Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

War Department, United States

(Encyclopedia)War Department, United States, federal executive department organized (1789) to administer the military establishment. It was reconstituted (1947) as the Dept. of the Army when the military administra...

World War II Memorial

(Encyclopedia)World War II Memorial: see National Parks and Monuments (table)national parks and monuments (table). ...

Sino-Japanese War, First

(Encyclopedia)Sino-Japanese War, First, 1894–95, conflict between China and Japan for control of Korea in the late 19th cent. The Li-Ito Convention of 1885 provided for mutual troop withdrawals and advance notifi...

Sino-Japanese War, Second

(Encyclopedia)Sino-Japanese War, Second, 1937–45, conflict between Japanese and Chinese forces for control of the Chinese mainland. The war sapped the Nationalist government's strength while allowing the Communis...

Civil War, in U.S. history

(Encyclopedia)Civil War, in U.S. history, conflict (1861–65) between the Northern states (the Union) and the Southern states that seceded from the Union and formed the Confederacy. It is generally known in the So...

Frederick the Winter King

(Encyclopedia)Frederick the Winter King, 1596–1632, king of Bohemia (1619–20), elector palatine (1610–20) as Frederick V. The Protestant diet of Bohemia deposed the Roman Catholic King Ferdinand (Holy Roman E...

Schwerin

(Encyclopedia)Schwerin shvārēnˈ [key], city (1994 pop. 122,189), capital of Mecklenburg–West Pomerania state, N central Germany, on Schwerin Lake. It is the commercial, industrial, and transportation center of...

Richelieu, Armand Jean du Plessis, duc de

(Encyclopedia)Richelieu, Armand Jean du Plessis, duc de (Cardinal Richelieu) plĕsēˈ dük də rēshəlyöˈ [key], 1585–1642, French prelate and statesman, chief minister of King Louis XIII, cardinal of the Ro...

artillery

(Encyclopedia)artillery, originally meant any large weaponry (including such ancient engines of war as catapults and battering rams) or war material, but later applied only to heavy firearms as opposed to small arm...

Rudolf II

(Encyclopedia)Rudolf II, 1552–1612, Holy Roman emperor (1576–1612), king of Bohemia (1575–1611) and of Hungary (1572–1608), son and successor of Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian II. Acceding to the Hapsburg la...