- Africa
Yatenga becomes independent of Ouagadougou
As central authority weakens, the kingdom of Yatenga, with its capital at Ouahigouya, breaks free of Ouagadougou's overlordship.
Era: The Mossi Kingdoms
Sources: Wagadugu kingdom · Encyclopædia Britannica, Mossi Kingdoms · Wikipedia
- Africa
Zande and Bandia kingdoms expand
Under the Avongara nobility the Zande spread across the south-east, while the Bandia clan founded Ubangi River states including the Nzakara kingdom and the sultanate of Bangassou.
Era: Zande States and the Slave Trade
Sources: Azande · Wikipedia, Bangassou-Nzakara · Wikipedia, Central African Republic — History · Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Africa
Local Afar and Issa polities
After Adal's decline the region fragments into Afar sultanates such as Tadjoura and Raheita and Issa Somali clan territories, the local powers France would later engage.
Era: The Afar, the Issa and the Muslim Sultanates
Sources: History of Djibouti · Wikipedia, Djibouti (country and history) · Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Africa
Dispersed Sotho chiefdoms
Numerous small, rivalrous Sotho-speaking chiefdoms occupy the highveld and mountains, with no single overarching authority.
Era: Hunters, Painters and Farmers
Sources: History of Lesotho · Wikipedia, Lesotho: The Sotho kingdom (1824–69) · Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Africa
Decline of the confederacy
Fighting among the sub-chiefs and the spreading slave trade eroded the Kalonga's authority, and the Maravi state fragmented into smaller Chewa chiefdoms.
Era: The Maravi Confederacy
Sources: Maravi Confederacy · Encyclopaedia Britannica, Maravi · Wikipedia
- Africa
A centralised Tutsi-led state
A single kingdom under a Tutsi mwami controls much of present-day Rwanda, governing through clan chiefs and cattle-clientship arrangements such as ubuhake.
Era: The Kingdom of the Mwami
Sources: History of Rwanda · Wikipedia, Outreach Programme on the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda — Historical Background · United Nations
- Europe
Death of Charles II and end of the Spanish Habsburgs
The childless death of Charles II ended Habsburg rule in Spain. His will bequeathed the throne to the Bourbon Philip of Anjou, triggering a European war of succession.
Era: Decline, the Bourbons and the Napoleonic Crisis
Sources: Spain · Encyclopaedia Britannica, Treaties of Utrecht · Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Europe
The Casa de la Vall
The Andorran council established its seat and court at the Casa de la Vall in Andorra la Vella, long the symbolic home of the valleys' self-government.
Era: Two Princes, Neutrality and Endurance
Sources: Six centuries of the Consell General · La Casa de la Vall (Consell General d'Andorra)
- Africa
Husaynid dynasty founded
Al-Husayn ibn Ali is proclaimed bey, founding the dynasty that rules Tunisia until 1957.
Era: Ottoman Rule & the Husaynid Beys
Sources: Husaynid dynasty · Encyclopaedia Britannica, Husainid dynasty · Wikipedia
- Asia
Death of Aurangzeb and Mughal decline
Aurangzeb dies after extending the empire to its greatest extent; his costly wars and religious policies leave the Mughal state weakened, and its authority rapidly fragments thereafter.
Era: The Delhi Sultanate and the Mughal Empire
Sources: Mughal dynasty · Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Asia
Lan Xang splits apart
After a disputed succession, the kingdom of Lan Xang divides in 1707 into the separate kingdoms of Luang Prabang and Vientiane, ending its unity.
Era: The Kingdom of Lan Xang
Sources: Sai Ong Hue and the division of Lan Xang · Encyclopaedia Britannica, Lan Xang · Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Asia
The khanate of Kokand emerges
A third Uzbek state, the khanate of Kokand, rises in the fertile Fergana Valley, completing the trio of khanates of Bukhara, Khiva and Kokand.
Era: The Uzbek Khanates
Sources: Uzbekistan — The early Uzbeks · Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Africa
Karamanli dynasty seizes power
Ahmed Karamanli founds a hereditary dynasty that rules Tripoli in semi-independence for 124 years under nominal Ottoman suzerainty.
