1.
Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin
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Before the arrival of the Hungarians, three early medieval powers, the First Bulgarian Empire, East Francia and Moravia had fought each other for control of the Carpathian Basin. They occasionally hired Hungarian horsemen as soldiers, therefore, the Hungarians who dwelt on the Pontic steppes east of the Carpathians were familiar with their future homeland when their land-taking started. The Hungarian conquest started in the context of a late or small migration of peoples, contemporary sources attest that the Hungarians crossed the Carpathian Mountains following a joint attack in 894 or 895 by the Pechenegs and Bulgarians against them. They first took control over the lowlands east of the river Danube and they exploited internal conflicts in Moravia and annihilated this state sometime between 902 and 906. The Hungarians strengthened their control over the Carpathian Basin by defeating a Bavarian army in a battle fought at Brezalauspurc on July 4,907 and they launched a series of plundering raids between 899 and 955 and also targeted the Byzantine Empire between 943 and 971. However, they settled in the Basin and established a Christian monarchy. Byzantine authors were the first to record these events, nearly contemporary narration can be read in the Continuation of the Chronicle by George the Monk. However, De Administrando Imperio provides the most detailed account and it was compiled under the auspices of Emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus in 951 or 952. Works written by clergymen in the states of the Carolingian Empire narrate events closely connected to the conquest. The Annals of Fulda which ends in 901 is the earliest among them, a letter from Archbishop Theotmar of Salzburg to Pope John IX in 900 also refers to the conquering Hungarians, but it is often regarded as a fake. Abbot Regino of Prüm who compiled his World Chronicle around 908 sums up his knowledge on the Hungarians in an entry under the year 889. Another valuable source is Bishop Liutprand of Cremonas Antapodosis from around 960, Aventinus, a 16th-century historian provides information not known from other works, which suggests that he used now-lost sources. An Old Church Slavonic compilation of Lives of saints preserved an account on the Bulgarian-Byzantine war of 894–896. Similarly late manuscripts offer the text of the Russian Primary Chronicle and it provides information based on earlier Byzantine and Moravian sources. The Hungarians themselves initially preserved the memory of the events in the form of folk songs. The earliest local chronicle was compiled in the late 11th century and it exists now in more than one variant, its original version several times extended and rewritten during the Middle Ages. For instance, the 14th-century Illuminated Chronicle contains texts from the 11th-century chronicle, an anonymous authors Gesta Hungarorum, written before 1200, is the earliest extant local chronicle. However, this most misleading example of all the early Hungarian texts contains much information that cannot be confirmed based on contemporaneous sources, around 1283 Simon of Kéza, a priest at the Hungarian royal court wrote the next surviving chronicle
2.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
3.
Oil painting
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Oil painting is the process of painting with pigments with a medium of drying oil as the binder. Commonly used drying oils include linseed oil, poppy seed oil, walnut oil, the choice of oil imparts a range of properties to the oil paint, such as the amount of yellowing or drying time. Certain differences, depending on the oil, are visible in the sheen of the paints. An artist might use different oils in the same painting depending on specific pigments and effects desired. The paints themselves also develop a particular consistency depending on the medium, the oil may be boiled with a resin, such as pine resin or frankincense, to create a varnish prized for its body and gloss. Its practice may have migrated westward during the Middle Ages, Oil paint eventually became the principal medium used for creating artworks as its advantages became widely known. In recent years, water miscible oil paint has come to prominence and, to some extent, water-soluble paints contain an emulsifier that allows them to be thinned with water rather than paint thinner, and allows very fast drying times when compared with traditional oils. Traditional oil painting techniques often begin with the artist sketching the subject onto the canvas with charcoal or thinned paint, Oil paint is usually mixed with linseed oil, artist grade mineral spirits, or other solvents to make the paint thinner, faster or slower-drying. A basic rule of oil paint application is fat over lean and this means that each additional layer of paint should contain more oil than the layer below to allow proper drying. If each additional layer contains less oil, the painting will crack. This rule does not ensure permanence, it is the quality and type of oil leads to a strong. There are many media that can be used with the oil, including cold wax, resins. These aspects of the paint are closely related to the capacity of oil paint. Traditionally, paint was transferred to the surface using paintbrushes. Oil paint remains wet longer than other types of artists materials, enabling the artist to change the color. At times, the painter might even remove a layer of paint. This can be done with a rag and some turpentine for a time while the paint is wet, Oil paint dries by oxidation, not evaporation, and is usually dry to the touch within a span of two weeks. It is generally dry enough to be varnished in six months to a year, art conservators do not consider an oil painting completely dry until it is 60 to 80 years old
4.
Cyclorama
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The intended effect is to make viewers, surrounded by the panoramic image, feel as if they were standing in the midst of the place depicted in the image. Panoramas were invented by Irish painter Robert Barker, who wanted to find a way to capture the view from Calton Hill in central Edinburgh. He subsequently opened his first cyclorama building in Edinburgh in 1787, cycloramas were very popular in the late 19th century. The most popular traveled from city to city to provide local entertainment — much like a modern movie, as the viewers stood in the center of the painting, there would often be music and a narrator telling the story of the event depicted. Sometimes dioramas were constructed in the foreground to provide realism to the cyclorama. Circular and hexagonal-shaped buildings were constructed in almost every major US, for example, a 360° depiction of the land and naval battles of Vicksburg was completed and first exhibited in Paris. This work by Lucien-Pierre Sergent and Joseph Bertrand traveled to New York, Chicago and San Francisco, in 1885 the Philadelphia Panorama Company installed the Battle of Chattanooga in two units in Kansas City and Philadelphia, it was painted by Eugen Bracht. Hundreds of cycloramas were produced, however, only thirty survive. An extension of this concept into motion pictures was pioneered with the invention of the Cinéorama that debuted at the 1900 Paris Exposition and these evolved into such formats as IMAX and Circle-Vision 360° as can be seen Epcots Reflections of China. The 1899 dramatisation of the novel Ben Hur was a Broadway smash hit, the main spectacle was the use of a live chariot race using real horses and real chariots set against a cyclorama. It ran for 21 years, and was seen by over 20 million people, the Eras drama critic detailed how it was achieved by four great cradles, 20ft in length and 14ft wide, which are movable back and front on railways. The horses galloped full-pelt towards the audience, secured by steel cable traces. Electric rubber rollers spun the chariot wheels, a vast cyclorama backdrop revolved in the opposite direction to create an illusion of massive speed, and fans created clouds of dust. The critic for The Illustrated London News described it as a marvel of stage-illusion that was memorable beyond all else, the Sketchs critic called it thrilling and realistic. Enough to make the fortune of any play and noted that the stage and it went on to inspire the multi-Oscar-winning 1959 film adaptation of Ben Hur, starring Charlton Heston - featuring the key live chariot race. Some notable cycloramas are, Borodino Panorama, depicting the Battle of Borodino between Napoleon I of France and a Russian Army outside Moscow in 1812,115 metres long by 15 metres high. Stalingrad Battle Panorama, depicting the Battle of Stalingrad between Nazi Germany army and the Russian Army in 1942-1943,120 metres long by 16 metres high. Pleven Panorama, depicting the Siege of Plevna in 1878, in Pleven, the Racławice Panorama, depicting the Battle of Racławice during the Kościuszko Uprising is on display in Wrocław, Poland
5.
Hungary
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Hungary is a unitary parliamentary republic in Central Europe. With about 10 million inhabitants, Hungary is a member state of the European Union. The official language is Hungarian, which is the most widely spoken language in Europe. Hungarys capital and largest metropolis is Budapest, a significant economic hub, major urban areas include Debrecen, Szeged, Miskolc, Pécs and Győr. His great-grandson Stephen I ascended to the throne in 1000, converting the country to a Christian kingdom, by the 12th century, Hungary became a middle power within the Western world, reaching a golden age by the 15th century. Hungarys current borders were established in 1920 by the Treaty of Trianon after World War I, when the country lost 71% of its territory, 58% of its population, following the interwar period, Hungary joined the Axis Powers in World War II, suffering significant damage and casualties. Hungary became a state of the Soviet Union, which contributed to the establishment of a four-decade-long communist dictatorship. On 23 October 1989, Hungary became again a democratic parliamentary republic, in the 21st century, Hungary is a middle power and has the worlds 57th largest economy by nominal GDP, as well as the 58th largest by PPP, out of 188 countries measured by the IMF. As a substantial actor in several industrial and technological sectors, it is both the worlds 36th largest exporter and importer of goods, Hungary is a high-income economy with a very high standard of living. It keeps up a security and universal health care system. Hungary joined the European Union in 2004 and part of the Schengen Area since 2007, Hungary is a member of the United Nations, NATO, WTO, World Bank, the AIIB, the Council of Europe and Visegrád Group. Well known for its cultural history, Hungary has been contributed significantly to arts, music, literature, sports and science. Hungary is the 11th most popular country as a tourist destination in Europe and it is home to the largest thermal water cave system, the second largest thermal lake in the world, the largest lake in Central Europe, and the largest natural grasslands in Europe. The H in the name of Hungary is most likely due to historical associations with the Huns. The rest of the word comes from the Latinized form of Medieval Greek Oungroi, according to an explanation the Greek name was borrowed from Proto-Slavic Ǫgǔri, in turn borrowed from Oghur-Turkic Onogur. Onogur was the name for the tribes who later joined the Bulgar tribal confederacy that ruled the eastern parts of Hungary after the Avars. The Hungarians likely belonged to the Onogur tribal alliance and it is possible they became its ethnic majority. The Hungarian endonym is Magyarország, composed of magyar and ország, the word magyar is taken from the name of one of the seven major semi-nomadic Hungarian tribes, magyeri
6.
Hungarian language
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Hungarian is the official language of Hungary and one of the 24 official languages of the European Union. Outside Hungary it is spoken by communities of Hungarian people in neighbouring countries. Like Finnish and Estonian, it belongs to the Uralic language family, its closest relatives being Mansi and it is one of several European languages not part of the Indo-European languages, and the most widely-spoken European language that does not belong to the Indo-European family. The Hungarian name for the language is magyar or magyar nyelv, the word Magyar is used as an English and Hungarian word to refer to Hungarian people as an ethnic group. Hungarian is a member of the Uralic language family, the name of Hungary could be a result of regular sound changes of Ungrian/Ugrian, and the fact that the Eastern Slavs referred to Hungarians as Ǫgry/Ǫgrove seemed to confirm that. Current literature favors the hypothesis that it comes from the name of the Turkic tribe Onogur, there are numerous regular sound correspondences between Hungarian and the other Ugric languages. For example, Hungarian /aː/ corresponds to Khanty /o/ in certain positions, for example, Hungarian ház house vs. Khanty xot house, and Hungarian száz hundred vs. Khanty sot hundred. The distance between the Ugric and Finnic languages is greater, but the correspondences are also regular, during the later half of the 19th century, a competing hypothesis proposed a Turkic affinity of Hungarian. Following an academic debate known as Az ugor-török háború, the Finno-Ugric hypothesis was concluded the sounder of the two, foremost based on work by the German linguist Josef Budenz. The traditional view argues that the Hungarian language separated from its Ugric relatives in the first half of the 1st millennium b. c. e. in western Siberia, east of the southern Urals. The Hungarians gradually changed their lifestyle from settled hunters to nomadic pastoralists, in Hungarian, Iranian loans date back to the time immediately following the breakup of Ugric and probably span well over a millennium. Among these include tehén ‘cow’, tíz ‘ten’, tej ‘milk’, increasing archaeological evidence from present-day southern Bashkortostan found in the previous decades confirms the existence of Hungarian settlements between the Volga River and Ural Mountains. The Onogurs later had a influence on the language, especially between the 5th-9th centuries. This layer of Turkic loans is large and varied, and includes words borrowed from Oghur Turkic, e. g. borjú ‘calf’, dél ‘noon, many words related to agriculture, to state administration or even to family relations have such backgrounds. Hungarian syntax and grammar were not influenced in a dramatic way during these 300 years. After the arrival of the Hungarians into the Carpathian Basin the language came into contact with different speech communities, Turkic loans from this period come mainly from the Pechenegs and Cumanians who settled in Hungary during the 12th-13th centuries, e. g. koboz ‘cobza’, komondor ‘mop dog’. Hungarian borrowed many words from especially the neighbouring Slavic languages, in exchange, these languages also borrowed words from Hungarian, e. g. Serbo-Croatian ašov from Hung ásó ‘spade’. Approximately 1. 6% of the Romanian lexicon is of Hungarian origin, on the basis of the growing genetic evidence, the accepted origin theory is contested by geneticists too
7.
Panoramic painting
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Panoramic paintings are massive artworks that reveal a wide, all-encompassing view of a particular subject, often a landscape, military battle, or historical event. They became especially popular in the 19th century in Europe and the United States, a few have survived into the 21st century and are on public display. In 1793 Barker moved his panoramas to the first purpose-built brick panorama rotunda building in the world, in Leicester Square, and made a fortune. Viewers flocked to pay a stiff 3 shillings to stand on a platform under a skylight, which offered an even lighting. The extended meaning of a survey of a subject followed sooner. In contrast, the actual panorama spanned 250 square metres, despite the success of Barkers first panorama in Leicester Square, it was neither his first attempt at the craft nor his first exhibition. In 1788 Barker showcased his first panorama and it was only a semi-circular view of Edinburgh, Scotland, and Barkers inability to bring the image to a full 360 degrees disappointed him. To realize his vision, Barker and his son, Henry Aston Barker. The first version of what was to be Barkers first successful panorama was displayed in a purpose-built wooden rotunda in the garden of the Barker home. When Barker first patented his technique in 1787, he had given it a French title, Barker made many efforts to increase the realism of his scenes. To fully immerse the audience in the scene, all borders of the canvas were concealed, props were also strategically positioned on the platform where the audience stood and two windows were laid into the roof to allow natural light to flood the canvases. Two scenes could be exhibited in the rotunda simultaneously, however the rotunda at Leicester Square was the one to do so. Houses with single scenes proved popular to audiences as the fame of the panorama spread. Because the Leicester Square rotunda housed two panoramas, Barker needed a mechanism to clear the minds of the audience as they moved from one panorama to the other. To accomplish this, patrons walked down a corridor and up a long flight of stairs where their minds were supposed to be refreshed for viewing the new scene. Due to the size of the panorama, patrons were given orientation plans to help them navigate the scene. These glorified maps pinpointed key buildings, sites, or events exhibited on the canvas, to create a panorama, artists travelled to the sites and sketched the scenes multiple times. Typically a team of artists worked on one project with each team specializing in an aspect of the painting such as landscapes
8.
Seven chieftains of the Magyars
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The Seven chieftains of the Magyars were the leaders of the seven tribes of the Hungarians at the time of their arrival to the Carpathian Basin in 895 AD. Constantine VII, emperor of the Byzantine Empire names the seven tribes in his De Administrando Imperio, the names of the chieftains, however, are not precisely known, as the chronicles include contradictory lists, some of which have been found to be false. Constantine VII does not give the names of the chieftains of the Hungarian tribes, constantine VII names Tas as a grandson of Árpád. The relations of the early Hungarian leaders are subject of debate between historians and this list, having more legendary elements, is even less credible than that of Anonymus, only Árpád and Szabolcs match the time of the conquest. In Budapest, Hungary, the Heroes Square, better known as Hősök tere, has a representation of the different chieftains at the base of the column. At the base of the column is a group of seven mounted figures representing the Magyar chieftains who led the Hungarian people into the Carpathian basin, in the front is Árpád, considered the founder of the Hungarian nation. Behind him are the chieftains Előd, Ond, Kond, Tas, Huba, little survives in the historical record about these individuals and both their costumes and their horses are considered to be more fanciful than historically accurate
9.
World's fair
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A worlds fair, world fair, world exposition, or universal exposition is a large international exhibition designed to showcase achievements of nations. These exhibitions vary in character and are held in varying parts of the world, the next world Expo is Expo 2020 and is to be held in Dubai, UAE. Since the 1928 Convention Relating to International Exhibitions came into force, bIE-approved fairs are of three types, universal, specialized and horticultural. They usually last from three weeks to six months, Worlds fairs originated in the French tradition of national exhibitions, a tradition that culminated with the French Industrial Exposition of 1844 held in Paris. This fair was followed by other exhibitions in continental Europe. The best-known first World Expo was held in The Crystal Palace in Hyde Park, London, United Kingdom, in 1851, under the title Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations. The Great Exhibition, as it is called, was an idea of Prince Albert, Queen Victorias husband. It influenced the development of aspects of society, including art-and-design education, international trade and relations. This expo was the most obvious precedent for the international exhibitions, later called worlds fairs. Since their inception in 1851, the character of world expositions has evolved, three eras can be distinguished, the era of industrialization, the era of cultural exchange, and the era of nation branding. The first era could be called the era of industrialization and covered, roughly, in these days, world expositions were especially focused on trade, and were famous for the display of technological inventions and advancements. World expositions were the platforms where the state-of-the-art in science and technology from around the world were brought together, inventions such as the telephone were first presented during this era. An important part of the image of worlds fairs stems from this first era, the 1939–40 New York Worlds Fair diverged from the original focus of the worlds fair expositions. From then on, worlds fairs adopted specific cultural themes, they forecasted a future for society. Technological innovations were no longer the primary exhibits at fairs, the fairs encouraged effective intercultural communication for the exchange of innovation. The 1967 International and Universal Exposition in Montreal was promoted under the name Expo 67, event organizers retired the term worlds fair in favor of expo. From Expo 88 in Brisbane onwards, countries started to use world expositions more widely, finland, Japan, Canada, France and Spain are cases in point. A large study by Tjaco Walvis called Expo 2000 Hanover in Numbers showed that improving national image was the primary goal for 73% of the countries at Expo 2000
10.
