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Cenotaph in Peace Memorial Park, Hiroshima, Japan; Atomic Bomb Dome is visible through the arch.

BOB GLAZE—ARTSTREET

© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.

880 I history play ► Hmong-Mien

a whole and its broad aim being to provide an overall elucidation of its course. As a second-order inquiry, philosophy of history focuses on the methods by which practicing historians treat the human past. The former, often referred to as speculative philosophy of history, has had a long and varied career; the latter, known as critical or analytical philosophy of his¬ tory, rose to prominence only in the 20th century.

history play See chronicle play

Hitchcock, Sir Alfred (b. Aug. 13, 1899, London, Eng.—d. April 29, 1980, Bel Air, Calif., U.S.) British-born film director. He worked in the London office of a U.S. film company from 1920 and was promoted to director in 1925. His film The Lodger (1926) concerned an ordinary per¬ son caught in extraordinary events, a theme that was to recur in many of his films. Fascinated with voyeurism and crime, he proved himself a mas¬ ter of suspense with The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934; remade 1956), The 39 Steps (1935), and The Lady Vanishes (1938). His first U.S. film, Rebecca (1940), was a tense psychological drama. His virtuosity was evi¬ dent in his later films Lifeboat (1944), Spellbound (1945), Notorious (1946), Rear Window (1954), Vertigo (1958), North by Northwest (1959), Psycho (1960), The Birds (1963), and Frenzy (1972).

Hitchings, George Herbert (b. April 18, 1905, Hoquiam, Wash., U.S.—d. Feb. 27,1998, Chapel Hill, N.C.) U.S. pharmacologist. He earned a Ph.D. from Harvard University. Over nearly 40 years, he and Gertrude Elion designed a variety of new drugs that work by interfering with repli¬ cation or other vital functions of specific disease-causing agents; these drugs include those to treat leukemia, severe rheumatoid arthritis and other autoimmune diseases (also useful for suppressing rejection after organ transplants), gout, malaria, urinary and respiratory-tract infections, and herpes simplex. In 1988 he shared a Nobel Prize with Elion and James Black.

Hitler, Adolf (b. April 20, 1889, Braunau am Inn, Austria—d. April 30, 1945, Berlin, Ger.) Dictator of Nazi Germany (1933^-5). As a soldier in the German army in World War I, he was wounded and gassed. In 1920 he became head of propaganda for the renamed National Socialists (Nazi Party) and in 1921 party leader. He set out to create a mass movement, using unrelenting propaganda. The party’s rapid growth climaxed in the Beer Hall Putsch (1923), for which he served nine months in prison; there he started to write his virulent autobiography, Mein Kampf. Believing that “races” were unequal and that this was part of the natural order, he exalted the “Aryan race” while propounding anti-Semitism, anticommunism, and extreme German nationalism. The economic slump of 1929 facilitated Hitler’s rise to power. In the Reichstag elections of 1930 the Nazis became the country’s second largest party and in 1932 the largest. Hitler ran for president in 1932 and lost but entered into intrigues to gain power, and in 1933 Paul von Hindenburg invited him to be chancellor. Adopting the title of Ftihrer (“Leader”), Hitler gained dictatorial powers through the Enabling Act and suppressed opposition with assistance from Heinrich Him¬ mler and Joseph Goebbels. Hitler also began to enact anti-Jewish measures, which culminated in the Holocaust. His aggressive foreign policy led to the signing of the Munich Agreement with France, Britain, and Italy, which permitted German annexation of Czechoslovakia’s Sudetenland. He became allied with Benito Mussolini in the Rome-Berlin Axis. The German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact (1939) enabled him to invade Poland, precipitating World War II. As defeat grew imminent in 1945, he married Eva Braun in an underground bunker in Berlin, and the next day they committed suicide.

Hitler-Stalin Pact See German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact

Hitler Youth German Hitler-Jugend \,yii-gent\ Organization set up by Adolf Hitler in 1933 for educating and training male youths aged 13-18 in Nazi principles. Under the leadership of Baldur von Schirach (1907- 1974), by 1935 it included almost 60% of all German boys, and by 1936 it became a state agency that all young “Aryan” Germans were expected to join. The youths lived a Spartan life of dedication, fellowship, and Nazi conformity, with little parental guidance. A parallel organization, the League of German Girls, trained girls for domestic duties and mother¬ hood.

Hito-no-michi \he- , to-,no-'me-che\ Japanese religious sect founded by Miki Tokuharu (1871-1938). It was based on an earlier religious move¬ ment founded by Kanada Tokumitsu (1863-1919), who taught that the suf¬ ferings of his followers could be transferred to him by divine mediation so that he could endure their troubles vicariously. Though compelled by the government to ally itself with Shinto, Hito-no-michi continued its unortho¬

dox teachings and gathered a following of more than 600,000 by 1934. It was ordered disbanded in 1937; Tokuharu and his son Miki Tokuchika were jailed, and Tokuharu died the next year. In 1945 Miki Tokuchika was released, and he revived the sect under the name PL Kyodan.

Hitomaro See Kakinomoto no Hitomaro

Hittite \'hi-,tlt\ Any member of an Indo-European people whose empire (Old Kingdom c. 1700-1500 bc, New Kingdom c. 1400-1180 bc) was centred in Anatolia and northern Syria. Old Kingdom records detail Hit¬ tite territorial expansion; New Kingdom documents contain accounts of the Battle of Kadesh, one of the greatest conflicts of the ancient world, which was fought against Egypt. Hittite kings had absolute power and were viewed as deputies of the gods, at death becoming gods themselves. Hittite society was feudal and agrarian; iron-working technology was developed. The kingdom fell abruptly, possibly because of large-scale migrations of Sea Peoples and Phrygians into parts of the empire.

HIV in full human immunodeficiency virus Retrovirus associated with AIDS. HIV attacks and gradually destroys the immune system, leaving the host unprotected against infection. It cannot be spread through casual contact but instead is contracted mainly through exposure to blood and blood products (e.g., by sharing hypodermic needles or by accidental needle sticks), semen and female genital secretions, or breast milk. A pregnant woman can pass the virus to her fetus across the placenta. The virus first multiplies in lymph nodes near the site of infection. Once it spreads through the body, usually about 10 years later, symptoms appear, marking the onset of AIDS. Multidrug “cocktails” can delay onset, but missing doses can lead to drug resistance. Like other viruses, HIV needs a host cell to multiply. It attacks helper T cells and can infect other cells. A rapid mutation rate helps it foil both the immune system and treatment attempts. No vaccine or cure exists. Abstinence from sex, use of condoms or other means to prevent sexual transmission of the disease, and avoid¬ ance of needle sharing have reduced infection rates in some areas.

hives or urticaria X.ort-o-'kar-e-oV Allergic skin reaction in which slightly raised, flat-topped, very itchy swellings appear suddenly. The acute form, probably most often caused by food allergies, subsides in 6-24 hours, but the chronic form, believed to be due to emotional and mental stress, lasts much longer. Acute hives may also be triggered by drugs, especially penicillin, inhaled allergens or toxins, or diseases. Treatment involves identifying and avoiding the allergen; epinephrine and antihista¬ mines may help the acute skin symptoms.

Hiwassee \hl-'wa-se\ River River, southeastern U.S. Rising in the Blue Ridge in northern Georgia, it flows 132 mi (213 km) into North Carolina and southeastern Tennessee to join the Tennessee River at the Chickamauga Reservoir. It has three major Tennessee Valley Authority dams. The endan¬ gered snail darter was transplanted to the Hiwassee in the 1970s.

Hizbullah See Hezbollah