Page:Karl Liebknecht - Militarism (1917).djvu/26

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xvi
INTRODUCTION

at the Reichstag, the Landtag or the Common Council, one would find audiences of many kinds. Some would be there to consult him on legal matters; some were students from home and abroad desiring personal advice and material help. Here was one looking for a position; another, desiring Liebknecht's help in getting articles published in the Socialist press; a third seeking information about entrance conditions at the university; still another anxious to be spared from police persecution. All were received with the utmost courtesy. All obtained a word of advice and help from "our Karl," as his friends call him.

In private life, Liebknecht has proved a fond husband and a loving father. His present wife—his first is deceased—is a Russian by birth, a graduate of the University of Heidelberg, and is an ideal life companion.

Liebknecht's vison has often proved prophetic. I remember well the conversation I had with him in 1912, just after the outbreak of the first Balkan war when all Europe was on the qui vive, expecting momentarily that the Balkan war would