Glossary — B

Glossary terms beginning with B.

boyar: Between the tenth and seventeenth centuries, a member of the upper level of the nobility and state administration in Kievan Rus’ and Muscovy. Abolished as a class by Peter the Great.
brahman: The Absolute Reality, the eternal, supreme, or ultimate principle. A state of pure transcendence. In some Vedantic schools of Hindu thought, a Supreme Being who is the cause of the universe, with theistic attributes. Not to be confused with Brahman (q.v., the priestly caste group).
Brahman(s): From the Sanskrit brahmana, one of four major caste groups (varna) or social classes. Brahmans are the highest caste group, traditionally made up of priests, philosophers, scholars, and religious leaders. Not to be confused with brahman (q.v., the Absolute Reality).
Bretton Woods System: A structure of fixed exchange rates developed at the 1944 Bretton Woods Conference, which established the International Monetary Fund (q.v.) and the World Bank (q.v.). The Bretton Woods System was in effect until 1971.
Brezhnev Doctrine: The Soviet Union’s declared right to intervene in the internal affairs of another socialist state if the leading role of that state’s communist party was threatened. Formulated as justification for the Soviet Union’s invasion of Czechoslovakia in August 1968. Mikhail S. Gorbachev implicitly abandoned the Brezhnev Doctrine in 1989.
British Raj (1858-1947): The period of direct rule of India by the British government. The period began with the demise of the Mughal Empire and of East India Company rule and ended with the achievement of independence by India and Pakistan. During this time, the British crown was represented in India by a viceroy.
Bukovina (Bucovina in Romanian; Bukovyna in Ukrainian): An area in the eastern foothills of the Carpathian Mountains populated principally by ethnic Ukrainians and Romanians. Over the centuries, Bukovina has belonged to various states, including Kievan Rus’, Moldova, and Austria-Hungary. In 1940 the northern half of Bukovina became part of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, while the southern half remained part of Romania.; Source: Library of Congress
Bukovina (var., Bucovina): Region in the foothills of the Eastern Carpathians at the headwaters of the Prut, Siret, and Dniester rivers. The region belonged to Romania between World War I and World War II, but was annexed by the Soviet Union in 1940.
Bund: A political labor organization of Jewish workers founded in Vilna, Lithuania in 1987. The name is an abbreviation in Yiddish for The General Union of Jewish Workers in Russia, Lithuania, and Poland. The Bund opposed Zionism and viewed Yiddish as the only secular Jewish language.; Source: Library of Congress
Bund(General Union of Jewish Workers in Russia and Poland): A Jewish socialist movement founded in Vilnius in 1897 by Jewish workers and intellectuals in the Russian Empire (q.v.). The Bund divided into two groups in 1920. The larger group merged with the Bolshevik (q.v.) branch of the communist party, while the minority remained independent until it was suppressed by the Bolshevik government. The Bund was active in Poland between the two world wars.; Source: Library of Congress
Bundesbank: The German central bank, with headquarters in Frankfurt am Main, was established in 1957.
bushido: Literally, the way of the warrior (samurai), a term applied to the principles of loyalty and honor; a code of stoic endurance, scorn of danger and death, religious worship of country and sovereign, and proper social relationships; an aesthetic life- style.
Byzantine: Medieval Christian civilization that combined European and Asian cultures on an ancient Greco-Roman foundation. Centered at Byzantium (known as Constantinople 330-1930, and later called Istanbul), the Byzantine Empire occupied western Turkey and the Balkans and, as the center of Orthodox Christianity, exerted strong influence on many of the Slavic peoples of Eastern Europe.