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Berlin, Conference of

(Encyclopedia)Berlin, Conference of, 1884–85, international meeting aimed at settling the problems connected with European colonies in Africa. At the invitation of the German chancellor Otto von Bismarck, represe...

Ferry, Jules

(Encyclopedia)Ferry, Jules zhül fĕrēˈ [key], 1832–93, French statesman. A member of the government of national defense established after the defeat of Emperor Napoleon III in the Franco-Prussian War (1870–7...

Mommsen, Theodor

(Encyclopedia)Mommsen, Theodor tāˈōdōr mômˈsən [key], 1817–1903, German historian. Appointed (1848) professor of civil law at the Univ. of Leipzig, he supported the Revolution of 1848 and lost his chair be...

Canossa

(Encyclopedia)Canossa känôsˈsä [key], village, in Emilia-Romagna, N central Italy, in the Apennines. There are ruins of the 10th-century castle of the powerful feudal family that took its name from the place. I...

Beiderbecke, Bix

(Encyclopedia)Beiderbecke, Bix (Leon Bismarck Beiderbecke) bīˈdərbĕk [key], 1903–31, American jazz cornetist, pianist, and composer, b. Davenport, Iowa. Mainly self-taught, he was influenced by recordings of ...

Roon, Albrecht Theodor Emil, Graf von

(Encyclopedia)Roon, Albrecht Theodor Emil, Graf von älˈbrĕkht tāˈōdôr āˈmēl gräf fən rōn [key], 1803–79, Prussian field marshal. A military reformer, he insistently pleaded for the reorganization of ...

Treitschke, Heinrich von

(Encyclopedia)Treitschke, Heinrich von hīnˈrĭkh fən trīchˈkə [key], 1834–96, German historian. A fervid partisan of Prussia, he left Baden at the outbreak of the Austro-Prussian War (1866) and became profe...

Three Emperors' League

(Encyclopedia)Three Emperors' League, informal alliance among Austria-Hungary, Germany, and Russia, announced officially in 1872 on the occasion of the meeting of emperors Francis Joseph, William I, and Alexander I...

Rabaul

(Encyclopedia)Rabaul räˈboul [key], town (1990 pop. 17,044), on New Britain island, Bismarck Archipelago, a part of Papua New Guinea. Situated within an active caldera surrounded by volcanoes, the city has long b...

Gorchakov, Aleksandr Mikhailovich, Prince

(Encyclopedia)Gorchakov, Aleksandr Mikhailovich, Prince əlyĭksänˈdər mēkhīˈləvĭch, gərchəkôfˈ [key], 1798–1883, Russian diplomat. After serving (1854–56) as ambassador at Vienna, he became Alexand...

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