think tank Institute, corporation, or group organized for interdiscipli¬ nary research, usually conducted for governmental and commercial cli¬ ents. Projects for government clients often involve social policy planning and national defense. Commercial projects include developing and test¬ ing new technologies and new products. Funding sources include endow¬ ments, contracts, private donations, and sales of reports. See also RAND Corp.
thinking or thought Action of using one’s mind to produce thoughts, or covert symbolic responses to stimuli. Theories of thought and thought processes have concentrated largely on directed thinking, including prob¬ lem solving. At the beginning of the 20th century, researchers focused on studying mental associations. Theorists of Gestalt psychology in the 1920s and ’30s believed the elements of thought to be in the nature of patterns elicited from experience. Today these elements are often regarded as bits of information undergoing processing. See also cognitive psychology, INFORMATION PROCESSING.
Thira \'the-ra\ ancient Thera Vthir-sX formerly Santorini Island, southern Cyclades, Greece. The remaining half of an exploded volcano, it surrounds a lagoon with volcanic cliffs rising to almost 1,000 ft (300 m). It was settled in the Bronze Age; Minoan remains date to before 2000 bc. One of the largest known volcanic eruptions occurred on the island c. 1500 bc, depositing ash and pumice as far away as Egypt and Israel. The eruption has been linked to such phenomena as the miracles of the Exodus and the sinking of Atlantis. Excavations have revealed a rich Minoan city buried under the volcanic debris. It was resettled by Dorian invaders c. 1000 bc.
Third Estate French Tiers Etat In French history, one of the three orders (with the nobility and the clergy) of the Estates-General before the French Revolution. The unprivileged order, it represented the great major¬ ity of the people. Its transformation with the Tennis Court Oath into a National Assembly in 1789 marked the beginning of the Revolution.
Third International See Comintern
Third Reich Vrik\ Official designation for the Nazi Party’s regime in Germany from January 1933 to May 1945. The name reflects Adolf Hit¬ ler’s conception of his expansionist regime—which he predicted would last 1,000 years—as the presumed successor of the Holy Roman Empire (800-1806, the First Reich) and the German empire under the Hohenzol- lern dynasty (1871-1918, the Second Reich).
Third Republic French government (1870-1940). After the fall of the Second Empire and the suppression of the Paris Commune, the new Consti¬ tutional Laws of 1875 were adopted, establishing a regime based on par¬ liamentary supremacy. Despite its series of short-lived governments, the Third Republic was marked by social stability (except for the Alfred Drey¬ fus affair), industrialization, and establishment of a professional civil ser¬ vice. It ended with the fall of France to the Germans in 1940. Presidents of the Third Republic included Adolphe Thiers (1871-73), Maurice de Mac- Mahon (1873-79), Jules Grevy (1879-87), Sadi Carnot (1887-94), Felix Faure (1895-99), Emile Loubet (1899-1906), Armand Fallieres (1906- 13), Raymond Poincare (1913-20), Alexandre Millerand (1920-24), Gaston Doumergue (1924-31), and Albert Lebrun (1932-40). Other notable lead¬ ers included Leon Blum, Georges Boulanger, Aristide Briand, Georges Clem- enceau, Edouard Daladier, Jules Ferry, Leon Gambetta, Edouard Herriot, Jean Jaures, Pierre Laval, Philippe Petain, and Paul Reynaud.
© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
1900 I Third Section ► Thomas
Third Section or Third Department Office created in 1826 by Tsar Nicholas I to conduct secret police operations. Designed and headed (1826-44) by Count Aleksandr Benckendorff (1783-1844), it gathered information on political dissidents and banished suspected political crimi¬ nals to remote regions. It collaborated with the Corps of Gendarmes (formed in 1836), a military force that operated throughout Russia, and with a network of spies and informers. The department grew increasingly repressive, and in the 1870s it arrested many Narodniks (Populists) who agitated among the peasantry. It was abolished in 1880, and its functions were transferred to the police of the interior ministry.
third world Political designation originally used (1963) to describe those states not part of the first world—the capitalist, economically devel¬ oped states led by the U.S.—or the second world—the communist states led by the Soviet Union. The third world principally consists of the devel¬ oping world, former colonies of Africa, Asia, and Latin America. With the end of the Cold War and the increased economic competitiveness of some developing countries, the term has lost its analytic clarity.
Thirteen Articles of Faith or Thirteen Principles of Faith Sum¬ mary of the basic tenets of Judaism. It was formulated by Moses Maimonides in his commentary on the Mishna, in an effort to put forth true concepts of God and faith as a tool in avoiding error. Though presented as dogma, his statement was a personal concept and has been much debated and revised. The articles state various doctrines concerning the nature of God, the law, and Moses, and they affirm that the Messiah is coming and that the dead will rise. All versions include the hymn “Yigdal,” which is part of most Jewish prayer services.
Thirty Tyrants (404—403 bc) SpARTAN-imposed oligarchy that ruled Ath¬ ens after the Peloponnesian War. Thirty commissioners were appointed to the oligarchy, which had an extremist conservative core, led by Critias. Their oppressive regime fostered a bloody purge, in which perhaps 1,500 residents were killed. Many moderates fled the city; gathering a force, they returned to defeat the tyrants’ forces in a battle at Piraeus in 403. The 30 fled and were killed off over the next few years.
Thirty Years'War (1618-48) Series of intermittent conflicts in Europe fought for various reasons, including religious, dynastic, territorial, and commercial rivalries. The overall war was mainly a struggle between the Habsburg-controlled Holy Roman Empire and the Protestant principali¬ ties that relied on the chief anti-Catholic powers of Sweden and the Neth¬ erlands. It also involved the rivalry of France with the Habsburg powers, which formed anti-French alliances. The conflicts began in 1618 when the future Emperor Ferdinand II tried to impose Roman Catholicism on his domains and the Protestant nobles rebelled; the war was sparked by the Defenestration of Prague. The battlefield centred on the principalities in Germany, which suffered severely from plundering armies. Early suc¬ cesses by the Catholic League were countered by military gains by Swe¬ den. When the bloodshed ended with the Peace of Westphalia (1648), the balance of power in Europe had been radically changed. France emerged as the chief Western power, and states of the Holy Roman Empire were granted full sovereignty, establishing a framework for a modern Europe of sovereign states.
Thiruvananthapuram formerly Trivandrum Vtro-'van-dranA Sea¬ port (pop., 2001: 744,983), capital of Kerala state, southwestern India. The community became prominent when it was made capital of the kingdom of Travancore in 1745. A large fort contains several palaces and a Vaish- nava temple, which is a noted pilgrimage centre. Its cultural amenities include the University of Kerala (1937).