- Africa
First Franco-Dahomean War
King Behanzin's forces clashed with the French around Cotonou; though repelled by superior French weaponry, the war marked the opening of Dahomey's struggle against French expansion.
Era: Behanzin, the French conquest, and colonial Dahomey
Sources: Behanzin — king of Dahomey · Encyclopaedia Britannica, Behanzin · Wikipedia, The conquest of Dahomey (1890–1894) · Service historique de la Défense (France)
- Africa
Al-Zubayr installs al-Sanusi at Dar al-Kuti
The Sudanese warlord Rabih az-Zubayr (al-Zubayr) deposed Kobur and installed Muhammad al-Sanusi, who from his base at Ndélé intensified the razzias that depopulated much of the Ubangi region.
Era: Zande States and the Slave Trade
Sources: Dar al-Kuti · Wikipedia, Rabih az-Zubayr · Wikipedia, Central African Republic — History · Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Asia
The Al Rashid end the Second Saudi State
Weakened by internal feuds, the second state fell to the rival Al Rashid of Hail, who drove the Al Saud into exile in Kuwait.
Era: The First and Second Saudi States and the Al Saud-Wahhab Alliance
Sources: Second Saudi state · Wikipedia, Saudi Arabia: The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia · Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Africa
French conquest of Dahomey
A French expedition under Colonel Alfred-Amédée Dodds advanced on Abomey; Behanzin burned the capital rather than surrender it, and after further resistance capitulated in January 1894.
Era: Behanzin, the French conquest, and colonial Dahomey
Sources: Behanzin — king of Dahomey · Encyclopaedia Britannica, Behanzin · Wikipedia, The conquest of Dahomey (1890–1894) · Service historique de la Défense (France)
- Africa
Rabih conquers Bornu
Rabih az-Zubayr overran the Kanem-Bornu lands with one of the best-equipped armies in sub-Saharan Africa, ruling the basin as a military dictatorship.
Era: Rabih's empire and French conquest
Sources: Rabih az-Zubayr · Wikipedia
- Asia
Battle of Al Wajba
Sheikh Jassim's tribal forces defeated an Ottoman expedition at Al Wajba, forcing the release of Qatari captives in a victory remembered as a key assertion of Qatari autonomy.
Era: Between the Ottomans and Britain: The 1916 Protectorate
Sources: The Battle of Al-Wajba (The Founder) · Government of Qatar (qatar.qa), History of Qatar · Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Asia
Franco-Siamese crisis and loss of Laos
After French gunboats threaten Bangkok, Siam cedes the Lao territories east of the Mekong to French Indochina, the heaviest of its frontier concessions.
Era: Siam's Survival: Mongkut, Chulalongkorn, and the Imperial Century
Sources: Thailand · Encyclopædia Britannica
- Africa
First Matabele War
Company forces invaded and destroyed the Ndebele kingdom; Lobengula fled and soon died, and the British South Africa Company annexed Matabeleland.
Era: The Ndebele kingdom and British conquest
Sources: Lobengula · Encyclopaedia Britannica, Zimbabwe: History · Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Africa
Defeat and capture of Gungunhana
Portuguese forces crush the Gaza army at Coolela and capture King Gungunhana at Chaimite, ending the Gaza Empire; he is exiled to the Azores, where he dies.
Era: Prazos, the Gaza Empire and Conquest
Sources: Gungunhana · Wikipedia, Gaza Empire · Wikipedia, Mozambique · Encyclopaedia Britannica
- South America
- Africa
Battle of Adwa
Advancing from Eritrea, an Italian army is destroyed by Emperor Menelik II at Adwa, the worst defeat of a European army in Africa, securing Ethiopian sovereignty and fixing Eritrea's southern frontier.
Era: Italy's First-Born Colony
Sources: Battle of Adwa · Encyclopaedia Britannica, Battle of Adwa (Adowa), 1896 · BlackPast.org
- Africa
Battle of Adwa
Ethiopian forces under Menelik II decisively defeat an invading Italian army at Adwa, the first major victory of an African state over a European colonial power and a guarantee of Ethiopian independence.
