A founder of the German Communist Party, originally known as the Spartacus League 1918, he was one of the few socialists who refused to support World War I. He led an unsuccessful revolt with Rosa Luxemburg in Berlin in 1919 and both were murdered by army officers. Liebknecht practised as a barrister in Berlin and did his military service in the Prussian Guard, but turned to socialism while defending a group of agitators in Konigsberg 1904. Imprisoned for sedition 1907, he was eventually elected to the Reichstag 1912 but was expelled 1916 and again imprisoned.