Hungarian mythology
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Hungarian mythology includes the myths, legends, folk tales, fairy tales and gods of the Hungarians, also known as the Magyars. Much of Magyar mythology is believed lost, however, a significant amount of Hungarian mythology has been successfully recovered in the last hundred years. In the center of the stands an tall tree, the World Tree / Tree of Life. Its foliage is the Upper World, and the Turul bird dwells on top of it, the Middle World is located at its trunk and the underworld is around its roots. In some stories, the tree has fruit, the golden apples, the gods and the good souls live in the Upper World. Gods have the rank, although the most important figure of them is Isten. He controls the world, shapes the fate of humans, observes the Middle World from the sky, Isten created the world with the help of Ördög. Other gods include, Istenanya, also known as Boldogasszony, the major celestial bodies, are also located in the Upper World. The sky was thought to be a big tent held up by the Tree of Life, the several holes in it are the stars. The Sun, Moon, and symbols of the word, are known from Hungarian grave findings from the period of Hungarian conquest. The Middle World is shared among humans and many mythological creatures, there are ghosts of the forests and waters, who are ordered to scare humans. They have different names in different places, there are females, for example, the sellő, which lives in water and has a human torso with the tail of a fish. The wind is controlled by an old lady called Szélanya or Szélkirály, the Sárkány is a frightening beast, he is the enemy of many heroes in fairy tales, symbolising the psychical inner struggle of the hero. The Sárkány usually has 1-7 heads. The lidérc is a ghostly, mysterious creature with several different appearances, the manók and the törpék are foxy beings living in woods or under the ground. They have both good and bad qualities, favourite creatures are the tündérek, who are beautiful young virgins or female creatures. They aid humans, who sometimes can ask three wishes from them and their opposites are the bábák, who are equated with catty old witches. The Underworld is the place of bad souls and the home of Ördög, creator of everything bad for humans, for example, annoying animals such as fleas, lice, and flies. Another theory ties the religion to that of the Huns and Scythians due to similar or even identical legends to the Hungarian origin myth, speculation about contact with early Varangian settlers and merchants West of Atil also prevail due to similarities shared with Germanic / Norse mythology
11.
Alphonse-Marie-Adolphe de Neuville
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Alphonse de Neuville was a French Academic painter who studied under Eugène Delacroix. His dramatic and intensely patriotic subjects illustrated episodes from the Franco-Prussian War, the Crimean War, some of his works have been collected by the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg and by the Metropolitan Museum in New York. He was discouraged by several painters of repute, but he was admitted to work in the studio of François-Edouard Picot and he was painting by himself when he produced his first picture, The Fifth Battalion of Chasseurs at the Gervais Battery. He participated in illustrating the Hetzel editions of Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea and he also illustrated Le Tour du monde and Guizots History of France. In these he showed peculiar insight into military life and his full power was reached after the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71. The long-term French reaction was Revanchism, a sense of bitterness, hatred and demand for revenge against Germany, especially because of the loss of Alsace. Paintings that emphasized the humiliation of the came in high demand. He then aimed at depicting in his works the episodes of that war, in 1874 the Fight on a Railroad was not less successful, and was followed by the Attack on a House at Villersexel and the Railway Bridge at Styring. In 1878 the painter exhibited Le Bourget, the Surprise at Daybreak, The Intercepted Despatch-bearer, and he also exhibited in London some episodes of the Zulu War. Fifty thousand people paid to see his impression of The Defence of Rorkes Drift, in 1881 he was made an officer of the Légion dhonneur for The Cemetery of Saint-Privat and The Despatch-bearer and the Huns in the Battle of Chalon. During these years Neuville was at work with Édouard Detaille on an important though less artistic work, Neuville died in Paris on May 18,1885. At the sale of his works the state purchased for the Palais du Luxembourg the Bourget and the Attack on a Barricaded House, with a watercolor The Parley, Alphonse de Neuville, lépopée de la défaite, Paris, Copernic,1979. Jackson, David, Zulu War Paintings - Alphonse De Neuville, Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research, Vol. LXIX, southey, R. J. De Neuville and Isandhlwana, Africana Notes and News, Vol.19, No. Works by Alphonse-Marie-Adolphe de Neuville at Project Gutenberg Works by Alphonse de Neuville at Faded Page Works by or about Alphonse-Marie-Adolphe de Neuville at Internet Archive
12.
Paris
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Paris is the capital and most populous city of France. It has an area of 105 square kilometres and a population of 2,229,621 in 2013 within its administrative limits, the agglomeration has grown well beyond the citys administrative limits. By the 17th century, Paris was one of Europes major centres of finance, commerce, fashion, science, and the arts, and it retains that position still today. The aire urbaine de Paris, a measure of area, spans most of the Île-de-France region and has a population of 12,405,426. It is therefore the second largest metropolitan area in the European Union after London, the Metropole of Grand Paris was created in 2016, combining the commune and its nearest suburbs into a single area for economic and environmental co-operation. Grand Paris covers 814 square kilometres and has a population of 7 million persons, the Paris Region had a GDP of €624 billion in 2012, accounting for 30.0 percent of the GDP of France and ranking it as one of the wealthiest regions in Europe. The city is also a rail, highway, and air-transport hub served by two international airports, Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Paris-Orly. Opened in 1900, the subway system, the Paris Métro. It is the second busiest metro system in Europe after Moscow Metro, notably, Paris Gare du Nord is the busiest railway station in the world outside of Japan, with 262 millions passengers in 2015. In 2015, Paris received 22.2 million visitors, making it one of the top tourist destinations. The association football club Paris Saint-Germain and the rugby union club Stade Français are based in Paris, the 80, 000-seat Stade de France, built for the 1998 FIFA World Cup, is located just north of Paris in the neighbouring commune of Saint-Denis. Paris hosts the annual French Open Grand Slam tennis tournament on the red clay of Roland Garros, Paris hosted the 1900 and 1924 Summer Olympics and is bidding to host the 2024 Summer Olympics. The name Paris is derived from its inhabitants, the Celtic Parisii tribe. Thus, though written the same, the name is not related to the Paris of Greek mythology. In the 1860s, the boulevards and streets of Paris were illuminated by 56,000 gas lamps, since the late 19th century, Paris has also been known as Panam in French slang. Inhabitants are known in English as Parisians and in French as Parisiens and they are also pejoratively called Parigots. The Parisii, a sub-tribe of the Celtic Senones, inhabited the Paris area from around the middle of the 3rd century BC. One of the areas major north-south trade routes crossed the Seine on the île de la Cité, this place of land and water trade routes gradually became a town
13.
