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Kun, Béla

(Encyclopedia)Kun, Béla bāˈlŏ ko͞on [key], 1886–1937, Hungarian Communist. A prisoner of war in Russia after 1915, he embraced Bolshevism. After the outbreak of the Russian Revolution in 1917 he was sent to ...

Islamic State

(Encyclopedia)Islamic State (IS), Sunni Islamic militant group committed to the establishment of an Islamic caliphate that would unite Muslims in a transnational, strict-fundamentalist Islamic state. IS has been ma...

d'Aubission, Roberto

(Encyclopedia)d'Aubission, Roberto rōbĕrˈtō dōˌbēsyōnˈ [key], 1944–92, El Savadorean public figure. A former El Salvadorean army major, he founded (1980) the right-wing National Republican Alliance (AREN...

Commune of Paris

(Encyclopedia)Commune of Paris, insurrectionary governments in Paris formed during (1792) the French Revolution and at the end (1871) of the Franco-Prussian War. In the French Revolution, the Revolutionary commune,...

Ross Island

(Encyclopedia)Ross Island, in the Ross Sea, Antarctica, on the edge of the Ross Ice Shelf. Part of the Ross Dependency, the island is separated from Victoria Land by McMurdo Sound. Mt. Erebus, an active volcano, an...

Al Shabab

(Encyclopedia)Al Shabab or Al Shabaab [key], [Arab.,=the youth], Islamic fundamentalist militia based in Somalia. One of several hardline Somali Islamist militias, Al Shabab has operated primarily in southern and ...

Zawahiri, Ayman al-

(Encyclopedia)Zawahiri or Zawahri, Ayman al- both: īˈmän äl-zäwäˈrē [key], 1951–, militant Egyptian Islamist. A surgeon by education and training, he became involved with the Muslim Brotherhood and joined...

John III, king of Portugal

(Encyclopedia)John III (John the Fortunate), 1502–57, king of Portugal (1521–57), son of Manuel I. His reign saw the Portuguese empire at its apogee. The great Asian possessions were extended by further conques...

chronicle plays

(Encyclopedia)chronicle plays, dramas based upon 16th-century chronicles in English, particularly those of Edward Hall and Raphael Holinshed. These plays became very popular late in the reign of Elizabeth I, when, ...

terrorism

(Encyclopedia)terrorism, the threat or use of violence, often against the civilian population, to achieve political or social ends, to intimidate opponents, or to publicize grievances. The term dates from the Reign...