Era: Ottoman Rule and the Karamanli Dynasty
Sources: Karamanli dynasty · Wikipedia, Ottoman Tripolitania · Wikipedia
- Europe
Beginning of Phanariot rule
After Prince Dimitrie Cantemir's failed alliance with Russia, the Porte ended native rule and began appointing Greek princes from the Phanar district of Constantinople, who governed until 1821.
Era: Ottoman Vassalage and the Phanariot Century
Sources: Moldova: History · Encyclopaedia Britannica, Moldavia (historical principality) · Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Europe
The Phanariot regime
Under Ottoman suzerainty the Porte appointed the princes of Wallachia and Moldavia from among the Greek Phanariot families of Constantinople, a period of heavy tribute and misrule that lasted until 1821.
Era: Wallachia, Moldavia and the Ottoman centuries
Sources: Walachia · Encyclopaedia Britannica, History of Romania · Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Europe
From Spanish to Austrian Netherlands
By the Treaty of Utrecht ending the War of the Spanish Succession, the southern Netherlands passed from Spain to the Austrian Habsburgs, becoming the Austrian Netherlands.
Era: The Burgundian and Habsburg Netherlands
Sources: Belgium: History · Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Asia
Champasak secedes
The far south breaks away to form the kingdom of Champasak, completing the fragmentation of Lan Xang into three rival Lao kingdoms.
Era: Three Kingdoms and Siamese Vassalage
Sources: Sai Ong Hue and the division of Lan Xang · Encyclopaedia Britannica, Laos: History · Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Asia
The nawabs of Bengal become autonomous
As Mughal central power fades after Aurangzeb's death, the governors of Bengal rule as near-independent nawabs over the empire's wealthiest province.
Era: Mughal Bengal and the Wealth of the Delta
Sources: History of Bangladesh · Encyclopædia Britannica
- North America
Woodes Rogers ends the pirate republic
Royal governor Woodes Rogers arrived at Nassau with the King's Pardon, accepted the surrender of many pirates, drove out the rest and restored Crown authority under the motto "Pirates Expelled, Commerce Restored".
Era: English settlers and the Republic of Pirates
Sources: The Bahamas — British colonization (History) · Encyclopaedia Britannica, Bahamas: Local History and Genealogy — Research Guide · Library of Congress
- Europe
Treaty of Nystad
Sweden ceded Estonia and Livonia to Russia, which organised them into governorates and confirmed the privileges of the Baltic German nobility, beginning two centuries of Russian imperial rule.
Era: The Russian Empire and the National Awakening
Sources: Peace of Nystad · Encyclopaedia Britannica, Estonia: History · Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Europe
Peter the Great proclaims the Russian Empire
After victory over Sweden in the Great Northern War and the Treaty of Nystad, the Senate proclaims Peter I 'Emperor of All Russia,' transforming the Tsardom into the Russian Empire and confirming Russia as a European great power.
Era: The Russian Empire: Peter, Catherine, and the Romanov Zenith
Sources: Russia · Encyclopaedia Britannica, Peter the Great · Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Europe
Treaty of Nystad ends the empire
The peace ending the Great Northern War ceded Sweden's Baltic provinces — Estonia, Livonia, Ingria and part of Karelia — to Russia, ending the age of greatness, though Finland was restored to Sweden.
Era: Stormaktstiden: The Swedish Empire and Its Fall
Sources: Treaty of Nystad (1721) · Encyclopaedia Britannica, Battle of Poltava · Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Africa
Tributary to the Oyo Empire
Dahomey's expansion brought it into conflict with the Yoruba empire of Oyo to the east, to which it became tributary for much of the eighteenth century.
Era: The Fon Kingdom of Dahomey and the palaces of Abomey
Sources: History of the Kingdom of Dahomey · Wikipedia, Dahomey — historical kingdom, Africa · Encyclopaedia Britannica
- South America
Viceroyalty of New Granada
Spain governs the territory through the Viceroyalty of New Granada, capital Bogota, encompassing modern Colombia, Panama, Ecuador, and Venezuela.
Era: Conquest and the Viceroyalty of New Granada
Sources: Viceroyalty of New Granada · Encyclopaedia Britannica
- North America
Maroon treaties
Treaties with Cudjoe's Leeward Maroons and Nanny's Windward Maroons end the First Maroon War, granting them land and autonomy.
Era: Sugar, Slavery, and Resistance
Sources: Jamaica: British rule · Encyclopaedia Britannica, The Jamaican Maroons · National Library of Jamaica, Blue and John Crow Mountains · UNESCO World Heritage Centre
- Europe
Civil resistance
Rather than fight, the Sammarinese practised civil disobedience and sent clandestine appeals to Rome documenting the legate's abuses, refusing to accept the imposed government.
Era: The Alberoni Occupation and Restored Liberty
Sources: San Marino Liberation Day (Alberoni occupation and 1740 restoration) · Office Holidays
- Europe
Reign of Maria Theresa
Inheriting the Habsburg lands under the Pragmatic Sanction, Maria Theresa survived the War of the Austrian Succession and reformed the administration, army and education across her dominions.
Era: Maria Theresa, the Empire of Austria and the Holy Roman Empire
Sources: Maria Theresa: Empress and mother of her peoples · Die Welt der Habsburger (The World of the Habsburgs)
- Asia
Division between Bukhara and Kokand
The territory of present-day Tajikistan is split mainly between the Emirate of Bukhara, which holds the south, and the Khanate of Kokand, which controls the northern Ferghana fringe.
Era: Turkic, Mongol and Bukharan Rule
Sources: Kazakstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan: Country Studies · Federal Research Division, Library of Congress, History of Tajikistan · Encyclopædia Britannica
- Africa
Ibrahima Sori succeeds Karamokho Alfa
On the death of the first leader Karamokho Alfa, the military commander Ibrahima Sori takes power and consolidates the imamate as a regional force.
Era: The Imamate of Futa Jallon
Sources: Imamate of Futa Jallon · Wikipedia, Karamokho Alfa · Wikipedia
- South America
Maroon peace treaties
Unable to defeat the Maroons, the Dutch sign treaties from the 1760s recognising the freedom of the Ndyuka, Saramaka, and Matawai and their lands in the interior.
Era: Plantation Colony and the Maroons
Sources: Suriname: History · Encyclopaedia Britannica, Suriname: People · Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Europe
The reign of Catherine the Great
Catherine II expands the empire to the Black Sea and through the three Partitions of Poland, patronizes the arts and Enlightenment ideas, and founds the Hermitage collection, while serfdom reaches its most oppressive extent.
Era: The Russian Empire: Peter, Catherine, and the Romanov Zenith
Sources: Russia · Encyclopaedia Britannica, Catherine the Great · Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Africa
Onset of the Zemene Mesafint
Central royal authority collapses as regional lords seize real power, beginning the 'Era of the Princes' in which emperors at Gondar rule in name only.
Era: Gondar, the Era of the Princes and Reunification
Sources: Gondarine period · Wikipedia
- Africa
Capital moves to Praia
As the slave trade waned and Ribeira Grande lay in ruins, administration shifted to the more defensible plateau of Praia, which became the capital in 1770 and remains so today.
Era: Entrepôt of the slave trade — and its decline
Sources: History of Cape Verde · Wikipedia, Cidade Velha · Wikipedia
- Asia
Ablai Khan elected ruler of the Kazakhs
Ablai (Abylai) is elected khan of the Kazakhs and balances between the Russian and Qing empires to preserve a degree of independence; he endures as a national symbol of Kazakh sovereignty.
Era: The Russian Conquest of the Steppe
Sources: Abylai the King: A Warrior, Diplomat and Patriot · Portal 'History of Kazakhstan' (e-history.kz), National Academic Library, History of Kazakhstan · Encyclopædia Britannica
- Europe
Partitions of Poland and Russian annexation
In three partitions Russia, Prussia and Austria divided the Commonwealth; Russia took most of the Belarusian lands, and after 1795 all of Belarus was ruled by the Russian Empire.
Era: The Commonwealth, Partition and the Russian Empire
Sources: History of Belarus · Encyclopaedia Britannica, Belarus · Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Europe
The Partitions of Poland
In three stages (1772, 1793, 1795) Russia, Prussia and Austria divided the Commonwealth among themselves, despite the reforming Constitution of 3 May 1791, ending Polish statehood for 123 years.
