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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...

Marne, battle of the

(Encyclopedia)Marne, battle of the, two important battles of World War I that are named for the Marne River. In the first battle (Sept. 6–9, 1914) the German advance on Paris was halted at the Marne by the Allies...

War Department, United States

(Encyclopedia)War Department, United States, federal executive department organized (1789) to administer the military establishment. It was reconstituted (1947) as the Dept. of the Army when the military administra...

Argyll, John Campbell, 2d duke of

(Encyclopedia)Argyll, John Campbell, 2d duke of, 1678–1743, Scottish general; son of the 1st duke, whom he succeeded in 1703. For his ardent support of the union of England and Scotland he was created (1705) earl...

Two Sicilies, kingdom of the

(Encyclopedia)Two Sicilies, kingdom of the. The name Two Sicilies was used in the Middle Ages to mean the kingdoms of Sicily and of Naples (see Sicily and Naples, kingdom of). Alfonso V of Aragón, who in 1442 reun...

English civil war

(Encyclopedia)English civil war, 1642–48, the conflict between King Charles I of England and a large body of his subjects, generally called the “parliamentarians,” that culminated in the defeat and execution ...

Legnica

(Encyclopedia)Legnica lĕgnēˈtsä [key], Ger. Liegnitz, city (1992 est. pop. 106,300), Dolnośląskie prov., SW Poland, on the Kaczawa River. A center of a vegetable-growing region, it also has manufactures of me...

Villeroi, François de Neufville, duc de

(Encyclopedia)Villeroi, François de Neufville, duc de fräNswäˈ də növēlˈ dük də vēlrwäˈ [key], 1644–1730, marshal of France and favorite of King Louis XIV. In the War of the Grand Alliance, he succee...

Golden Horde, Empire of the

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Khanate of the Golden Horde (c.1300) Golden Horde, Empire of the, Mongol state comprising most of Russia, given as an appanage to Jenghiz Khan's oldest son, Juchi, and actually conquered and f...

Battle of the Bulge

(Encyclopedia)Battle of the Bulge, popular name in World War II for the German counterattack in the Ardennes, Dec., 1944–Jan., 1945. More than a million men fought in what is also known as the Battle of the Ard...