Columbia Encyclopedia

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Savoy

(Encyclopedia)Savoy səvoiˈ [key], Fr. Savoie, Alpine region of E France. The boundaries of old Savoy have changed with time, but presently the region comprises the departments of Savoie and Haute-Savoie. It is bo...

Triple Alliance and Triple Entente

(Encyclopedia)Triple Alliance and Triple Entente äntäntˈ [key], two international combinations of states that dominated the diplomatic history of Western Europe from 1882 until they came into armed conflict in W...

Spanish Succession, War of the

(Encyclopedia)Spanish Succession, War of the, 1701–14, last of the general European wars caused by the efforts of King Louis XIV to extend French power. The conflict in America corresponding to the period of the ...

Pourri, Mont

(Encyclopedia)Pourri, Mont môN po͞orēˈ [key], Alpine peak, 12,428 ft (3,788 m) high, Savoie dept., SE France, near the Italian border. ...

Vignemale

(Encyclopedia)Vignemale vēnyəmälˈ [key], mountain, 10,820 ft (3,298 m) high, S France, on the Franco-Spanish border. It is the highest peak in the French Pyrenees. ...

Nantes, Edict of

(Encyclopedia)Nantes, Edict of, 1598, decree promulgated at Nantes by King Henry IV to restore internal peace in France, which had been torn by the Wars of Religion; the edict defined the rights of the French Prote...

Directory

(Encyclopedia)Directory, group of five men who held the executive power in France according to the constitution of the year III (1795) of the French Revolution. They were chosen by the new legislature, by the Counc...

Gers

(Encyclopedia)Gers zhĕr [key], department, SW France. Auch is the capital. ...

Drôme

(Encyclopedia)Drôme drōm [key], department, SE France. Valence is the capital. ...

Cinto, Monte

(Encyclopedia)Cinto, Monte mônˈtā chēnˈtō [key], peak, 8,891 ft (2,710 m) high, NW Corsica, France, NW of Corte. It is the highest point on Corsica. ...