Historical Dictionaries of Europe – serie

Formerly a part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and situated in the very heart of Central Europe, modern-day Hungary is bordered by Austria, Romania, Serbia, Croatia, Slovakia, Ukraine and Slovenia. Hungary's economy and educational base are among the strongest in Central Europe, and its post-Communist struggle to move to a market economy is being strongly encouraged by the U.S. and the nations of Western Europe. One of the most vibrant and historically fascinating (and complex) areas of the world, Hungary and the forces that have shaped her current political framework are a timely focus for this needed work.The Historical Dictionary of Hungary provides a handy resource to this small European country, examining the key events, people and places crucial to its history. An extensive introduction leads the reader through the origins of the Hungarians in the Magyar people up to the present-day post-communist period. A listing of heads of state is provided, along with abbreviations and acronyms, maps, a chronology and a glossary of geographical terms. Entries describe important dates and figures in Hungarian history, and refer to related entries, thus providing the researcher with a solid background from which to continue research. The substantial bibliography lists relevant books and articles for further reading. A must for any public or university library.

The United Kingdom remains a central point in any historical study of the Western European tradition, but did not take on its present configuration until 1920. The Historical Dictionary of the United Kingdom Volume 2: Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland is an excellent guide to the history of its three important regions, as well as its creation.The United Kingdom can only be understood as an evolution of its component parts. The first volume of the Dictionary focused on the United Kingdom's most prominent part, England. This second volume fleshes out the entire United Kingdom by directing the reader's attention toward Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland; regions which are often overshadowed by England but contain a great deal of the cultural, social, and political diversity of the United Kingdom. Not only does the second volume focus on the specifics of each individual region, their economy, cultural traditions, and history, but it also investigates how these areas came together and interacted with one another under the umbrella of the United Kingdom. The Dictionary begins with a chronology of the United Kingdom, but one that highlights different aspects, issues, and events that have impacted upon these three regions. An introduction provides a wonderful overview to the problems these three regions faced concerning their inclusion in a nation and simultaneous attempts to preserve regional character. The volume does not hesitate to outline the turmoil that exists between national and regional identity. Its entries include people, events, institutions, places, as well as political, economic, and cultural themes important to the history of the United Kingdom. Helpful maps, abbreviations, and chronologies are included.

Poland has had an exceptionally turbulent thousand-year history marked by extremes of national greatness and decline including patrition and foreign occupation. Currently undergoing another dramatic transformation, Poland has been building a democratic and market system since the fall of communism. The largest and most important nation in Eastern Europe, outside the ex-Soviet Union, is now returning to the European mainstream from which she was for long periods isolated politically and economically, although not culturally.Although Poland has been widely popularized in journalistic clichés in recent years because of Solidarity, the "Polish Pope" and the like, there is still much to be learned about the particular individuals and specific factors which have shaped her history in the past and which are molding her present development. The dictionary strikes a judicious balance in covering past and contemporary figures as well as Poland's richly-textured political, social, and cultural dimensions.The Dictionary has more than four hundred entries and a most comprehensive and up-to-date bibliography. It provides a stimulating and knowledgeable introduction for students, scholars, and librarians as well as a helpful overview-guide for tourists and for those involved in teaching, business, politics, journalism, and public service.

A part of Sweden until 1809, Finland then became a Grand Duchy of the Russian Empire until it declared its independence on December 6, 1917. From these humble beginnings, Finland has emerged as an important player in the European Union (Finland holds the presidency of the EU in the latter half of 2006) and as a useful contact with the newly independent Baltic States, as well as Russia.The second edition of the Historical Dictionary of Finland not only updates the previous edition but expands its coverage. Through a chronology, a list of acronyms and abbreviations, an introductory essay, appendixes, a bibliography, and hundreds of cross-referenced dictionary entries covering the more important persons, places, events, institutions, geographic locations, and significant aspects of politics, economy, society, and culture, an accurate historical picture of this country is revealed.

