propaganda including material about the so-called Black Shame – the use of African troops by the French Army during the occupation of the Rhineland.[1] There was also a press department, the Pressestelle and the Rheinische Frauenliga (Rhenish Women's league) which was headed by Margarete Gärtner from offices in Berlin.[1]

References
  1. Last, Dick (2015). Black Shame: African Soldiers in Europe, 1914-1922. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 9781472525918. Retrieved 9 July 2018.
  2. Poley, Jared (2007). Decolonization in Germany: Weimar Narratives of Colonial Loss and Foreign Occupation. Peter Lang. ISBN 9783039113309. Retrieved 9 July 2018.
  3. Collar, Peter (2013). The Propaganda War in the Rhineland: Weimar Germany, Race and Occupation After World War I. I.B.Tauris. ISBN 9781780763460. Retrieved 9 July 2018.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.