Nichan-Sherif.
A decree of the Sultan Ahmed I in 1604, granting the Venetians certain trading and navigating facilities in the Ottoman dominions.
Nightmare of Europe.
A sobriquet of the Great Napoleon.
Nihilists.
The Russian revolutionary society, an important section of which is in favour of physical force. Their position is perhaps best explained by the manifesto issued after the assassination of the Czar Alexander II in 1881, in which they declare their object to be the amelioration of the condition of the peasantry, and the introduction of more civilized methods of government. They go on to say that Russia demands a new system, and that, their peaceful efforts having only met with repression, they have been driven to adopt violent means to gain their ends.
Nimeguen, Treaty of.
A treaty signed in 1678, following the five years’ war of Louis XIV against Holland and Spain. Louis obtained Franche-Comté and sixteen fortresses in the Spanish Netherlands.
Nîmes, Edict of.
An edict issued in 1629, shortly after the fall of La Rochelle, which, while confirming the religious freedom granted to the Huguenots by the Edict of Nantes, deprived them of their special political status, and thus broke up the Huguenot League.