B


 * English Glossary **


 * Babylon:** the capital of Babylonia; a city of great wealth and luxury.


 * Balfour Declaration:** a communication to the Zionists by A.J.Balfour, the British Foreign Secretary, declaring British support for establishing a national home for the Jews in Palestine.


 * "Balkan Prussia":** Bulgaria was compared to Prussia, which in the eyes of the Allies had an aggressive and militarist reputation.


 * Balkans:**


 * Baltic States:**

Banalities: exactions that the lord of a manor could make on his tenants.

Banished: punished by being sent out of the country in which you live.


 * Bankrupt(ed):**


 * Barbarous:**


 * BDM:** Bund Deutscher Mädel (League of German Girls); a Nazi youth organisation.


 * BEF (British Epeditionary Force):**

Beguines: lay sisterhoods not bound by the rules of religious order.


 * Belief:**


 * Belligerent:** warlike

Benefice: Church offices granted by the ruler of a state or the pope to an individual. It also meant fief in the Middle Ages.


 * Benevolent neutrality:** favouring one side while not officially supporting them.


 * Big Three**


 * Bilateral:** two sides; involving two parties or countries.


 * bill:**


 * Bill of Rights:**


 * Bishop:**


 * Bismarckian constitution:** introduced by Bismarck in 1871; kept executive power in the hands of the Kaiser and the ministers he appointed.

**Bitterness: ** having a harsh and bitter taste (can be used to make reference to a feeling as ‘sad and bitter memory of my childhood’)


 * Black Death:** the bubonic plague that killed millions of Europeans in the fourteenth century.


 * Black Hand:** this secret terrorist organisation was founded in May 1911 and by 1914 probably had about 2500 members. They included a considerable number of the army officers who had taken part in the Serbian revolution of 1903. Its aim was to work for the union of the Serbs living in the Austrian and Turkish Empires with Serbia.


 * Blank cheque:** a free hand, unconditional support.


 * Blitz**


 * Blitzkrieg:** meaning "lightning war". The German tactic early in World War II of employing fast-moving, massed armored columns supported by air power to overwhelm the enemy.


 * Blockade:**


 * Bolshevism:** the ideology of the Russian Communist (Bolshevik) Party. It was based on the theories of Karl Marx and Lenin, which predicted the overthrow of capitalism and the creation of socialism. Government by workers' councils or soviets.


 * Bombardment:**


 * Bonds:** certificates issued by a government or large company promising to repay borrowed money at a fixed rate of interest by a specified date.


 * Bourgeoisie:** the middle class; the Marxist definition refers to the social class that owns the means of production, the proprietors.

Boyards: the Russian nobility.


 * Bracade:** silk fabric with a raised pattern woven into it.

Bronze Age: the name given to the earliest civilized era, c. 4000 BC. The term reflects the importance of the metal bronze, a mixture of tin a copper, for the peoples of this age for use as weapons and tools.

**Burning incense: **to burn incense was sort of a ritual action to celebrate the King, is like giving an offering, with presents and luxury goods.


 * Buffer state:** small state positioned between two much larger ones.


 * Bureaucracy:**

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 * Glosario en español**

Balanza comercial:

Balanza de pagos:

Bastión:

Bolchevique:

Burócratas: