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Magyars

(Encyclopedia)Magyars mŏdˈyärz, măgˈyärz [key], the dominant people of Hungary, but also living in Romania, Ukraine, Slovakia, and Serbia. Although in the past it was thought a common origin existed among the...

Council for Mutual Economic Assistance

(Encyclopedia)Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (COMECON or MEA), international organization active between 1956 and 1991 for the coordination of economic policy among certain nations then under Communist domi...

Dacia

(Encyclopedia)Dacia dāˈshə [key], ancient name of the European region corresponding roughly to modern Romania (including Transylvania). It was inhabited before the Christian era by a people who were called Getae...

Cominform

(Encyclopedia)Cominform kŏmˈĭnfôrm [key] [acronym for Communist Information Bureau], information agency organized in 1947 and dissolved in 1956. Its members were the Communist parties of Bulgaria, Czechoslovaki...

Chişinău

(Encyclopedia)Chişinău kĭshˈənĕfˌ [key], city (1996 est. pop. 735,229), capital of Moldova, on the Byk River, a tributary of the Dniester. Major industries include food and tobacco processing, the assembly o...

Izmayil

(Encyclopedia)Izmayil ēzˌmäēlˈ [key], city (1989 pop. 93,000), extreme S Ukraine, on an arm of the Danube delta and near the Romanian border. It is a rail junction, river port, commercial center, and the naval...

Axis

(Encyclopedia)Axis, coalition of countries headed by Germany, Italy, and Japan, 1936–45 (see World War II). The expression “Rome-Berlin axis” originated in Oct., 1936, with an accord reached by Hitler and Mus...

Sturza, Dimitrie A.

(Encyclopedia)Sturza or Sturdza, Dimitrie A. both: dēmēˈtrēyĕ sto͝orˈdzə [key], 1833–1914, Romanian statesman, of a prominent Moldavian family. With Ion Bratianu and Constantin Rosetti he helped bring abo...

Warsaw Treaty Organization

(Encyclopedia)Warsaw Treaty Organization or Warsaw Pact, alliance set up under a mutual defense treaty signed in Warsaw, Poland, in 1955 by Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania,...

Constantinople, Latin Empire of

(Encyclopedia)Constantinople, Latin Empire of, 1204–61, feudal empire established in the S Balkan Peninsula and the Greek archipelago by the leaders of the Fourth Crusade (see Crusades) after they had sacked (120...