Veracruz incident (1914) Occupation of Veracruz, Mex., by U.S. marines. In April 1914, after the crew of a U.S. ship that had anchored in
Tampico was briefly detained for landing in a forbidden area, Pres. Wood- row Wilson demanded an apology from the Mexican government. When Mexican president Victoriano Huerta refused, Wilson sent a fleet to the Gulf of Mexico. After learning of an arms shipment to Huerta from Ger¬ many, Wilson ordered the port of Veracruz seized. By July the invasion had caused 200 Mexican casualties and had enabled the rival Constitu¬ tionalists under Venustiano Carranza (who had denounced the seizure by the U.S.) to take over the government. Huerta was forced into exile, and the U.S. marines were withdrawn on November 14.
Veralden-radien Vva-a-.ral-dan-'ra-de-enN Deity believed by the Sami to be the closest to the starry heaven. Because he is associated with the pillar supporting the heavens, he is also responsible for the continuance of life. He imparts the souls of unborn children to Madderakka and takes the souls of the departed to the realm of the dead. He was also the sub¬ ject of a phallic cult; each year the genitalia and blood of a bull reindeer were smeared on his statue. His worship has many Scandinavian features, which has led scholars to seek his origin in Norse mythology.
verbena Xvor-'be-nsX Plant genus ( Verbena ) that contains about 250 species, almost all of them native to the New World tropics and subtrop¬ ics. Two species are indigenous to the Old World. The familiar garden verbena ( V. hortensis, or V. hybrida ) is a creeping plant that has square stems and bears flat heads of phloxlike flowers, in a wide range of colours. Many U.S. species of Verbena are low-growing, small-flowered, some¬ what weedy plants more commonly called vervains. The shrub lemon verbena (Aloysia triphylla ), notable for its fragrant oil, is a member of the verbena, or vervain, family (family Verbenaceae), which contains more than 2,600 species in about 100 genera. Members of the family have opposite or whorled leaves that are usually undivided. The flowers, in spikes or clusters, usually consist of a tube flaring into four or five almost equally cut lobes. The family also includes teak.
Vercingetorix \ l v3r-s9n- , je-t3-,riks\ (d. 46 bc) Chieftain of the Gallic tribe of the Arvemi. Julius Caesar had almost subjugated Gaul (see Gal¬ lic Wars) when Vercingetorix, acclaimed king of his people, led the Gauls against him (52 bc), using guerrilla tactics and picking battle sites favour¬ able to his own forces. After winning a major victory at Gergovia, his later attack on the Roman army failed; besieged at Alesia, he was forced to surrender. Taken to Rome in chains, he was displayed in Caesar’s tri¬ umph and executed six years later.
Verdi \'ver-de\, Giuseppe (Fortunato Francesco) (b. Oct. 9/10, 1813, Roncole, near Busseto, duchy of Parma—d. Jan. 27, 1901, Milan, Italy) Italian composer. He was the son of an innkeeper, and he showed talent early. While earning a living as an organist, he began to write operas in Milan; in 1839 his Oberto was successfully performed at La Scala, and it initiated Verdi’s long association with the publisher Giulio Ricordi. His next opera, Un giorno di regno ( 1840), was a failure. Much worse, Verdi’s two young daughters and his wife died. He overcame his despair by com¬ posing Nabucco (1842); it was a sensational success and was followed by the equally successful I Lombardi (1843). For the rest of the decade he wrote a hit opera every year. Rejecting the prevailing structure of Italian opera—a patchwork of open-ended scenes and inserted arias, duets, and trios—he began conceiving of an opera as a series of integrated scenes, then as unified acts. Specializing in stories in which people’s private and public lives come into conflict, he produced a series of masterworks, including Rigoletto (1851), II trovatore (1853), La traviata (1853), Don Carlos (1867), and Aida (1871). A fervent nationalist, he was regarded as a great national figure. After composing his Requiem (1874), he retired, but when Ricordi brought him together with the poet and composer Arrigo Boito, initially to revise Simon Boccanegra, their mutual esteem led to the two great operas of Verdi’s old age, Otello (1886) and Falstaff{ 1890).