Noah
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In the Abrahamic religions, Noah was the tenth and last of the pre-flood Patriarchs. The story of Noahs Ark is told in the Bibles Genesis flood narrative, the biblical account is followed by the story of the Curse of Canaan. Noah was the subject of much elaboration in the literature of later Abrahamic religions, the primary account of Noah in the Bible is in the Book of Genesis. Noah was the tenth of the pre-flood Patriarchs and his father was Lamech and his mother is unknown. When Noah was five hundred years old, he begat Shem, Ham, the Genesis flood narrative makes up chapters 6–9 in the Book of Genesis, in the Bible. Thus, the flood was no ordinary overflow but a reversal of creation, and God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth. They were also told that all fowls, land animals, furthermore, as well as green plants, every moving thing would be their food with the exception that the blood was not to be eaten. Mans life blood would be required from the beasts and from man, whoso sheddeth mans blood, by man shall his blood be shed, for in the image of God made he man. Noah died 350 years after the flood, at the age of 950, the maximum human lifespan, as depicted by the Bible, diminishes rapidly thereafter, from almost 1,000 years to the 120 years of Moses. After the flood, Noah became a husbandman and he planted a vineyard, and he drank of the wine, and was drunken, and was uncovered within his tent. Noahs son Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father and told his brethren, in Jewish tradition and rabbinic literature, rabbis blame Satan for the intoxicating properties of the wine. In the field of biblical criticism, J. H. Ellens and W. G. Rollins address the narrative of Genesis 9. Because of its brevity and textual inconsistencies, it has suggested that this narrative is a splinter from a more substantial tale. A fuller account would explain what exactly Ham had done to his father, or why Noah directed a curse at Canaan for Hams misdeed, or how Noah came to know what occurred. The narrator relates two facts, Noah became drunken and he was uncovered within his tent, and Ham saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without. Thus, these passages revolve around sexuality and the exposure of genitalia as compared with other Hebrew Bible texts, such as Habakkuk 2,15 and Lamentations 4,21. Genesis 10 sets forth the descendants of Shem, Ham, and Japheth, among Japheth’s descendants were the maritime nations. Ham’s son Cush had a son named Nimrod, who became the first man of might on earth, a mighty hunter, king in Babylon, from there Asshur went and built Nineveh
14.
Verecke Pass
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Verecke Pass or Veretsky Pass is a mountain pass in Ukraine, one of the most important passes of the Inner Eastern Carpathian Mountains. It has an elevation of 841 meters, the pass has been well-traveled for more than a millennium. In 895 the Hungarian tribes entered the Carpathian Basin and during the century established the Kingdom of Hungary. During World War II the pass was the scene of further battles, since 1980 the pass has been bypassed by major highways. In 2008, the Hungarian government received permission from the Ukrainian government to install a monument to the passing of the Hungarian peoples into the future Hungary, the monument was designed by Ukrainian sculptor Petro Matl from Mukachevo. See a photo and map at Panoramio
15.
Carpathian Mountains
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The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians are a mountain range system forming an arc roughly 1,500 km long across Central and Eastern Europe, making them the second-longest mountain range in Europe. The Carpathians and their foothills also have many thermal and mineral waters, the Carpathians consist of a chain of mountain ranges that stretch in an arc from the Czech Republic in the northwest through Slovakia, Poland, Hungary and Ukraine to Romania and Serbia. The highest range within the Carpathians is the Tatras, on the border of Slovakia and Poland, the second-highest range is the Southern Carpathians in Romania, where the highest peaks exceed 2,500 m. The divisions of the Carpathians are usually in three sections, Western Carpathians — Czech Republic, Poland, and Slovakia. Eastern Carpathians — southeastern Poland, eastern Slovakia, Ukraine, Romania, the term Outer Carpathians is frequently used to describe the northern rim of the Western and Eastern Carpathians. The most important cities in or near the Carpathians are, Bratislava and Košice in Slovakia, Kraków in Poland, Cluj-Napoca, Sibiu and Braşov in Romania, and Uzhhorod in Ukraine. In modern times, the range is called Karpaty in Czech, Polish, Slovak and Карпати in Ukrainian, Carpați in Romanian, Karpaten in German, Kárpátok in Hungarian and Karpati or Карпати in Serbian. Although the toponym was recorded already by Ptolemy in the 2nd century CE, for instance, Havasok was its medieval Hungarian name, Rus and Romanian chronicles referred to it as Hungarian Mountains. The archaic Polish word karpa meant rugged irregularities, underwater obstacles/rocks, the more common word skarpa means a sharp cliff or other vertical terrain. In late Roman documents, the Eastern Carpathian Mountains were referred to as Montes Sarmatici, the Western Carpathians were called Carpates, a name that is first recorded in Ptolemys Geographia. In the Scandinavian Hervarar saga, which relates ancient Germanic legends about battles between Goths and Huns, the name Karpates appears in the predictable Germanic form as Harvaða fjöllum, inter Alpes Huniae et Oceanum est Polonia by Gervase of Tilbury, has described in his Otia Imperialia in 1211. Thirteenth- to fifteenth-century Hungarian documents named the mountains Thorchal, Tarczal or less frequently Montes Nivium, the northwestern Carpathians begin in Slovakia and southern Poland. They surround Transcarpathia and Transylvania in a semicircle, sweeping towards the southeast. The total length of the Carpathians is over 1,500 km, the highest altitudes of the Carpathians occur where they are widest. The Carpathians cover an area of 190,000 km2 and, after the Alps, although commonly referred to as a mountain chain, the Carpathians do not actually form an uninterrupted chain of mountains. Rather, they consist of several orographically and geologically distinctive groups, the Carpathians at their highest altitude are only as high as the middle region of the Alps, with which they share a common appearance, climate, and flora. The Carpathians are separated from the Alps by the Danube, the two ranges meet at only one point, the Leitha Mountains at Bratislava. The river also separates them from the Balkan Mountains at Orşova in Romania, the valley of the March and Oder separates the Carpathians from the Silesian and Moravian chains, which belong to the middle wing of the great Central Mountain System of Europe
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Mukachevo