Era: The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth: Golden Age and Decline
Sources: Partitions of Poland · Encyclopaedia Britannica, Constitution of 3 May 1791 · Polish History Museum / Google Arts & Culture
- Europe
Galicia to Austria, right bank to Russia
The partitions of Poland transferred Galicia to the Habsburg Empire in 1772 and most of the right-bank Ukrainian lands to the Russian Empire by 1795, dividing the Ukrainian people between two empires.
Era: The Cossack Hetmanate and the Partition of Ukrainian Lands
Sources: History of Ukraine · Encyclopaedia Britannica
- North America
Quebec Act
The Quebec Act restored French civil law, guaranteed freedom of Catholic worship, and enlarged Quebec's boundaries, securing the loyalty of French Canadians while inflaming the Thirteen Colonies.
Era: British conquest and colonial British North America
Sources: Quebec Act, 1774 · The Canadian Encyclopedia, Quebec Act 1774 · UK Parliament
- Europe
Destruction of the Zaporozhian Sich
Russian troops destroyed the Zaporozhian Sich, the bastion of Cossack self-government, completing the suppression of Cossack autonomy under the Russian Empire.
Era: The Cossack Hetmanate and the Partition of Ukrainian Lands
Sources: Zaporozhian Sich · Encyclopaedia Britannica, Ukraine: The Cossacks · Encyclopaedia Britannica
- South America
Viceroyalty of the Rio de la Plata created
Charles III establishes the new viceroyalty with Buenos Aires as capital, routing Potosi silver through the port and spurring its rise.
Era: The Viceroyalty and the Colonial Era
Sources: Viceroyalty of the Rio de la Plata · Encyclopaedia Britannica, Argentina · Encyclopaedia Britannica
- South America
Viceroyalty of the Rio de la Plata
The new viceroyalty centred on Buenos Aires makes Asuncion and Paraguay dependent on the river port, feeding Paraguayan resentment of its decline.
Era: The Jesuit Missions and the Colonial Province
Sources: Paraguay: The colonial period · Encyclopaedia Britannica
- South America
Viceroyalty of the Rio de la Plata
Spain creates the new viceroyalty centred on Buenos Aires, drawing the Banda Oriental into its administration and stoking eastern resentment of the centralising capital.
Era: The Contested Frontier: Colonia and Montevideo
Sources: Uruguay · Encyclopaedia Britannica
- South America
Captaincy General of Venezuela created
A royal decree unites the scattered provinces into the Captaincy General of Venezuela, with Caracas as capital, giving the territory the outline of the future nation.
Era: Colonial Venezuela and the Captaincy General
Sources: Venezuela · Encyclopaedia Britannica, Venezuela: A Country Study · U.S. Library of Congress, Federal Research Division
- South America
The Comunero revolt
A popular rising against new Bourbon taxes sweeps the interior, an early sign of the unrest that would lead to the independence movement.
Era: Conquest and the Viceroyalty of New Granada
Sources: History of Colombia · Encyclopaedia Britannica, Colombia: A Country Study · U.S. Library of Congress, Federal Research Division
- Asia
- Asia
Treaty of Georgievsk
King Erekle II of Kartli-Kakheti placed his kingdom under Russian protection, ceding control of foreign affairs in exchange for guarantees of its integrity and dynasty against Persia and the Ottomans.
Era: Fragmentation, Foreign Pressure and Russian Annexation
Sources: Treaty of Georgievsk (1783) · Encyclopaedia Britannica, Georgia: Turkish and Persian domination · Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Africa
Moroccan-American Treaty of Friendship
Morocco and the United States conclude a treaty of peace and friendship, recognised in 1786, making Morocco one of America's earliest treaty partners.
Era: The Alaouite Dynasty and the Protectorates
Sources: A Guide to the United States' History of Recognition: Morocco · U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian
- Africa
Succession crisis weakens Loango
A succession crisis after the death of the king recorded as Buatu, together with the growing power of provincial governors and traders, undermined the maloango's central authority and began Loango's long decline.
Era: Loango ports and the Atlantic slave trade
Sources: Kingdom of Loango · Wikipedia, A history of the Loango kingdom (c. 1500–1883) · African History Extra
- Europe
Neutrality through revolution and war
Through the French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars the co-principality survived; the French co-princely role transferred to each new French regime while Andorra guarded its neutrality.
