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Major, John, 1943–, British politician

(Encyclopedia)Major, John, 1943–, British statesman, b. John Major Ball. Raised in a working-class area of London, he was elected to Lambeth borough council (1968–71) and entered Parliament as a Conservative in...

Disarmament Conference

(Encyclopedia)Disarmament Conference, 1932–37, meeting for the discussion of general disarmament. The first systematic efforts to limit armaments on an international scale, in either a quantitative or a qualitati...

protocol

(Encyclopedia)protocol prōˈtəkŏl [key], term referring to rules governing diplomatic conduct or to a variety of written instruments. Examples of the latter are authenticated minutes of international conferences...

Vojvodina

(Encyclopedia)Vojvodina or Voivodina both: voiˌvōdēˈnä [key], autonomous province (1991 pop. 2,013,889), 8,301 sq mi (21,500 sq km), N Serbia. Novi Sad is the chief city and administrative center. A part of th...

Sovetsk

(Encyclopedia)Sovetsk tĭlˈzĭt [key], town (1989 pop. 41,900), NW European Russia, on the Neman River at the mouth of the Tilse. It is a rail junction, a river port, and an industrial and commercial center in an ...

Bratianu

(Encyclopedia)Bratianu –nô [key], Romanian family. Ion Bratianu, 1821–91, was prominent in the Revolution of 1848 and helped to secure (1866) the election of Prince Carol of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen (Carol I o...

Austrian Succession, War of the

(Encyclopedia)Austrian Succession, War of the, 1740–48, general European war. In 1744 Frederick II, fearing the rising power of Austria, started the Second Silesian War by invading Bohemia; he was soon expell...

Thrace

(Encyclopedia)Thrace thrās [key], region, 3,310 sq mi (8,575 sq km), SE Europe, occupying the southeastern tip of the Balkan Peninsula and comprising NE Greece, S Bulgaria, and European Turkey. Its boundaries have...

Latin American Integration Association

(Encyclopedia)Latin American Integration Association (LAIA), organization formed in 1980 by Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela, taking over the duti...

Lubbers, Ruud

(Encyclopedia)Lubbers, Ruud (Rudolphus Franciscus Marie Lubbers), 1939–2018, Dutch political leader. After the death of his father (1965), he became codirector of the family's engineering firm. A member (from 196...