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Mukacheve is a city located in the valley of the Latorica river in Zakarpattia Oblast, in Western Ukraine. The city is now a terminus and highway junction, and has beer, wine, tobacco, food, textile, timber. During the Cold War it was home to Mukacheve air base combined with a radar station, therefore, the population of Mukacheve is officially reported as 77. 1% ethnic Ukrainian. There are also significant minorities of, Russians, Hungarians, Germans, There are many different ways to name Mukacheve. In Ukrainian it is spelled as Mukacheve while Мукачів is sometimes also used. Its name in Rusyn is Мукачево, which is also a Russian transliteration -Russian, Мукачево- as well as a name adopted by the local authorities and portrayed on the citys coat of arms. Other names are Hungarian, Munkács, Romanian, Muncaci, Munceag, Polish Mukaczewo, Slovak and Czech, Mukačevo, German, Munkatsch, Yiddish, archaeological excavation suggest that early settlements existed here before the Middle Ages. For example, a Celtic oppidum and metal center that existed in the 3rd-1st century BC were found between the Halish and Lovachka mountains. A Thracian fort of the Iron Age was found on the mountain of Tupcha, around the 1st century the area was occupied by the Carpi people who displaced the local Celts from the area. In 895 the Hungarian tribes entered the Carpathian Basin through the Verecke Pass, during the next century they established the Hungarians and Munkachevo became a regional center of power of Hungarian kings. In 1397, the town and its surrounding was granted by King Sigismund of Hungary to his vassal the Ruthenian prince Theodor Koriatovich, during the 15th century, the city prospered and became a prominent craft and trade center for the region. In 1445, the became a Hungarian free royal town. It was also granted the rights of Magdeburg law, during the 16th century, Mukacheve became part of the Principality of Transylvania. The 17th century was a time of struggle against the expansionist intentions of the Habsburg Empire for the Principality. In 1687 the anti-Habsburg Revolt of Imre Thököly started out from Mukacheve, the region also played an important role in Rákóczis War of Independence. After the defeat of Francis II Rákóczi the city came under Austrian control in the century as part of the Kingdom of Hungary and was made a key fortress of the Habsburg Monarchy. In 1726, the Palanok Castle and the town, before 1711 owned by the Rákóczi family, was given by the Habsburgs to the Schönborn family and they also settled many Germans in the territory, thereby causing an economic boom of the region. During 1796-1897, the castle, until then a strong fortress
17.
Stephen I of Hungary
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Stephen I, also known as King Saint Stephen, was the last Grand Prince of the Hungarians between 997 and 1000 or 1001, and the first King of Hungary from 1000 or 1001 until his death in 1038. The year of his birth is uncertain, but many details of his life suggest that he was born in or after 975 in Esztergom, at his birth, he was given the pagan name Vajk. The date of his baptism is unknown and he was the only son of Grand Prince Géza and his wife, Sarolt, who was descended from the prominent family of the gyulas. Although both of his parents were baptized, Stephen was the first member of his family to become a devout Christian and he married Gisela of Bavaria, a scion of the imperial Ottonian dynasty. After succeeding his father in 997, Stephen had to fight for the throne against his relative, Koppány and he defeated Koppány mainly with the assistance of foreign knights, including Vecelin, Hont and Pázmány, but also with help from native lords. He was crowned on 25 December 1000 or 1 January 1001 with a crown sent by Pope Sylvester II, in a series of wars against semi-independent tribes and chieftains—including the Black Hungarians and his uncle, Gyula the Younger—he unified the Carpathian Basin. He protected the independence of his kingdom by forcing the troops of Conrad II, Holy Roman Emperor. Stephen established at least one archbishopric, six bishoprics and three Benedictine monasteries, thus the Church in Hungary developed independently of the archbishops of the Holy Roman Empire and he encouraged the spread of Christianity with severe punishments for ignoring Christian customs. His system of administration was based on counties organized around fortresses. Hungary, which enjoyed a period of peace during his reign, became a preferred route for pilgrims. He survived all of his children and he died on 15 August 1038 and was buried in his new basilica, built in Székesfehérvár and dedicated to the Holy Virgin. His death caused civil wars which lasted for decades and he was canonized by Pope Gregory VII, together with his son, Emeric, and Bishop Gerard of Csanád, in 1083. Stephen is a saint in Hungary and the neighboring territories. In Hungary, his feast day is also a holiday commemorating the foundation of the state. Stephens birth date is uncertain because it was not recorded in contemporaneous documents, Hungarian and Polish chronicles written centuries later give three different years,967,969 and 975. Géza promoted the spread of Christianity among his subjects by force, however, this identification is not unanimously accepted, historian György Györffy states that it was not Sarolts father, but his younger brother, who was baptized in the Byzantine capital. Stephen was born as Vajk, a derived from the Turkic word baj, meaning hero, master. Stephens Greater Legend narrates that he was baptized by the saintly Bishop Adalbert of Prague, however, Saint Adalberts nearly contemporaneous Legend, written by Bruno of Querfurt, does not mention this event
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Austro-Hungarian gulden
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The Gulden or forint was the currency of the lands of the House of Habsburg between 1754 and 1892, when it was replaced by the Krone/korona as part of the introduction of the gold standard. In Austria, the Gulden was initially divided into 60 Kreuzer, and in Hungary, the currency was decimalized in 1857, using the same names for the unit and subunit. The name Gulden was used on the pre-1867 Austrian banknotes and on the German language side of the post-1867 banknotes, in southern Germany, the word Gulden was the standard word for a major currency unit. The name Florin was used on Austrian coins and forint was used on the Hungarian language side of the post-1867 banknotes and it comes from the city of Florence, Italy where the first florins were minted. Until 1806, Austria was the state of the Holy Roman Empire. Following the winding up of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, in 1857, the Vereinsthaler was introduced across the German Confederation and Austria-Hungary, with a silver content of 16 2⁄3 grams. This was slightly less than 1 1⁄2 times the content of the Gulden. Consequently, Austria-Hungary adopted a new standard for the Gulden, containing two-thirds as much silver as the Vereinsthaler and this involved a debasement of the currency of 4. 97%. Austria-Hungary also decimalized at the time, resulting in a new currency system of 100 Kreuzer =1 Gulden. In 1892 the Austro-Hungarian Gulden was replaced by the Krone, at a rate of 2 Krone =1 Gulden, copper coins were initially issued in denominations of 1 Heller up to 1 Kreuzer, with silver coins in denominations from 3 Kreuzer up to 1 Conventionsthaler. The Turkish and Napoleonic Wars led to issues in various denominations. These included a 12 Kreuzer coin which only contained 6 Kreuzer worth of silver and was later overstruck to produce a 7 Kreuzer coin, in 1807, copper coins were issued in denominations of 15 and 30 Kreuzer by the Wiener Stadt Banco. These issues were tied in value to the paper money. The coinage returned to its state after 1814. The only copper coin was a poltura worth 1 1⁄2 krajczár, whilst there were silver 3,5,10,20 and 30 krajczár, all issues ceased in 1794 and did not resume until 1830, when silver coins of 20 krajczár and above were issued. Only in 1868, following the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867, did an issue of coins for Hungary begin. Denominations were fewer than in Austria, with copper 1⁄2,1 and 4 krajczár, silver 10 and 20 krajczár and 1 forint, between 1759 and 1811, the Wiener Stadt Banco issued paper money denominated in Gulden. However, the banknotes were not tied to the coinage and their values floated relative to one another, in 1858, new notes were issued denominated in Austrian Currency rather than Convention Currency
