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Weygand, Maxime

(Encyclopedia)Weygand, Maxime mäksēmˈ vāgäNˈ [key], 1867–1965, French general, b. Belgium. A career army officer, he was (1914–23) chief of staff to Marshal Foch, and in 1920 he directed the defense of Wa...

Carlotta

(Encyclopedia)Carlotta, Span. Carlota kärlōˈtä [key], 1840–1927, empress of Mexico, daughter of Leopold I of Belgium, christened Marie Charlotte Amélie. She married (1857) Maximilian, archduke of Austria and...

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...

mustard gas

(Encyclopedia)mustard gas, chemical compound used as a poison gas in World War I. The burning sensation it causes on contact with the skin is similar to that caused by oil from black mustard seeds. The compound is ...

Ruysbroeck, John

(Encyclopedia)Ruysbroeck, John, Dutch Jan van Ruusbroec yän vän roisˈbro͞ok [key], 1293–1381, Roman Catholic mystic, b. Brabant (now in Belgium and the Netherlands). He was an Augustinian canon. In middle age...

Sarton, May

(Encyclopedia)Sarton, May, 1912–95, American poet and novelist, b. Wondelgem, Belgium. Her father was the science historian George Sarton; the family moved to the United States in 1916. Although cast in tradition...

Spaak, Paul Henri

(Encyclopedia)Spaak, Paul Henri pôl äNrēˈ späk [key], 1899–1972, Belgian statesman and Socialist leader. He held various cabinet posts after 1935 and served almost continually as foreign minister from 1938 t...

Zita

(Encyclopedia)Zita zēˈtə, Ger. tsēˈtä [key], 1892–1989, last empress of Austria and queen of Hungary. The daughter of Duke Robert of Parma, she was married (1911) to Archduke Charles Francis, who in 1916 be...

von der Leyen, Ursula

(Encyclopedia)von der Leyen, Ursula, 1958–, German politician, b. Brussels, Belgium, as Ursula Albrecht. She studied economics and medicine, worked (1988–92) at Hanover Medical School's (MHH) gynecological clin...

West Flanders

(Encyclopedia)West Flanders, Du. West-Vlaanderen, Fr. Flandre Occidentale, province (1991 pop. 1,106,829), W Belgium, bordering on the North Sea in the west, on the Netherlands in the northeast, and on France in th...