Sicherheitspolizei (Weimar Republic)

rdf:langString Sicherheitspolizei (Weimar Republic)

rdf:langString The Sicherheitspolizei, or security police, was a militarized German police group set up in most states of the Weimar Republic at the end of 1919 and largely financed by the central government. In its anti-riot role it can be seen as roughly analogous to the Bereitschaftspolizei in today's Federal Republic. In view of the unstable internal political situation in the Weimar Republic, especially in the imperial capital of Berlin, Hauptmann Waldemar Pabst of the Imperial Cavalry Guards Corps considered a barracked and militarily armed and trained police group necessary to control political violence. It was intended to be a more useful tool in the fight against insurrection than the existing police forces taken from the monarchy. After street extensive general strikes and street violence in March 1919, Pabst sent a corresponding concept to the Reichswehr Minister Gustav Noske during the German Revolution of 1918–19. Noske approved the plan and promoted its formation together with Wolfgang Heine. According to Noske's wishes, the police group thus constituted the nucleus of the new Reichswehr. In September 1919, 2,500 local and municipal police officers protested against the construction of the new national police service. In contrast to local police, who usually wore blue uniforms, the Sipo were called the "green police" after their uniform color.