The Lithuanian people have undergone historic changes quite different from those of other European nations. In earlier centuries geography provided strategic advantage and opportunities for expansion but in recent times the country has more often experienced location as a geopolitical curse. After constantly losing territory and shrinking in size, the country disappeared in 1795. However, after World War I a popular national movement led to the restoration of Lithuania as an independent state. World War II and its bloody aftermath brought foreign occupation as well as genocide, mass murder, and destruction unparalleled in the country's modern history. The restoration of independence in 1990 has fundamentally altered Lithuania's geopolitical reality. Integration into the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization promise a new level of security for the Lithuanian state in the 21st century even as the social and economic transformations present both promising opportunities and difficult challenges.The second edition of the Historical Dictionary of Lithuania will serve as a useful introduction to virtually all aspects of Lithuania's historical experience, including the country's relations with its neighbors. This is done through a chronology, an introductory essay, an extensive bibliography, and over 300 cross-referenced dictionary entries on significant persons, places, and events; institutions and organizations; and political, economic, social, cultural, and religious facets.

All places undergo change, but in few has this change been quite as sweeping as Ireland – both the independent Republic of Ireland and dependent Northern Ireland – so it is good to see where it is heading at present. Obviously, that has to be judged on the background of where it is coming from, not only over the past decade or so but over centuries and, indeed, millennia. This new edition of Historical Dictionary of Ireland is an excellent resource for discovering the history of Ireland. This is done through a chronology, an introductory essay, and an extensive bibliography. The cross-referenced dictionary section has over 600 entries on significant persons, places and events, political parties and institutions (including the Catholic church) with period forays into literature, music and the arts. This book is an excellent resource for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about Ireland.

Diversity has always been at the heart of Bosnia and Herzegovina's character; even its dual name and physical geography display a particular heterogeneity. The medieval Bosnian state never enjoyed lasting political and ideological unity as its feudal, regional, and religious rifts pulled at the country's seams. Furthermore, because of its location and by a quirk of history, three major world religious and cultural traditions (Catholicism, Islam, and Orthodoxy) became cohabitants in this small Balkan country. Recently, the rebirth of its statehood has been exceptionally bloody and its diversity has been shaken. Even eleven years after the guns were silenced, the country is still under the "benevolent" protection of the international community, whose officials are keeping the state-building process in perpetual suspense, with no final result in sight.The second edition of the Historical Dictionary of Bosnia and Herzegovina sheds light on the uncertain situation Bosnia and Herzegovina faces, while providing essential background information. This is accomplished through a chronology, an introduction, a bibliography, and more than 300 cross-referenced dictionary entries on individual topics spanning Bosnia and Herzegovina's political, economic, religious, and social system along with short biographies on important figures.

The last quarter of a century, from 1979 to 2007, has been eventful for the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The year 1979 brought major changes to the United Kingdom, in particular when the political climate altered radically with the coming to power of the Conservatives under Margaret Thatcher following the disastrous "Winter of Discontent," which was characterized by economic woes and labor unrest. In 1997, the political climate shifted once again when the New Labour party won a landslide victory and the government was run by the left-leaning centrist, Tony Blair. The period witnessed conflicts raging both at home and abroad, it saw the premature death of a princess, and, more positively, the reemergence of the UK economy.The Historical Dictionary of Contemporary United Kingdom seeks to present the events, people, and trends of the last 28 years and to help explain the current state of the United Kingdom. Knowledge of this is vital to understanding the society, politics, personalities, and actions that are shaping the country right now. This is done through a chronology dating from 1979 to the present, an introductory essay, a bibliography, and over 700 cross-referenced dictionary entries on significant persons, places, events, institutions, and organizations, as well as the political, economic, social, cultural, and religious facets.

From the construction of Notre Dame and the Eiffel Tower to the Fall of the Bastille and the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen to Napoléon Bonaparte's defeat at Waterloo to Albert Camus' L'Etranger and the existentialism of Jean-Paul Sartre, France has been a part of some of the greatest and most memorable events in human history. Author Gino Raymond relates the history of these events in the second edition of the Historical Dictionary of France.Through a chronology, an introductory essay, a bibliography, and hundreds of cross-referenced dictionary entries on kings, politicians, authors, architects, composers, artists, and philosophers, a thorough history of France is presented.

