the Alexiad. The first two books treat of the history of the Empire from the time of Isaac Comnenus; the remaining thirteen books are devoted to the reign of Alexius. Chronologically, Anna is sometimes at fault, and she omits purposely many events; but as a whole her work has great merit. The best edition is that of Schopen and Reifferscheid, 2 volumes (Bonn, 1839-78). Consult: Chalandon, Règne d'Alexis I. (Paris, 1900); and Oster, Anna Komnena (Rastatt, 1868-71).
ANNA IVANOVNA, än'nȧ ḗ-vä'nōv-nȧ (1693-1740). Empress of Russia. She was the second
daughter of Ivan, the elder brother of Peter the
Great. She was married in 1710 to the Duke of
Courland, the last of his race, who died in the
following year. The throne of Russia was
offered to her by the Supreme Council on the death
of Peter II. in 1730, on conditions which greatly
limited the power of the monarchy, terms which
she soon broke. Her elevation was greatly due
to the intrigues of the chancellor, Ostermann,
who had had the charge of her education, but
who was disappointed in finding her not so grateful
and tractable as he had expected. For some
years, however, her rule was tolerable. Abroad,
Russia fought successfully in the War of the
Polish Succession. Internally the army was
reformed, greater liberty was allowed to the landed
gentry, and government debts were paid, though
to do so the peasants were crushed down with
taxes. But her paramour, Biron, a German of
low extraction, for whom she had obtained the
Duchy of Courland, having determined to govern
the nation as well as the Empress, a sudden and
deplorable change ensued. This man, a blood-thirsty
and avaricious wretch, established
something like a reign of terror through the land.
He is said to have banished not less than 20,000
persons to Siberia; numbers were knouted, had
their tongues cut out, or were broken alive on
the wheel. Eleven thousand perished in this
way. Prince Basil Dolgoruki and others of his
family suffered the ignominy of the scaffold.
At length the health of the Empress gave way.
She died on October 28, 1740, and left the throne
to her grand-nephew Ivan, with Biron as regent.
See Russia, and Biron.
ANNA KARENINA, än'nȧ kȧ-rā'nyḗ-nȧ.
One of Count Tolstoy's novels, which first
appeared serially in a Moscow publication, from
1875 to 1878. It is a powerful study of the
effects of passion upon human life, and is by
many considered the author's greatest work.
ANNA KARLOVNA, än′nȧ kär′lŏv-nȧ, or
frequently, Anna Leopoldovna (1718-46).
Regent of Russia during the minority of her son
Ivan. She was the daughter of Charles Leopold,
Duke of Mecklenburg, and of Catharine, sister
of the Russian Empress, Anna Ivanovna (q.v.).
In 1730 she married Anthony Ulric, Duke of
Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel. Her son, Ivan, born
August 24, 1740, was appointed by the Empress
Anna Ivanovna as her successor. The Empress
died in October, 1740, and Biron, whom she had
made regent, was overthrown within a month.
Anna Karlovna now proclaimed herself Grand
Duchess and Regent of Russia; but she showed
no capacity for managing the affairs of a great
country, spent her time in indolent enjoyments,
and resigned herself very much to the guidance of
one of the ladies of her court, Julia von Mengden.
A conspiracy was formed by a party desirous of
raising to the throne Elizabeth, daughter of Peter
the Great and Catharine, and this was
accomplished on December 6, 1741. The infant Ivan was
sent to the castle of Schlüsselburg, where he was
afterward murdered; Anna and her husband were
condemned to prison for life and conveyed to
Kholmogory, on the White Sea, where she died
in childbed. Her husband remained a prisoner
for thirty-nine years, and died in 1780.
AN'NALS (Lat. annales, from annus, year). In the original sense, records of public events arranged year by year. In the early days of Rome, such records were kept by the priests, and known as the annales pontificum, or annales maximi, because prepared by the pontifex maximus. In later times, public men interested in history wrote crude chronicles of events, also known as annales; such annalists were Fabius Pictor and Cincius Alimentus. When Ennius (q.v.), the "father of Roman poetry," wrote the deeds of Rome in heroic verse, he called his poem Annales; and finally Tacitus (q.v.) thus designated his story of Rome from Tiberius to Nero.
AN'NALS OF A QUI'ET NEIGH'BORHOOD. The title of a novel by George Mac-Donald (1866).
ANNALS OF THE PAR'ISH. The title of a novel by the Scottish writer John Gait (1821).
ANNAM, ăn-näm' (Nhan-nam, Peace of the South). The central division of French Indo-China and formerly the designation of an independent empire, which included the provinces of Annam, Tongking and Cochin China. It embraces the greater part of the east coast of Indo-China (washed by the South China Sea), and stretches from Cochin China on the south to Tongking on the north, its southernmost point being about lat. 10° 30' N. and its northern extremity about lat. 20° 30', at the delta of the Song-koi or Red River. On the west it is bounded by the country of the Laos, Siam and Cambodia. The area is about 50,000 square miles. The much larger figures until recently current for the area have been curtailed by the organization of the French Laos country. The coast, about 750 miles long, is deeply indented and fringed with many islets.
Annam is traversed throughout its entire length from north to south by a mountain chain which slopes precipitously toward the sea, but declines gently toward the Mekong valley in the interior. It reaches in the peak of Pu-san an elevation of about 9000 feet. Pu-atuat is about 1000 feet lower. The country has two hydrographic zones. On the west is the basin of the Mekong; on the east are numerous coast rivers, shallow and nearly impracticable for navigation. The Mekong River rises in Tibet, flows through the extreme south of China, traverses the Indo-Chinese peninsula with a rapid current, gathering many tributaries on its way, and forms the boundary between Annam and Siam. It is navigated by steamboats along the Annam frontier. The largest city and the capital of Annam is Hué. The productions of Annam include rice and other cereals, cinnamon, sugar-cane, coffee, tobacco, tea, and cotton. A considerable quantity of silk is produced, and the forests yield valuable woods. The buffalo is domesticated and used in tillage. The Chinese hog is reared in large numbers. The large game characteristic of the wilds of India abounds in Annam. One of
