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Lin Biao

(Encyclopedia)Lin Biao or Lin Piao both: lĭn byou [key], 1908–71, Chinese Communist general and political leader. Lin was trained at Whampoa Academy, and during the Northern Expedition he rose to company command...

August Coup

(Encyclopedia)August Coup, attempted coup (Aug. 18–22, 1991) against Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev. On the eve of the signing ceremony for a new union treaty for the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, memb...

hostage

(Encyclopedia)hostage, person held by another as a guarantee that certain actions or promises will or will not be carried out. During periods of internal turmoil, insurgents often seize hostages; recent examples in...

Juan Carlos I

(Encyclopedia)Juan Carlos I hwän kärˈlōs [key], 1938–, king of Spain (1975–2014), b. Rome. The grandson of Alfonso XIII, he was educated in Switzerland and in Spain. Placed by his father, Don Juan de Borbó...

Dienbienphu

(Encyclopedia)Dienbienphu or Dien Bien Phu dyĕnˈbyĕnˈfo͞oˈ [key], former French military base, N Vietnam, near the Laos border. It was the scene in 1954 of the last great battle between the French and the Vie...

Cox, Jacob Dolson

(Encyclopedia)Cox, Jacob Dolson, 1828–1900, Union general in the Civil War and American statesman, b. Montreal, of a New York City family. Admitted to the Ohio bar in 1853, he was active in organizing the new Rep...

Déby, Idriss

(Encyclopedia)Déby, Idriss ĭdrĭsˈ dĕbēˈ [key], 1952–2021, Chadian military and political leader, president ...

Pappenheim, Gottfried Heinrich, Graf zu

(Encyclopedia)Pappenheim, Gottfried Heinrich, Graf zu gôtˈfrēt hīnˈrĭkh gräf tso͞o päˈpənhīm [key], 1594–1632, German military leader, imperial field marshal in the Thirty Years War. A convert to Roma...

Yoshida, Shigeru

(Encyclopedia)Yoshida, Shigeru shēgāˈro͞o yōˈshēdä [key], 1878–1967, Japanese statesman. He was until 1954 the most powerful political figure in postwar Japan. He was ambassador to Italy (1930–32) and t...

militia

(Encyclopedia)militia məlĭshˈə [key], military organization composed of citizens enrolled and trained for service in times of national emergency. Its ranks may be filled either by enlistment or conscription. An...