United Rhenish Movement

The United Rhenish Movement (German: Vereinigten Rheinischen Bewegung, VRB) is an alliance of three Rhenish nationalist political parties: the Rhenish People's Association, the Rhenish-Republican People's Party, and the Rhenish Independence League. Formed in 1924, it is the only Rhenish nationalist political force represented in the House of Representatives.
The alliance has achieved only minor success in Rhenish elections, winning 2.7% of the vote and 4 seats in the 1924 election, coming in last. The 1929 election saw minor gains, with the alliance gaining 2 seats and advancing to fifth place. Despite these results the alliance has been a coalition partner in every ruling government.
== Parties ==
Party	Party 	Ideology 	Leader
 	Rhenish People's Association 	Social conservatism, Political Catholicism	Hans Adam Dorten
 	Rhenish-Republican People's Party	Social democracy, left-wing populism 	Franz Josef Smeets
 	Rhenish Independence League 	Social democracy, social liberalism 	Joseph Friedrich Matthes
==Background==
The Rhenish People's Association (German: Rheinische Volksvereinigung, RVV) was founded on 22 January 1920 by Rhenish separatist leader Hans Adam Dorten. Although Dorten initially advocated for autonomy within a federal Germany, a position shared with many other regional Catholic politicians, he and his supporters moved towards separatism with the support of the French occupation authorities amidst the German Civil War. Dorten was initially proclaimed "president", but was outmaneuvered by Konrad Adenauer, the Mayor of Cologne, who gained the favor of the French authorities. Adenauer was installed as the provisional head of government under strong influence from the French-led High Commission.
The Rhenish-Republican People's Party (German: Rheinisch-republikanische Volkspartei, RRVP) was formed in August 1919 as the Rheinlandbund before renaming and reorganizing itself in early 1920. Led by Franz Josef Smeets, it acted as a left-wing counterpart to the RVV, having been formed through a split in the Cologne USPD. Although chiefly organized by Smeets, a large faction of the party is led by the Aachen industrialist Leo Deckers.
The Rhenish Independence League (German: Rheinischen Unabhängigkeitsbund) was formed in 1921 by Josef Friedrich Matthes, a political writer from Bavaria formerly affiliated with the liberal Passauer Zeitung and Social Democratic Volkszeitung.
Category:Rhenish political parties