In the late days of the Weimar Republic , it was closely affiliated to the monarchist German National People's Party DNVP , placed at party gatherings in the position of armed security guards Saalschutz. After the 11 November armistice , the Army had been split up and the newly established German Reichswehr , according to the Treaty of Versailles , was to be restricted to no more than , men.
Similar to the numerous Freikorps , which upon the Revolution of — were temporarily backed by the Council of the People's Deputies under Chancellor Friedrich Ebert , Der Stahlhelm ex-servicemen's organization was meant to form a paramilitary organization. The league was a rallying point for revanchist and nationalistic forces from the beginning.
Within the organization a worldview oriented toward the prior imperial regime and the Hohenzollern monarchy predominated, many of its members promoting the Dolchstosslegende " stab-in-the-back legend " and the "November Criminals" bias against the Weimar Coalition government.
Financing was provided by the Deutscher Herrenklub , an association of German industrialists and business magnates with elements of the East Elbian landed gentry Junker. After the failed Kapp Putsch of , the organization gained further support from dissolved Freikorps units. In , Stahlhelm units were actively involved in the formally passive resistance struggle of paramilitary formations against the French occupation of the Ruhr area.
These units were responsible for numerous acts of sabotage on French trains and military posts. With , members in , the league was the largest paramilitary organization of Weimar Republic.
