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Kaliningrad

(Encyclopedia)Kaliningrad kəlyēˌnyĭn-grätˈ [key], formerly Königsberg, city (1989 pop. 401,000), capital of Kaliningrad region, an exclave of W European Russia; on the Pregolya River near its mouth on the Vi...

Ansip, Andrus

(Encyclopedia)Ansip, Andrus, 1956–, Estonian political leader. Ansip was an engineer (1979–83) before becoming an official of the Tartu district committee of the Estonian Communist party (1986–88). Ansip was ...

Bel and the Dragon

(Encyclopedia)Bel and the Dragon, customary name for chapter 14 of the Book of Daniel, a passage included in the Septuagint and the Apocrypha. It was written possibly in the 1st cent. b.c. as a response to Gentile ...

Koestler, Arthur

(Encyclopedia)Koestler, Arthur kĕstˈlər [key], 1905–83, English writer, b. Budapest of Hungarian parents. Koestler spent his early years in Vienna and Palestine. He was an influential Communist journalist in B...

MacDonald, Ramsay

(Encyclopedia)MacDonald, Ramsay (James Ramsay McDonald), 1866–1937, British statesman, b. Scotland. The illegitimate son of a servant, he went as a young man to London, where he joined the Social Democratic Feder...

Geneva Conference

(Encyclopedia)Geneva Conference, any of various international meetings held at Geneva, Switzerland. Some of the more important ones are discussed here. 1 International conference held Apr.–July, 1954, to restore ...

long march

(Encyclopedia)long march, Chin., Changzheng, the journey of c.6,000 mi (9,660 km) undertaken by the Red Army of China in 1934–35. When their Jiangxi prov. Soviet base was encircled by the Nationalist army of Chia...

Black Shirts

(Encyclopedia)Black Shirts, colloquial term originally used to refer to the members of the Fasci di combattimento, units of the Fascist organization founded in Italy in Mar., 1919, by Benito Mussolini. A black shir...

Gorky, suburb of Moscow, Russia

(Encyclopedia)Gorky lyĕˈnyĭnskəyə [key], suburb of Moscow, central European Russia. The country home of Lenin, who died there, is now a memorial museum. ...

Bessarabia

(Encyclopedia)Bessarabia bĕsərāˈbēə [key], historic region, c.17,600 sq mi (45,600 sq km), largely in Moldova and Ukraine. It is bounded by the Dniester River on the north and east, the Prut on the west, and ...