Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Blum, Léon lāôNˈ blo͝om [key], 1872–1950, French Socialist leader and writer. Well established in literary circles, he entered politics during the Dreyfus Affair and rose to party leadership. I...

(Encyclopedia) Petlyura, Simon sĭmyōnˈ pyətlyo͞oˈrə [key], 1879–1926, Ukrainian nationalist politician. In Jan., 1919, he became leader of the independent Ukrainian republic that emerged after the collapse ...

(Encyclopedia) Dovzhenko, Aleksandr əlyĭksänˈdər dōvzhĕnˈkō [key], 1894–1956, Soviet film director, b. Ukraine. He ranks with Eisenstein and Pudovkin as one of the greatest Soviet filmmakers. Zvenigord (1...

(Encyclopedia) Nkrumah, Kwame kwäˈmā nkro͞oˈmä [key], 1909–72, African political leader, prime minister ...

(Encyclopedia) French West Africa, former federation of eight French overseas territories. The constituent territories were Dahomey (now Benin), French Guinea (now Guinea), French Sudan (now Mali), Côte d'Ivoire, M...

(Encyclopedia) Mathiez, Albert älbĕrˈ mätyāˈ [key], 1874–1932, French historian, an authority on the French Revolution. He studied under Aulard, whose scientific method he adopted, although it led him to dif...

(Encyclopedia) navigation satellite, artificial satellite designed expressly to aid the navigation of sea and air traffic. Early navigation satellites, from the Transit series launched in 1960 to the U.S. navy's Nav...

(Encyclopedia) Manchuria măncho͝orˈēə [key], Mandarin Dongbei sansheng [three northeastern provinces], region, c.600,000 sq mi (1,554,000 sq km), NE China. It is officially known as the Northeast. Manchuria is ...

(Encyclopedia) Compromise of 1850. The annexation of Texas to the United States and the gain of new territory by the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo at the close of the Mexican War (1848) aggravated the hostility betwee...

(Encyclopedia) Kreisky, Bruno bro͞oˈnō krīˈskē [key], 1911–90, Austrian Socialist politician. He served as a diplomat and foreign affairs minister (1959–66). His goal of Austrian independence and neutralit...