Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Frederick II or Frederick the Great, 1712–86, king of Prussia (1740–86), son and successor of Frederick William I. Frederick was tolerant in religious matters, personally professing atheism to h...

(Encyclopedia) secret police, policing organization operating in secrecy for the political purposes of its government, often with terroristic procedures. Many states, including Chile, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Romania,...

(Encyclopedia) Naberezhnye Chelny nəbĭryĕzhˈēə chĭlnēˈ [key], city (1989 pop. 501,000), in NE European Russia. Once a small town named Chelny, it became Naberezhnye Chelny in 1930. From 1982 to 1988 the cit...

(Encyclopedia) Warwick, Richard de Beauchamp, earl of, 1382–1439, English nobleman; son of Thomas de Beauchamp, earl of Warwick. He fought for Henry IV against Owen Glendower in Wales and the Percys at Shrewsbury ...

(Encyclopedia) serf, under feudalism, peasant laborer who can be generally characterized as hereditarily attached to the manor in a state of semibondage, performing the servile duties of the lord (see also manorial ...

(Encyclopedia) Miloš or Milosh (Miloš Obrenović) both: mĭˈlôsh ōbrĕˈnəvĭch [key], 1780–1860, prince of Serbia (1817–39, 1858–60), founder of the Obrenović dynasty and of modern Serbia. An illiterat...

(Encyclopedia)  CE5 Ukraine yo͞oˈkrān, yo͞okrānˈ [key], Ukr. Ukraina, republic (2015 est. pop. 44,658,000), 232,046 sq mi (601,000 sq km), E Europe. It borders on Poland in the northwest; on Slovakia, Hungar...

(Encyclopedia) Azov əzôfˈ [key], city (1990 est. pop. 82,000), SE European Russia, a port on the Don River delta near the Sea of Azov. It is a rail junction, a light industrial center, and a fishing center. Touri...

(Encyclopedia) narodniki närôdˈnĭkē [key], Russian populists, adherents of an agrarian socialist movement active from the 1860s to the end of the 19th cent. Influenced by the writings of Aleksandr Herzen, the n...

(Encyclopedia) Eastern Question, term designating the problem of European territory controlled by the decaying Ottoman Empire in the 18th, 19th, and early 20th cent. The Turkish threat to Europe was checked by the H...