Verdigris Vvor-ds-grosX River River, southeastern Kansas and north¬ eastern Oklahoma, U.S. It rises in east-central Kansas and flows south across the Oklahoma border, emptying into the Arkansas River northeast of Muskogee, Okla. It is 350 mi (560 km) long.
Verdun War-'danV, Battle of (Feb. 21-July 1916) Major engagement of World War I between Germany and France. As part of its strategy of war by attrition, Germany selected the fortress of Verdun as the site it believed France would defend to the last man. After a massive bombard¬ ment, the Germans advanced with little opposition for four days before the reinforced French army under Philippe Petain slowed their advance. For two months the hills west of the Meuse River and north of Verdun were bombarded, attacked, and counterattacked. By July, Germany, which was
Venus's-flytrap (Dionaea muscipula)
JACK DERMID
© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
Verdun ► Vernet I 1997
also engaged in the Battle of the Somme, had abandoned its strategy of attrition, and France gradually regained its forts and territory. The dev¬ astating losses included more than 400,000 French casualties and nearly as many German casualties.
Verdun, Treaty of (843) Treaty partitioning the Carolingian empire among the three surviving sons of Louis I (the Pious). It marked a first stage in the dissolution of Charlemagne’s empire and a step toward the formation of the modem countries of western Europe. The treaty was signed following three years of civil war between the three brothers. Lothar I received the imperial title and Francia Media, which included much of Italy as well as parts of several other present-day European countries. Louis the German received Francia Orientalis, the land east of the Rhine River, and Charles II (the Bald) received Francia Occidentalis, the remainder of modem France.
Verga \'var-ga\, Giovanni (b. Sept. 2, 1840, Catania, Sicily—d. Jan. 27, 1922, Catania) Italian writer, the most important of the verismo (real¬ ist) school of novelists. Bom to a family of landowners, Verga left Sicily for the mainland, where he remained until 1893. There he developed a writing style noted for its terse accuracy and intensity of feeling. His best works include the short stories of Little Novels of Sicily (1883), the nov¬ els The House by the Medlar Tree (1881) and Mastro-Don Gesualdo (1889), and the play Cavalleria rusticana (1884; “Rustic Chivalry”), which became immensely popular when it was adapted as an opera by Pietro Mascagni. His influence on the post-World War II generation of Italian Neorealist writers was particularly marked (see Neorealism).
Vergennes \ver-'zhen\, Charles Gravier, count de (b. Dec. 28, 1719, Dijon, France—d. Feb. 13, 1787, Versailles) French statesman. As ambassador to Ottoman Turkey (1754-68), he ably defended French poli¬ cies during the Seven Years' War. As Louis XVI ’s minister of foreign affairs (1774-87), he advocated French financial and military support for the colonists in the American Revolution, concluded an alliance with them (1778), and helped negotiate the Treaty of Paris (1783). He also worked to establish a stable balance of power in Europe by mediating the peace in the War of the Bavarian Succession.
Verghina or Vergina \ver-‘ge-na\ Archaeological site and ancient capital of Macedonia, northern Greece. Built on a site in use from the Stone Age, it was first called Balia. The palace of Palatista, partly destroyed by fire, dates from the reign of Antigonus III Doson (c. 263- 221 bc). An Iron Age cemetery that dates from the 10th-7th centuries bc is near the palace. The 4th-century-BC royal tomb of Philip II of Macedon also is at Verghina.
Vergil See Virgil
Verhaeren \ver-'ha-ren, ver-a-'ren\, Emile (b. May 21, 1855, Saint Amand lez-Puers, Belg.—d. Nov. 27, 1916, Rouen, France) Belgian poet. He wrote in French, producing more than 30 collections of poetry out¬ standing for its strength and range. His first book, Les Flamandes (1883), contains violently naturalistic poems. Later he began to show a growing concern for social problems. His major works include The Sunlit Hours (1896), The Evening Hours (1911), and Belgium’s Agony (1915). His three main themes are Flanders, human energy, and his tender, understanding love for his wife. He also published plays and books on art. He was one of the group in Brussels who brought about the literary and artistic renais¬ sance of the 1890s.