Rich with a history stretching back thousands of years and endowed with an Eastern heart and a Western mind, the Mediterranean island of Cyprus is a tourist destination for millions of visitors from around the world every year. However, this beauty of the landscape has been somewhat marred by the political problem that has engulfed the island for nearly half a century. Nicosia, the only divided city in Europe represents the division that now exists geographically and politically between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots. Separated by United Nations forces along a line that cuts right across the island, known as the Green Line, the two main Cypriot communities have now lived apart for decades.The Historical Dictionary of Cyprus offers a reference guide to the country. With its chronology, introductory essay, appendixes, bibliography, and hundreds of cross-referenced dictionary entries, the historical, political, social, cultural, and economic history of Cyprus, from ancient times to the present, is provided in this useful resource.

Austrians today often seem to believe that they have two histories. One is their republican present; the other, the centuries that their forebears spent as part of the multi-ethnic Habsburg Empire. Contemporary Austria is a fixture among Europe's democracies. Yet, it did not achieve this state easily: World War I, the unification with Germany in 1938, and World War II were catastrophes for Austria. In 1995, it became part of the European Union, and its government, culture, and egalitarian economy are far cries from the monarchical and highly stratified society of the old Empire.The second edition of the Historical Dictionary of Austria has been thoroughly updated and greatly expanded. Through its chronology, introductory essay, appendix, bibliography, and hundreds of cross-referenced dictionary entries, greater attention has been given to foreign affairs, economic institutions and policies, social issues, religion, and politics.

Czechoslovakia has been at the center of some of the most difficult—and tragic—episodes of modern European history: its sacrifice to Nazi Germany at Munich; the Communist Coup of 1948; and the military crushing of the Prague Spring. It has also enacted momentous change almost magically, as in the peaceful overthrow of communism in 1989, and then the negotiated end to the country in 1992. Czechoslovak history has consequently produced enduring political metaphors for our times, such as the Velvet Revolution and Velvet Divorce.The second edition of the Historical Dictionary of the Czech State has been thoroughly updated and greatly expanded. Featuring a chronology, introductory essay, appendix, bibliography, and hundreds of cross-referenced dictionary entries, this detailed, authoritative reference provides understandings of the Czechs as a people; the territory they inhabit; their social, cultural, political, and economic developments throughout history; and interactions with their neighbors and the wider world.

Located on the southern-most tip of the Balkan peninsula in Europe's southeast, Greece is a small country of some 11 million people. And while few people have a longer history than the Greeks, Modern Greece is a fairly young country, having been founded in 1830. Greece has come a long way since then; it has been a client state, first of Britain and then of the United States, for much of its modern existence but now it has secured an equal place at the top tables of NATO and the EU. The Historical Dictionary of Modern Greece explores the modern history of this country through a chronology, an introductory essay, a bibliography, and hundreds of cross-referenced dictionary entries on important persons, places, events, and institutions, as well as on significant political, economic, social, and cultural aspects.

Portugal is a small Western European nation with a large, distinctive past replete with both triumph and tragedy. One of the continent's oldest nation-states, Portugal has frontiers that are essentially unchanged since the late 14th century. The country's unique character and 850-year history as an independent state present several curious paradoxes. As of 1974, when much of the remainder of the Portuguese overseas empire was decolonized, Portuguese society appeared to be the most ethnically homogeneous of the two Iberian states and of much of Europe. This, in spite of the fact that Portuguese society had received during 2,000 years of infusions of other ethnic groups in invasions and immigration: Phoenicians, Greeks, Celts, Romans, Suevi, Visigoths, Muslims (Arab and Berber), Jews, Italians, Flemings, Burgundian French, black Africans, and Asians. Indeed, Portugal has been a crossroads, despite its relative isolation in the western corner of the Iberian Peninsula, between the West and North Africa, Tropical Africa, and Asia and America. Since 1974, Portugal's society has become less homogeneous as there has been significant immigration of former subjects from her erstwhile overseas empire.The third edition of Historical Dictionary of Portugal greatly expands on the second edition through a chronology, an introductory essay, a bibliography, and hundreds of cross-referenced dictionary entries on important persons, places, events, and institutions, as well as on significant political, economic, social, and cultural aspects.

