Editing Karl Korsch (section)

==First World War==
[[File:Karl korsch.jpg|thumb|left|Korsch {{circa}} 1914]]
{{Marxism}}
Korsch received a grant in 1912 to travel to England and work on translating and writing a commentary to a legal text by Sir Ernest Schuster.{{sfnp|Kellner|1977|pp=6–7}} During this time, Korsch became a member of the [[Fabian Society]], a reformist socialist organization. In 1913 he married [[Hedda Korsch|Hedda Gagliardi]], who came from a [[bourgeois]] family.{{sfnp|Mulhern|2011|pp=14}} She was a grandchild of feminist [[Hedwig Dohm]], who would be closely involved in his theoretical work. Hedda Korsch from 1916 was a teacher at the [[Wickersdorf Free School Community]]. Korsch's stay in England came to an end in the summer of 1914 when he received orders to report to his military regiment at [[Meiningen]] for maneuvers. Despite being opposed to a war that he knew was on the horizon, Korsch nevertheless made the decision to return to his native country because in the words of his wife: “He wanted to be with the masses, and they would be in the army.” At the start of the war, Korsch initially held the rank of lieutenant but was quickly demoted to sergeant for daring to voice his objections to the [[German invasion of Belgium (1914)|German Army's invasion of neutral Belgium]]. However, these disciplinary measures did little to shake Korsch of his pacifist convictions; throughout the war, he refused to carry any sort of weapon into battle.{{sfnp|Renton|2004|p=64}} According to Hedda Korsch, Karl's rationale for going into combat unarmed was “that it made no difference, since you were just as safe with or without a weapon: the point was that you were safe neither way.” Instead of fighting, Korsch made it his personal mission to save as many lives as he could. As the conflict wore on, Korsch was decorated several times and was even re-promoted to the rank of captain. He was awarded the Iron Cross twice for his bravery under fire.{{sfnp|Renton|2004|p=64}} More important than these official accolades, Korsch's strong moral character and reputation for bravery under fire helped him garner the respect of many of the men in his company. An account cited that he had to change his North German accent to be understood by the soldiers and the common people.{{sfnp|Mulhern|2011|pp=15–16}}

In 1917, he joined the [[Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany]] (USPD), which had broken away from the [[Social Democratic Party of Germany]] over the later's support for the war. When [[German Revolution of 1918–19|widespread unrest began to sweep through the German military in 1917]], this company established a soldiers' soviet with Korsch being elected by his fellow soldiers to serve as one of this soviet's delegates. This "red company" was one of the last to be demobilized, a process which occurred in January 1919.