Era: Two Princes, Neutrality and Endurance
Sources: Andorra: History, Facts & Points of Interest · Encyclopaedia Britannica, Andorra: Member state · Council of Europe
- Europe
Declaration of the Rights of Man
Proclaims liberty, equality and popular sovereignty — a founding text of modern democracy.
Era: Revolution & Empire
Sources: Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen · Encyclopædia Britannica
- North America
Constitutional Act divides the Canadas
The Constitutional Act split Quebec into Upper Canada and Lower Canada, creating separate English- and French-majority colonies each with an elected assembly.
Era: British conquest and colonial British North America
Sources: Canada · Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Africa
Darfur's capital fixed at al-Fashir
The Keira sultans establish al-Fashir as their capital; Darfur controls caravan routes across the Sahara.
Era: Islam, Sennar and Darfur
Sources: Sultanate of Darfur · Wikipedia
- North America
Treaty of Basel
By the Treaty of Basel, Spain cedes the colony of Santo Domingo to France, although the upheavals of the Haitian Revolution delay any effective handover.
Era: A Divided Island and the French Era
Sources: French Revolutionary Wars: the campaigns and peace of 1795 · Encyclopaedia Britannica, History of the Dominican Republic · Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Europe
Courland annexed by Russia
In the third partition of Poland-Lithuania the Duchy of Courland was incorporated into the Russian Empire, completing Russian rule over all the Latvian lands.
Era: Poland, Sweden, Courland and the Russian Empire
Sources: Latvia: History · Encyclopaedia Britannica, History of Latvia · Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Latvia
- Europe
Final partition and annexation by Russia
In the third partition of the Commonwealth, Russia, Prussia and Austria completed its dismemberment; the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was annexed almost wholly by the Russian Empire, ending Lithuanian statehood.
Era: The Commonwealth, the Partitions and the National Revival
Sources: Partitions of Poland · Encyclopaedia Britannica, History of Lithuania · Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Europe
The Batavian Republic
French Revolutionary forces and Dutch Patriots overthrow the stadtholderate and proclaim the Batavian Republic, ending the old Dutch Republic.
Era: Decline, French Rule and the Kingdom of the Netherlands
Sources: Batavian Republic · Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Africa
Expansion under Ntare IV Rugamba
The kingdom roughly doubles in size under Mwami Ntare IV Rutaganzwa Rugamba; by mid-century its borders broadly match those of present-day Burundi.
Era: The Kingdom of the Mwami
Sources: History of Burundi · Wikipedia, Kingdom of Burundi · Wikipedia
- Europe
Napoleonic reorganization of Italy
Napoleon's campaigns swept aside the old states and spread revolutionary, legal and national ideas across Italy, before the powers restored the former rulers in 1815.
Era: Foreign Domination and the Risorgimento
Sources: Italy (country overview and history) · Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Europe
Napoleon's offer declined
Napoleon offered San Marino friendship, artillery and an extension of territory to the sea; the republic accepted the gifts but declined the land, satisfied with its existing borders, and was recognised by the Treaty of Tolentino.
Era: Napoleon, Garibaldi and Lincoln: a Republic Among Friends
Sources: History of San Marino · Visit San Marino (official tourism site), San Marino: Garibaldi, Lincoln and the 19th century · SanMarinoSite, San Marino (Napoleon, Congress of Vienna, 1862 treaty) · New World Encyclopedia
- Asia
Dissolution of the VOC
Bankrupt after decades of war, debt and corruption, the VOC is dissolved and its possessions pass to the Dutch state, ushering in direct colonial rule.
Era: Portuguese and Dutch Colonialism and the VOC
Sources: Dutch East India Company · Wikipedia
Politics & PowerThe 18th century
Politics & Power in the 18th century
Every event in the Terralore archive tagged politics and power — dynasties, constitutions, revolutions and changes of regime, narrowed to the 18th century — 60 of them, drawn from 53 nations, running from 1700 to 1799. Each entry keeps the sources it was verified against and links back to the chronicle it came from.
- Events
- 60
- Nations
- 53
- Earliest
- 1700
- Latest
- 1799
- Europe
- 22
- Africa
- 16
- Asia
- 10
- South America
- 7
- North America
- 5
Every entry below is the same record, with the same sources, as the one on its nation’s chronicle.