There are two Armenias: the current Republic of Armenia and historic Armenia. The modern state dates from the early 20th century. Historic Armenia was part of the ancient world and expired in the Middle Ages. Its people, however, survived, and from its residue recreated a new country. The history of the Armenians is the story of how an ancient people endured into modern times and how its culture evolved from one conceived under the influence of Mesopotamia to one redefined by the civilization of Europe.The second edition of the Historical Dictionary of Armenia relates the turbulent past of this persistent country through a chronology, an introductory essay, a bibliography, and over 200 cross-referenced dictionary entries on significant persons, events, places, organizations, and other aspects of Armenian history from the earliest times to the present.

Albania is not well known by outsiders; it was deliberately closed to the outside world during the communist era. Now it has thankfully become free again, its borders are open and it can be visited, and it is increasingly integrating with the rest of Europe and beyond. Unfortunately, Albania has had its share of problems in the post-communist era; it's a land of destitution and despair, thanks in part to the Albanian mafia, which has turned the country into one of blood-feuds, kalashnikovs, and eternal crises. Yet, Albania is, in essence, a European nation like any other and will soon, it is to be hoped, advance and take its proper place in Europe and the world.The second edition of the Historical Dictionary of Albania relates the history of this little-known country through a detailed chronology, an introduction, a bibliography, appendixes, and over 700 cross-referenced dictionary entries on significant persons, places, and events; institutions and organizations; and political, economic, social, cultural, and religious facets.

From the construction of Notre Dame and the Eiffel Tower to the Fall of the Bastille and the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen to Napoléon Bonaparte''s defeat at Waterloo to Albert Camus'' L''Etranger and the existentialism of Jean-Paul Sartre, France has been a part of some of the greatest and most memorable events in human history. Author Gino Raymond relates the history of these events in the second edition of the Historical Dictionary of France.Through a chronology, an introductory essay, a bibliography, and hundreds of cross-referenced dictionary entries on kings, politicians, authors, architects, composers, artists, and philosophers, a thorough history of France is presented.

Located at the very heart of the Balkans, the Republic of Macedonia has a rich and turbulent history, which reflects all the complexities of the region''s past and present-day politics. In the late 19th and the early 20th century, it became the focal point of competition by the fledgling Balkan nation-states over the declining Ottoman Empire''s European possessions. Late Ottoman Macedonia was a region, which impressed the external observer with its diversity: ethnic, religious, linguistic, clannish, and territorial identities all overlapped in a complex and puzzling mosaic. It is this diversity that has led to the Macedonian Question of the late 19th and early 20th centuries and continues to raise questions today.The Historical Dictionary of the Republic of Macedonia traces the key political, socio-economic, and cultural developments in the multiethnic mosaic that is Republic of Macedonia following its secession from the Yugoslav federation in the autumn of 1991. It also surveys often overlooked topics, such as the social transformations underwent in the course of the 20th century and during the decades of socialism, as well as the recent debates about historical memory and roots of the Slav Macedonian nation. Complete with a chronology, an introductory essay, a bibliography, and over 400 hundred cross-referenced dictionary entries, this reference provides a rich account of the history, present-day politics, and society of the Republic of Macedonia.

Rich with a history stretching back thousands of years and endowed with an Eastern heart and a Western mind, the Mediterranean island of Cyprus is a tourist destination for millions of visitors from around the world every year. However, this beauty of the landscape has been somewhat marred by the political problem that has engulfed the island for nearly half a century. Nicosia, the only divided city in Europe represents the division that now exists geographically and politically between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots. Separated by United Nations forces along a line that cuts right across the island, known as the Green Line, the two main Cypriot communities have now lived apart for decades.The Historical Dictionary of Cyprus offers a reference guide to the country. With its chronology, introductory essay, appendixes, bibliography, and hundreds of cross-referenced dictionary entries, the historical, political, social, cultural, and economic history of Cyprus, from ancient times to the present, is provided in this useful resource.

