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Stahlhelm-Fraktion (German, 'Steel Helmet Faction') is the hard-line or right-wing faction of a political party in Germany, most notably the German CDU.[1][2][3][4] The term refers to the hawkish, i.e. pro-military positions often taken by such groups and comes from the Stahlhelm, the steel helmet historically used by German soldiers. It was originally used of pro-military politicians in the Weimar Republic who were members of the Der Stahlhelm, an ex-servicemen's organisation which acted as the paramilitary wing of the German National People's Party.[5] Some prominent members of this informal grouping (the name was coined by its opponents) such as Alfred Dregger had been members of the NSDAP during the war.[6][7][8] Members of the CSU – even those ideologically similar to the Stahlhelm Fraktion – were usually not considered part of the group.
- ^ Ted Galen Carpenter, NATO at 40: Confronting a Changing World, Washington, DC: Cato Institute, 1990, ISBN 0-669-21698-4, p. 259: "The CDU-CSU is badly split over SNFs. Its Gaullist wing (the so-called Stahlhelm Fraktion) has argued that with the INFs gone, West Germany is dangerously singularized by the presence of U.S. SNFs. . . . The Stahlhelm Fraktion favors removing the SNFs and moving toward a closer Franco-German military relationship."
- ^ Sebastian Fischer and Christine Xuân Müller, "Die Neo-Kons proben den Aufstand" (The Neo-Cons Test Resistance), Der Spiegel 2 February 2006 (in German): "Legendär die Aussprüche der sogenannten Stahlhelm-Fraktion in der CDU" (The statements of the so-called Stahlhelm-Fraktion in the CDU [are] legendary), introducing a series of quotations on immigration.
- ^ "Vier Abtrünnige stürzen Ypsilanti" (Four Defectors Dethrone Ypsilanti), Frankfurter Rundschau 3 November 2008 (in German): "Der rechte SPD-Parteiflügel ermögliche es, dass 'Vertreter der Stahlhelm-Fraktion der CDU weiter auf der Regierungsbank Platz nehmen dürfen'" (The right wing of the SPD is making it possible for "representatives of the Stahlhelm-Fraktion of the CDU to be able to take places in the government again").
- ^ "Kaputtes Heer: Ex-Minister zerlegen die Darabos-Politik" (Washed-Up Army: Ex-Ministers Dissect Darabos Policies), Die Presse 11 February 2010 (in German): "Der Vertreter der 'Stahlhelm-Fraktion' der ÖVP" (The representative of the "Stahlhelm-Fraktion" of the ÖVP).
- ^ James M. Diehl, Paramilitary Politics in Weimar Germany, Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1977, ISBN 0-253-34292-9, p. 264: "Stahlhelm leaders hoped to form a sort of Stahlhelm party within the [DNVP and DVP] parties, a bloc of Stahlhelm deputies who could force the two conservative parties to take more intransigent positions. The attempt to create a Stahlhelm Fraktion failed miserably."
- ^ https://www.fr.de/rhein-main/alfred-dregger-11387959.html
- ^ https://www.sueddeutsche.de/politik/alfred-dregger-cdu-biografie-wolfram-pyta-nils-havemann-1.5762879
- ^ https://www.kas.de/de/web/geschichte-der-cdu/personen/biogramm-detail/-/content/alfred-dregger