19.
Siege of Budapest
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The Siege of Budapest or the Battle of Budapest was the 50-day-long encirclement of the Hungarian capital of Budapest by Soviet forces near the end of World War II. Part of the broader Budapest Offensive, the siege began when Budapest, defended by Hungarian and German troops, was first encircled on 26 December 1944 by the Red Army, during the siege, about 38,000 civilians died from starvation and military action. The city unconditionally surrendered on 13 February 1945 and it was a strategic victory for the Allies in their push towards Berlin. Suffering from nearly 200,000 deaths in three years fighting the Soviet Union, and with the front lines approaching its own cities, as political forces within Hungary pushed for an end to the fighting, Germany preemptively launched Operation Margarethe 19 March 1944, and entered Hungary. Upon hearing of Horthys efforts, Hitler launched Operation Panzerfaust to keep Hungary on the Axis side, Horthy and his government were replaced by Hungarist Ferenc Szálasi, led by the far-right National Socialist Arrow Cross Party. The besieging Soviet forces were part of Rodion Malinovskys 2nd Ukrainian Front, arrayed against the Soviets was a collection of German Army, Waffen-SS, and Hungarian Army forces. The Siege of Budapest was one of the bloodiest sieges of World War II, the Red Army started its offensive against the city on 29 October 1944. More than 1,000,000 men, split into two operating maneuver groups, advanced, the plan was to isolate Budapest from the rest of the German and Hungarian forces. On 7 November 1944, Soviet and Romanian troops entered the suburbs,20 kilometers from the old town. The Red Army, after a pause in hostilities, resumed its offensive 19 December. On 26 December, a road linking Budapest to Vienna was seized by Soviet troops, the nazi Leader of the Nation, Ferenc Szálasi, had already fled 9 December. As a result of the Soviet link-up, nearly 33,000 German and 37,000 Hungarian soldiers, as well as over 800,000 civilians, became trapped within the city. Refusing to authorize a withdrawal, Adolf Hitler had declared Budapest a fortress city, Waffen SS General Karl Pfeffer-Wildenbruch, the commander of the IX Waffen SS Alpine Corps, was put in charge of the citys defenses. Budapest was a target for Joseph Stalin. The Yalta Conference was approaching and Stalin wanted to display his strength to Churchill. He therefore ordered General Rodion Malinovsky to seize the city without delay, during the night of 28 December 1944, the 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian Front contacted the besieged Germans by radios and loudspeakers and told them about a negotiation for the citys capitulation. The Soviets promised to provide humane conditions and not to mistreat the German and Hungarian prisoners. They also promised that the groups would not bring weapons
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World War II
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World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945, although related conflicts began earlier. It involved the vast majority of the worlds countries—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing alliances, the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, and directly involved more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. Marked by mass deaths of civilians, including the Holocaust and the bombing of industrial and population centres. These made World War II the deadliest conflict in human history, from late 1939 to early 1941, in a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany conquered or controlled much of continental Europe, and formed the Axis alliance with Italy and Japan. Under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union partitioned and annexed territories of their European neighbours, Poland, Finland, Romania and the Baltic states. In December 1941, Japan attacked the United States and European colonies in the Pacific Ocean, and quickly conquered much of the Western Pacific. The Axis advance halted in 1942 when Japan lost the critical Battle of Midway, near Hawaii, in 1944, the Western Allies invaded German-occupied France, while the Soviet Union regained all of its territorial losses and invaded Germany and its allies. During 1944 and 1945 the Japanese suffered major reverses in mainland Asia in South Central China and Burma, while the Allies crippled the Japanese Navy, thus ended the war in Asia, cementing the total victory of the Allies. World War II altered the political alignment and social structure of the world, the United Nations was established to foster international co-operation and prevent future conflicts. The victorious great powers—the United States, the Soviet Union, China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers, setting the stage for the Cold War, which lasted for the next 46 years. Meanwhile, the influence of European great powers waned, while the decolonisation of Asia, most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery. Political integration, especially in Europe, emerged as an effort to end pre-war enmities, the start of the war in Europe is generally held to be 1 September 1939, beginning with the German invasion of Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later. The dates for the beginning of war in the Pacific include the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, or even the Japanese invasion of Manchuria on 19 September 1931. Others follow the British historian A. J. P. Taylor, who held that the Sino-Japanese War and war in Europe and its colonies occurred simultaneously and this article uses the conventional dating. Other starting dates sometimes used for World War II include the Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3 October 1935. The British historian Antony Beevor views the beginning of World War II as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol fought between Japan and the forces of Mongolia and the Soviet Union from May to September 1939, the exact date of the wars end is also not universally agreed upon. It was generally accepted at the time that the war ended with the armistice of 14 August 1945, rather than the formal surrender of Japan
21.