Austrians today often seem to believe that they have two histories. One is their republican present; the other, the centuries that their forebears spent as part of the multi-ethnic Habsburg Empire. Contemporary Austria is a fixture among Europe''s democracies. Yet, it did not achieve this state easily: World War I, the unification with Germany in 1938, and World War II were catastrophes for Austria. In 1995, it became part of the European Union, and its government, culture, and egalitarian economy are far cries from the monarchical and highly stratified society of the old Empire.The second edition of the Historical Dictionary of Austria has been thoroughly updated and greatly expanded. Through its chronology, introductory essay, appendix, bibliography, and hundreds of cross-referenced dictionary entries, greater attention has been given to foreign affairs, economic institutions and policies, social issues, religion, and politics.

Located on the southern-most tip of the Balkan peninsula in Europe''s southeast, Greece is a small country of some 11 million people. And while few people have a longer history than the Greeks, Modern Greece is a fairly young country, having been founded in 1830. Greece has come a long way since then; it has been a client state, first of Britain and then of the United States, for much of its modern existence but now it has secured an equal place at the top tables of NATO and the EU. The Historical Dictionary of Modern Greece explores the modern history of this country through a chronology, an introductory essay, a bibliography, and hundreds of cross-referenced dictionary entries on important persons, places, events, and institutions, as well as on significant political, economic, social, and cultural aspects.

The Republic of Moldova claims a European lineage reaching back in time long before its 14th century accession to statehood. In the 15th century, it managed against all odds to avoid being conquered by Islam and-albeit an intermittent vassal after 1485-it maintained its autonomy and was never turned into a province of the Ottoman Empire. After this period, however, Moldova would not be so fortunate, as it altered between Russian, Romanian, and Soviet control until it finally gained its independence in 1991 from the Soviet Union.The second edition of the Historical Dictionary of Moldova, through its chronology, introduction, appendixes, maps, bibliography, and hundreds of cross-referenced dictionary entries on important persons, places, events, and institutions and significant political, economic, social, and cultural aspects, traces the history of this small, but densely populated country, providing a compass for the direction it is heading.

Croatia, a former republic of Yugoslavia, has been a self-declared independent state since July 25, 1991. To its own people, however, it is a much older country that is finally getting another chance to forge a nation. The Croats trace their roots back many centuries, and the depth of this resurgent nationalism helps explain why Yugoslavia split as it did and where it did. As Croatia and its people try to make a success of their new state, they can take hope in the notable progress that has already been made in regards to its economic restructuring, democratization, and a rapprochement with their neighbors and Europe more broadly.The third edition of the Historical Dictionary of Croatia relates the history of this country through a detailed chronology, an introduction, a bibliography, and cross-referenced dictionary entries on significant persons, places, and events; institutions and organizations; and political, economic, social, cultural, and religious facets.

Czechoslovakia has been at the center of some of the most difficult-and tragic-episodes of modern European history: its sacrifice to Nazi Germany at Munich; the Communist Coup of 1948; and the military crushing of the Prague Spring. It has also enacted momentous change almost magically, as in the peaceful overthrow of communism in 1989, and then the negotiated end to the country in 1992. Czechoslovak history has consequently produced enduring political metaphors for our times, such as the Velvet Revolution and Velvet Divorce.The second edition of the Historical Dictionary of the Czech State has been thoroughly updated and greatly expanded. Featuring a chronology, introductory essay, appendix, bibliography, and hundreds of cross-referenced dictionary entries, this detailed, authoritative reference provides understandings of the Czechs as a people; the territory they inhabit; their social, cultural, political, and economic developments throughout history; and interactions with their neighbors and the wider world.

