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Italian Wars

(Encyclopedia)Italian Wars, 1494–1559, series of regional wars brought on by the efforts of the great European powers to control the small independent states of Italy. Renaissance Italy was split into numerous ri...

Marx, Karl

(Encyclopedia)Marx, Karl, 1818–83, German social philosopher, the chief theorist of modern socialism and communism. In 1847 Marx joined the Communist League and with Engels wrote for it the famous Communist M...

Suez Canal

(Encyclopedia)Suez Canal, Arab. Qanat as Suways, waterway of Egypt extending from Port Said to Port Tawfiq (near Suez) and connecting the Mediterranean Sea with the Gulf of Suez and thence with the Red Sea. The can...

outsider art

(Encyclopedia)outsider art, artwork created by typically unconventional and untrained artists from the margins of society and the art world. The term was coined in 1972 by British scholar and art critic Roger Cardi...

Holy Roman Empire

(Encyclopedia) CE5 Holy Roman Empire (c.1100) CE5 Holy Roman Empire, designation for the political entity that originated at the coronation as emperor (962) of the German king Otto I and endured until the renu...

Dreyfus Affair

(Encyclopedia)Dreyfus Affair drāˈfəs, drī– [key], the controversy that occurred with the treason conviction (1894) of Capt. Alfred Dreyfus (1859–1935), a French artillery officer and graduate of the French ...

linguistics

(Encyclopedia)linguistics, scientific study of language, covering the structure (morphology and syntax; see grammar), sounds (phonology), and meaning (semantics), as well as the history of the relations of language...

Sicily

(Encyclopedia)Sicily sĭsˈĭlē [key], Ital. Sicilia, region (1991 pop. 4,966,386), 9,925 sq mi (25,706 sq km), S Italy, mainly situated on the island of Sicily, which is bounded by the Mediterranean Sea on the we...

Frederick II, king of Prussia

(Encyclopedia)Frederick II or Frederick the Great, 1712–86, king of Prussia (1740–86), son and successor of Frederick William I. Frederick was tolerant in religious matters, personally professing atheism to h...

anti-Semitism

(Encyclopedia)anti-Semitism ănˌtē-sĕmˈĭtĭzˌəm, ănˌtī– [key], form of prejudice against Jews, ranging from antipathy to violent hatred. Before the 19th cent., anti-Semitism was largely religious and wa...
 

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