Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Victor Emmanuel I, 1759–1824, king of Sardinia (1802–21). His brother and predecessor, Charles Emmanuel IV, lost (1798) all his territories except the island of Sardinia to France in the French Re...

(Encyclopedia) Saint Bernard, two Alpine passes, both used since antiquity. The Great Saint Bernard (alt. 8,110 ft/2,472 m), on the Italian-Swiss border, links Valais canton, Switzerland, with Valle d'Aosta, Italy. ...

(Encyclopedia) Barbé-Marbois, François, marquis de fräNswäˈ märkēˈ də bärbāˈ-märbwäˈ [key], 1745–1837, French statesman. He held diplomatic posts in Europe and, during the American Revolution, in th...

(Encyclopedia) Sedan sədäNˈ [key], town (1990 pop. 22,407), Ardennes dept., NE France, on the Meuse River. A noted textile center since the 16th cent., Sedan also has metal and brewing industries. The town became...

(Encyclopedia) Batavian Republic, name for the Netherlands in the years (1795–1806) following conquest by the French during the French Revolutionary Wars. The United Provinces of the Netherlands were reconstituted...

(Encyclopedia) Spontini, Gaspare gäsˈpärā spōntēˈnē [key], 1774–1851, Italian opera composer. Spontini studied music in Naples. He went to Paris in 1803, was soon backed by the Empress Josephine, won a pri...

(Encyclopedia) Smolensk smōlĕnskˈ, smô–, Rus. sməlyĕnskˈ [key], city (1989 pop. 341,000), capital of Smolensk region, W European Russia, a port on the Dnieper River. It is an important rail junction, a dist...

(Encyclopedia)  CE5 Louisiana Purchase (1803) Louisiana Purchase, 1803, American acquisition from France of the formerly Spanish region of Louisiana. Jefferson instructed Livingston to attempt to purchase the �...

(Encyclopedia) Corsica kôrˈsĭkə [key], Fr. Corse, island, 3,352 sq mi (8,682 sq km), a region of metropo...

(Encyclopedia) Risorgimento rēsôrˌjēmĕnˈtō [key] [Ital.,=resurgence], in 19th-century Italian history, period of cultural nationalism and of political activism, leading to unification of Italy. Sardinia a...