Portugal is a small Western European nation with a large, distinctive past replete with both triumph and tragedy. One of the continent''s oldest nation-states, Portugal has frontiers that are essentially unchanged since the late 14th century. The country''s unique character and 850-year history as an independent state present several curious paradoxes. As of 1974, when much of the remainder of the Portuguese overseas empire was decolonized, Portuguese society appeared to be the most ethnically homogeneous of the two Iberian states and of much of Europe. This, in spite of the fact that Portuguese society had received during 2,000 years of infusions of other ethnic groups in invasions and immigration: Phoenicians, Greeks, Celts, Romans, Suevi, Visigoths, Muslims (Arab and Berber), Jews, Italians, Flemings, Burgundian French, black Africans, and Asians. Indeed, Portugal has been a crossroads, despite its relative isolation in the western corner of the Iberian Peninsula, between the West and North Africa, Tropical Africa, and Asia and America. Since 1974, Portugal''s society has become less homogeneous as there has been significant immigration of former subjects from her erstwhile overseas empire.The third edition of Historical Dictionary of Portugal greatly expands on the second edition through a chronology, an introductory essay, a bibliography, and hundreds of cross-referenced dictionary entries on important persons, places, events, and institutions, as well as on significant political, economic, social, and cultural aspects.

All places undergo change, but in few has this change been quite as sweeping as Ireland – both the independent Republic of Ireland and dependent Northern Ireland – so it is good to see where it is heading at present. Obviously, that has to be judged on the background of where it is coming from, not only over the past decade or so but over centuries and, indeed, millennia. This new edition of Historical Dictionary of Ireland is an excellent resource for discovering the history of Ireland. This is done through a chronology, an introductory essay, and an extensive bibliography. The cross-referenced dictionary section has over 600 entries on significant persons, places and events, political parties and institutions (including the Catholic church) with period forays into literature, music and the arts. This book is an excellent resource for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about Ireland.

As the seventh and probably last state to arise from the ruins of the former Yugoslavia, Kosovo is the newest country in Europe. For centuries, Kosovo, also known as Kosova, was part of the Ottoman Empire, and for most of the 20th century, it was a province of what was once Yugoslavia. After the military conflict in 1998-1999 and a period of administration by the United Nations, Kosovo declared its independence from Serbia on February 17, 2008.Focusing not only on Kosovo's turbulent recent years, the second edition of the Historical Dictionary of Kosovo also relates the country's rich culture and long history. This is done through a chronology, an introductory essay, an extensive bibliography, and over 400 cross-referenced dictionary entries on significant persons, places, and events; institutions and organizations; and political, economic, social, cultural, and religious facets. This book is an excellent access point for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about Kosovo.

Estonia is a small European Union country (population 1.3 million but physically the size of Netherlands and Switzerland) at the historic interface of East and West, Europe and Russia, free from Soviet occupation only for twenty-five years. Estonia boasts many notable achievements in the past has one of the most advanced economies in the region. It has made impressive progress politically, having shed a half century of communist domination and shifted to democracy, making it a model for other transitional states. It is at the forefront of Internet services: its secure digital ID cards are used for all interactions with government agencies, for voting at elections, and among government agencies, as well as in private banking.This second edition of Historical Dictionary of Estonia covers its history through a chronology, an introductory essay, glossary, appendixes, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has over 300 cross-referenced entries on important personalities, politics, economy, foreign relations, religion, and culture. This book is an excellent access point for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about Estonia.

Croatia, a former republic of Yugoslavia, has been a self-declared independent state since July 25, 1991. To its own people, however, it is a much older country that is finally getting another chance to forge a nation. The Croats trace their roots back many centuries, and the depth of this resurgent nationalism helps explain why Yugoslavia split as it did and where it did. As Croatia and its people try to make a success of their new state, they can take hope in the notable progress that has already been made in regards to its economic restructuring, democratization, and a rapprochement with their neighbors and Europe more broadly.The third edition of the Historical Dictionary of Croatia relates the history of this country through a detailed chronology, an introduction, a bibliography, and cross-referenced dictionary entries on significant persons, places, and events; institutions and organizations; and political, economic, social, cultural, and religious facets.