Founded on 19 May 1993 as an organisation to unite white Afrikaans speakers, it included organisations such as the extreme right Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging (AWB) and former generals of the apartheid-era army and police. It demanded independence for Afrikaans-speaking white South Africans and campaigned for an Afrikaner volkstaat or homeland. Shortly before the 1994 elections General Constand Viljoen broke from the AVF and registered the Freedom Front for participation in the election.