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Briand, Aristide

(Encyclopedia)Briand, Aristide ärēstēdˈ brēäNˈ [key], 1862–1932, French statesman. A lawyer and a Socialist, he entered (1902) the chamber of deputies and helped to draft and pass the law (1905) for separa...

balloon

(Encyclopedia)balloon, lighter-than-air craft without a propulsion system, lifted by inflation of one or more containers with a gas lighter than air or with heated air. During flight, altitude may be gained by disc...

Saint-Simon, Claude Henri de Rouvroy, comte de

(Encyclopedia)Saint-Simon, Claude Henri de Rouvroy, comte de klōd äNrē də ro͞ovrwäˈ kôNt də săN-sēmôNˈ [key], 1760–1825, French social philosopher; grand nephew of Louis de Rouvroy, duc de Saint-Simo...

Macdonald, Sir John Alexander

(Encyclopedia)Macdonald, Sir John Alexander, 1815–91, Canadian statesman, first prime minister of the Dominion of Canada, b. Glasgow. His parents settled in 1820 in Kingston, Ont. Macdonald first practiced law. W...

syndicalism

(Encyclopedia)syndicalism sĭnˈdĭkəlĭzəm [key], political and economic doctrine that advocates control of the means and processes of production by organized bodies of workers. Like anarchists, syndicalists bel...

Villon, François

(Encyclopedia)Villon, François fräNswäˈ vēyôNˈ [key], 1431–1463?, French poet, b. Paris, whose original name was François de Montcorbier or François Des Loges. One of the earliest great poets of France, ...

Mountain, the

(Encyclopedia)Mountain, the, in French history, the label applied to deputies sitting on the raised left benches in the National Convention during the French Revolution. Members of the faction, known as Montagnards...

Munich Pact

(Encyclopedia)Munich Pact, 1938. In the summer of 1938, Chancellor Hitler of Germany began openly to support the demands of Germans living in the Sudetenland (see Sudetes) of Czechoslovakia for an improved status. ...

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