the decline and collapse of an authoritarian order

  • 51Italy — /it l ee/, n. a republic in S Europe, comprising a peninsula S of the Alps, and Sicily, Sardinia, Elba, and other smaller islands: a kingdom 1870 1946. 57,534,088; 116,294 sq. mi. (301,200 sq. km). Cap.: Rome. Italian, Italia. * * * Italy… …

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  • 52Romania — /roh may nee euh, mayn yeuh/, n. a republic in SE Europe, bordering on the Black Sea. 21,399,114; 91,699 sq. mi. (237,500 sq. km). Cap.: Bucharest. Romanian, România /rddaw mu nyah/. * * * Romania Introduction Romania Background: Soviet… …

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  • 53România — /rddaw mu nyah/; Eng. /roh may nee euh, mayn yeuh/, n. Romanian name of ROMANIA. * * * Romania Introduction Romania Background: Soviet occupation following World War II led to the formation of a Communist peoples republic in 1947 and the… …

    Universalium

  • 54political system — Introduction       the set of formal legal institutions that constitute a “government” or a “ state.” This is the definition adopted by many studies of the legal or constitutional arrangements of advanced political orders. More broadly defined,… …

    Universalium

  • 55literature — /lit euhr euh cheuhr, choor , li treuh /, n. 1. writings in which expression and form, in connection with ideas of permanent and universal interest, are characteristic or essential features, as poetry, novels, history, biography, and essays. 2.… …

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  • 56Australia — /aw strayl yeuh/, n. 1. a continent SE of Asia, between the Indian and the Pacific oceans. 18,438,824; 2,948,366 sq. mi. (7,636,270 sq. km). 2. Commonwealth of, a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, consisting of the federated states and… …

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  • 57Poland — /poh leuhnd/, n. a republic in E central Europe, on the Baltic Sea. 38,700,291; ab. 121,000 sq. mi. (313,400 sq. km). Cap.: Warsaw. Polish, Polska. * * * Poland Introduction Poland Background: Poland is an ancient nation that was conceived around …

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  • 58Union of Soviet Socialist Republics — a former federal union of 15 constituent republics, in E Europe and W and N Asia, comprising the larger part of the former Russian Empire: dissolved in December 1991. 8,650,069 sq. mi. (22,402,200 sq. km). Cap.: Moscow. Also called Russia, Soviet …

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  • 59Bibliography — INTRODUCTION The number of books dedicated to the late Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) and its successor state, the Russian Federation, is virtually incalculable. This surfeit is due to a number of factors: Russia’s geographic size and …

    Historical Dictionary of the Russian Federation

  • 60French literature — Introduction       the body of written works in the French language produced within the geographic and political boundaries of France. The French language was one of the five major Romance languages to develop from Vulgar Latin as a result of the …

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