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Confederation of the Rhine

(Encyclopedia)Confederation of the Rhine, league of German states formed by Emperor Napoleon I in 1806 after his defeat of the Austrians at Austerlitz. Among its members were the newly created kingdoms of Bavaria a...

Ireland, Republic of

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Ireland, Republic of, Gaelic, Eire, republic (2015 est. pop. 4,700,000), 27,136 sq mi (70,282 sq km). It occupies all but the northeastern corner of the island of Ireland in the British Isles. ...

Court of Justice of the European Union

(Encyclopedia)Court of Justice of the European Union, judicial institution of the European Union (EU). Located in Luxembourg, it was founded in 1958 as the joint court for the three treaty organizations that were c...

Philip II, king of France

(Encyclopedia)Philip II or Philip Augustus, 1165–1223, king of France (1180–1223), son of Louis VII. During his reign the royal domains were more than doubled, and the royal power was consolidated at the expens...

Aqaba, Gulf of

(Encyclopedia)Aqaba, Gulf of, northeastern arm of the Red Sea, 118 mi (190 km) long and 10 to 15 mi (16.1 to 24.1 km) wide, between the Sinai and Arabian peninsulas; a part of the Great Rift Valley. The gulf, which...

Youth, Isle of

(Encyclopedia)Youth, Isle of, Span. Isla de la Juventud, island and special municipality (1989 est. pop. 71,500), 1,180 sq mi (3,056 sq km), off SW Cuba, from which it is separated by the Batabanó Gulf. Until 1978...

Penobscot, indigenous people of North America

(Encyclopedia)Penobscot pənŏbˈskŏt [key], indigenous people of North America whose language belongs to the Algonquian branch of the Algonquian-Wakashan linguistic stock (see Native American languages). They wer...

Sarsfield, Patrick, earl of Lucan

(Encyclopedia)Sarsfield, Patrick, earl of Lucan särsˈfēld, lo͞oˈkən [key], d. 1693, Irish Jacobite general. A firm supporter of James II, he went with him into exile. He commanded James's forces in Ireland an...

League of Nations

(Encyclopedia)League of Nations, former international organization, established by the peace treaties that ended World War I. Like its successor, the United Nations, its purpose was the promotion of international p...

Vienna, Congress of

(Encyclopedia)Vienna, Congress of, Sept., 1814–June, 1815, one of the most important international conferences in European history, called to remake Europe after the downfall of Napoleon I. Although the territo...