Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Hundred Years War

(Encyclopedia)Hundred Years War, 1337–1453, conflict between England and France. The Hundred Years War inflicted untold misery on France. Farmlands were laid waste, the population was decimated by war, famine, ...

Finnish-Russian War

(Encyclopedia)Finnish-Russian War, 1939–40, war between Finland and the Soviet Union. After World War II broke out in Sept., 1939, the USSR, never on cordial terms with Finland, took advantage of its nonaggressio...

Franco-Prussian War

(Encyclopedia)Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, 1870–71, conflict between France and Prussia that signaled the rise of German military power and imperialism. It was provoked by Otto von Bismarck (the Prus...

Spanish-American War

(Encyclopedia)Spanish-American War, 1898, brief conflict between Spain and the United States arising out of Spanish policies in Cuba. It was, to a large degree, brought about by the efforts of U.S. expansionists. ...

Seven Years War

(Encyclopedia)Seven Years War, 1756–63, worldwide war fought in Europe, North America, and India between France, Austria, Russia, Saxony, Sweden, and (after 1762) Spain on the one side and Prussia, Great Britain,...

Spanish civil war

(Encyclopedia)Spanish civil war, 1936–39, conflict in which the conservative and traditionalist forces in Spain rose against and finally overthrew the second Spanish republic. For Germany and Italy the Span...

Iran-Iraq War

(Encyclopedia)Iran-Iraq War, 1980–88, protracted military conflict between Iran and Iraq. It officially began on Sept. 22, 1980, with an Iraqi land and air invasion of western Iran, although Iraqi spokespersons m...

Thirty Years War

(Encyclopedia)Thirty Years War, 1618–48, general European war fought mainly in Germany. The general results of the war may be said to have been a tremendous decrease in German population; devastation of G...

Hector

(Encyclopedia)Hector, in Greek mythology, leader and greatest hero of the Trojan troops during the Trojan War. He was the eldest son of Priam and Hecuba, the husband of Andromache, and the father by her of Astyanax...

Russo-Japanese War

(Encyclopedia)Russo-Japanese War, 1904–5, imperialistic conflict that grew out of the rival designs of Russia and Japan on Manchuria and Korea. Russian failure to withdraw from Manchuria and Russian penetration i...