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Breton Succession, War of the

(Encyclopedia)Breton Succession, War of the, 1341–65, an important episode of the Hundred Years War. Duke John III of Brittany died in 1341 without heirs. The succession was contested by his half-brother, John de...

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 ...

Polish Succession, War of the

(Encyclopedia)Polish Succession, War of the, 1733–35. On the death (1733) of Augustus II of Poland, Stanislaus I sought to reascend the Polish throne. He was supported by his son-in-law, Louis XV of France. The r...

Cortina, Juan Nepomuceno

(Encyclopedia)Cortina, Juan Nepomuceno, 1824–94, Mexican military leader and politician. Born into a wealthy cattle-ranching family that moved to the Rio Grande Valley, Cortina joined the Mexican army in 1846 and...

Hoover Institution on War, Revolution, and Peace

(Encyclopedia)Hoover Institution on War, Revolution, and Peace, at Stanford, Calif. It was established in 1919 as the Hoover War Library by Herbert Hoover to extend his collection of documents of World War I, but i...

Buena Vista, battle of

(Encyclopedia)Buena Vista, battle of, military engagement in the Mexican War, fought Feb. 22–23, 1847. The battle site was just S of Saltillo, Coahuila, in Mexico. Gen. Zachary Taylor, disobeying orders from the ...

Arista, Mariano

(Encyclopedia)Arista, Mariano märyäˈnō ärēˈstä [key], 1802–55, Mexican general and president (1851–53). A royalist in the revolt against Spain, he later joined Agustín de Iturbide. He fought in the Mex...

Resaca de la Palma

(Encyclopedia)Resaca de la Palma rāsäˈkä ᵺā lä pälˈmä [key], valley, an abandoned bed of the Rio Grande, N of Brownsville, Tex., where the second battle of the Mexican War was fought, May 9, 1846. Mexica...

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