Rotunda (architecture)
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A rotunda is any building with a circular ground plan, and sometimes covered by a dome. It can also refer to a room within a building. The Pantheon in Rome is a famous rotunda, a Band Rotunda is a circular bandstand, usually with a dome. The rotunda has historical and architectural value because it was widespread in medieval Central Europe, a great number of parochial churches were built in this form in the 9th to 11th centuries BCE in Central Europe. This type of circular shaped parochial building can be found in great number in Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Croatia, Austria, Bavaria, Dalmatia, Germany, and it was thought of as a structure descending from the Roman Pantheon. However, it can be found mainly not on former Roman territories, generally its size was 6–9 meters inner diameter and the apsis was directed toward the east. Sometimes 3 or 4 apsides were glued to the central circle, several types of rotundas are found in the Carpathian Basin, within the former boundaries of Medieval Hungary. The role and form developed from gradual enlargements of ancient small village churches, many of them still stand today, e. g. in Nagytótlak, Kallósd and Kissikátor in Hungary or in Bíňa and Šivetice in Slovakia. In many places the ancient foundations have been excavated and conserved, the village church of Sárospatak is complete with a simple circular nave and an eastern apse. The church of Alagimajor at Dunakeszi was enlarged toward the apse in the 14th century, in many cases the rotunda was used as the apse of the villages new and larger church. Such semi-circle apses are preserved all over the Carpathian Basin, rotundas of six apses, a most interesting form, are found at Karcsa, Kiszombor in Hungary, at Horjany in Ukraine and several places in Armenia. There is a connection between Central European and Caucasian rotundas of the 9th to 11th centuries BCE. Several Armenian built rotunda churches have sixfold arched central apsis, i. e. at Aragatz, Bagaran, Bagnayr, Botshor, at the same time eightfold arched central buildings are also frequently occurring in Armenia, Ani, Irind, Varzhahan. It was a suggestion that there was not only western European, temple of Heaven construction completed on 1420 during Yongle Emperor who also constructed Forbidden City of China. Fujian Tulou is a traditional rural dwellings of the Hakka in Fujian region of China and they are built between the 12th and the 20th centuries. The Baptistery at the Piazza dei Miracoli, Pisa, Italy, the Church of the Rotonda in Thessaloniki, built as the Tomb of Galerius in 306 AD. The St George Rotunda in Sofia, Bulgaria, a 4th-century Early Christian church, St. George Cathedral Church at Zvartnots, Armenia. St. Martins Rotunda in Vyšehrad Castle, Prague, Czech Republic, the Rotunda of St Marija Assunta in Mosta, Malta
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Poland
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Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe, situated between the Baltic Sea in the north and two mountain ranges in the south. Bordered by Germany to the west, the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south, Ukraine and Belarus to the east, the total area of Poland is 312,679 square kilometres, making it the 69th largest country in the world and the 9th largest in Europe. With a population of over 38.5 million people, Poland is the 34th most populous country in the world, the 8th most populous country in Europe, Poland is a unitary state divided into 16 administrative subdivisions, and its capital and largest city is Warsaw. Other metropolises include Kraków, Wrocław, Poznań, Gdańsk and Szczecin, the establishment of a Polish state can be traced back to 966, when Mieszko I, ruler of a territory roughly coextensive with that of present-day Poland, converted to Christianity. The Kingdom of Poland was founded in 1025, and in 1569 it cemented a political association with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania by signing the Union of Lublin. This union formed the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, one of the largest and most populous countries of 16th and 17th century Europe, Poland regained its independence in 1918 at the end of World War I, reconstituting much of its historical territory as the Second Polish Republic. In September 1939, World War II started with the invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany, followed thereafter by invasion by the Soviet Union. More than six million Polish citizens died in the war, after the war, Polands borders were shifted westwards under the terms of the Potsdam Conference. With the backing of the Soviet Union, a communist puppet government was formed, and after a referendum in 1946. During the Revolutions of 1989 Polands Communist government was overthrown and Poland adopted a new constitution establishing itself as a democracy, informally called the Third Polish Republic. Since the early 1990s, when the transition to a primarily market-based economy began, Poland has achieved a high ranking on the Human Development Index. Poland is a country, which was categorised by the World Bank as having a high-income economy. Furthermore, it is visited by approximately 16 million tourists every year, Poland is the eighth largest economy in the European Union and was the 6th fastest growing economy on the continent between 2010 and 2015. According to the Global Peace Index for 2014, Poland is ranked 19th in the list of the safest countries in the world to live in. The origin of the name Poland derives from a West Slavic tribe of Polans that inhabited the Warta River basin of the historic Greater Poland region in the 8th century, the origin of the name Polanie itself derives from the western Slavic word pole. In some foreign languages such as Hungarian, Lithuanian, Persian and Turkish the exonym for Poland is Lechites, historians have postulated that throughout Late Antiquity, many distinct ethnic groups populated the regions of what is now Poland. The most famous archaeological find from the prehistory and protohistory of Poland is the Biskupin fortified settlement, dating from the Lusatian culture of the early Iron Age, the Slavic groups who would form Poland migrated to these areas in the second half of the 5th century AD. With the Baptism of Poland the Polish rulers accepted Christianity and the authority of the Roman Church
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