Editing Walter Ulbricht (section)

==First World War and the German Revolution==
Ulbricht served in the [[Imperial German Army]] during [[World War I]] from 1915 to 1917 in [[Galicia (Central Europe)|Galicia]], on the [[Eastern Front (World War I)|Eastern Front]], and in the [[Balkans Campaign (World War I)|Balkans]].<ref>[[Mario Frank|Frank, Mario]], ''Walter Ulbricht. Eine Deutsche Biographie'' (Berlin 2001) 52–53.</ref> He [[desertion|deserted]] the Army in 1918, as he had opposed the war from the beginning. For this, he was sentenced to two months in prison. Shortly after his release, while stationed in [[Brussels]], Ulbricht was arrested for having anti-war leaflets. He avoided further prosecution when the November Revolution broke due to [[German Revolution of 1918–19|collapse of Imperial Germany]].<ref>Applebaum, Anne, ''Iron Curtain: The Crushing of Eastern Europe 1944–56'' (USA 2012)</ref><ref>Mario Frank: ''Walter Ulbricht.'' Siedler, Berlin 2001, S. 52, 53.</ref>

In 1917 he became a member of the [[Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany|Independent Social Democratic Party]] (USPD) after it split off from the Social Democratic Party over support of Germany's participation in World War I.

During the [[German Revolution of 1918–1919|German Revolution of 1918]], Ulbricht became a member of the soldier's [[Soviet (council)|soviet]] of his army corps. In 1919, he joined the ''[[Spartacus League|Spartakusbund]]''.<ref name=":3">{{Cite book|title=Heads of States and Governments Since 1945|last=Lentz|first=Harris M.|date=2014|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1884964442|location=Oxon|pages=304}}</ref>