Columbia Encyclopedia

(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...

(Encyclopedia) Speranski, Mikhail Mikhailovich mēkhəyēlˈ mēkhīˈləvĭch spyĭränˈskē [key], 1772–1839, Russian public official, chief adviser to Czar Alexander I (1808–12). The son of a village priest,...

(Encyclopedia) Jomini, Antoine Henri äNtwänˈ äNrēˈ zhômēnēˈ [key], 1779–1869, Swiss general and military writer. He organized (1799) the militia of the Helvetic Republic and after 1804 served as staff of...

(Encyclopedia) Catherine I, 1683?–1727, czarina of Russia (1725–27). Of Livonian peasant origin, Martha Skavronskaya was a domestic when she was captured (1702) by Russian soldiers. As mistress of Aleksandr D. M...

(Encyclopedia) Mari El mäˈrē ĕlˈ [key], constituent republic (1990 pop. 760,000), c.8,900 sq mi (23,100 sq km), E central European Russia, in the middle Volga valley. Yoshkar-Ola is the capital. The region is a...

(Encyclopedia) Osterman, Andrei Ivanovich, Count əndrāˈ ēväˈnəvĭch əstyĭrmänˈ [key], 1686–1747, Russian statesman, b. Germany. His original name was Heinrich Johann Friedrich Ostermann. Under Czar Pete...

(Encyclopedia) Peterhof or Petergof pyĕˌtrədvəryĕtsˈ [key], town, NW European Russia, on Neva Bay of the Gulf of Finland. Administratively part of Saint Petersburg, Peterhof is a port, a rail terminus, and a r...

(Encyclopedia) Giers, Nikolai Karlovich nyĭkəlīˈ kärˈləvĭch gēyĕrsˈ [key], 1820–95, Russian statesman. Appointed deputy foreign minister in 1875, he increasingly took over the duties of the elderly fore...

(Encyclopedia) Kropotkin, Piotr Alekseyevich, Prince pyôˈtər əlyĭksyāˈĭvĭch krəpôtˈkĭn [key], 1842–1921, Russian geographer and anarchist. He came from a wealthy princely family and as a boy was a pag...

(Encyclopedia) Oka əkäˈ [key], river, c.925 mi (1,490 km) long, rising S of Orel, central European Russia. It flows N past Orel and Kaluga, E past Serpukhov, Kolomna, and Ryazan, and then NE past Murom to join th...