Era: Menelik II, Adwa and the Defeat of Colonisation
Sources: Battle of Adwa · Encyclopaedia Britannica, Battle of Adwa (research starter) · EBSCO Research, Battle of Adwa (Adowa), 1896 · BlackPast.org
- Asia
Outbreak of the Philippine Revolution
The discovery of the Katipunan sparks open revolt; Katipuneros proclaim the 'Cry' of defiance, beginning the armed revolution against Spanish rule.
Era: Rizal, the Katipunan and the Revolution of 1896-1898
Sources: Philippine Revolution (Katipunan; Bonifacio; Rizal's execution) · Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Africa
First Chimurenga risings
The Ndebele and Shona rose against Company rule in revolts inspired in part by spirit mediums such as Nehanda and Kaguvi; the risings were crushed and their leaders executed.
Era: The Ndebele kingdom and British conquest
Sources: Zimbabwe: History · Encyclopaedia Britannica, History of Zimbabwe · Wikipedia
- North America
Sinking of the USS Maine
The U.S. battleship Maine explodes in Havana harbour, propelling the United States toward war with Spain over Cuba.
Era: The Wars of Independence and 1898
Sources: The Spanish-American War, 1898 · U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian
- North America
Spanish-American War ends Spanish rule
After Spain's defeat, the Treaty of Paris ends Spanish dominion over Cuba; the Teller Amendment had disclaimed U.S. annexation.
Era: The Wars of Independence and 1898
Sources: The Spanish-American War, 1898 · U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian, Platt Amendment (1903) · U.S. National Archives, Milestone Documents
- Africa
Capture of Samori Touré
After nearly two decades of resistance and a long fighting retreat eastward, Samori is captured by French forces at Guélémou and later exiled to Gabon, where he dies in 1900.
Era: Samori Touré and the Resistance to France
Sources: Samori Ture · Wikipedia, Guinea — History · Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Africa
Capture of Samori Touré ends northern resistance
The Mandé empire-builder Samori Touré, who had resisted the French for years and sacked Kong, was captured at Guélémou on 29 September 1898 and exiled to Gabon, breaking organised resistance in the savanna.
Era: The ivory coast, the French, and the conquest
Sources: Samori Touré (1830–1900) · BlackPast.org, Samory · Encyclopædia Britannica, History of Ivory Coast · Wikipedia
- North America
Treaty of Paris cedes Puerto Rico
After the Spanish-American War, Spain cedes Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines to the United States, ending Spanish rule on the island.
Era: Plantation, Abolition, and the End of Spanish Rule
Sources: The Spanish-American War, 1898 · U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian, Treaty of Paris of 1898 · Library of Congress
- Africa
The Hut Tax War
The imposition of a tax on dwellings sparked armed resistance led by the Temne chief Bai Bureh in the north and spreading to the Mende in the south; Britain suppressed the revolt and exiled Bai Bureh.
Era: Protectorate, the Hut Tax War, and independence
Sources: Hut Tax War of 1898 · Wikipedia, Bai Bureh · Wikipedia
- Africa
Mahdist state crushed at Omdurman
An Anglo-Egyptian army defeats the Mahdist forces at Omdurman, clearing the way for the reconquest of Sudan, including the south.
Era: Conquest, Ivory and the Slave Raids
Sources: Anglo-Egyptian Condominium · Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Europe
The Disaster of 1898
Defeat in the Spanish-American War ended Spain's overseas empire; under the Treaty of Paris it lost Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Philippines and Guam, a trauma that shaped a generation.
Era: Loss of Empire, Republic and Civil War
Sources: The World of 1898: The Spanish-American War · Library of Congress
- Africa
Battle of Omdurman
Kitchener's Anglo-Egyptian army destroys the Khalifa's forces with overwhelming firepower, ending the Mahdist state.
Era: Turco-Egyptian Rule and the Mahdist Revolt
Sources: Battle of Omdurman · Encyclopædia Britannica, Mahdist State · Wikipedia
- South America
War of a Thousand Days
Liberals and the Conservative government fight Colombia's deadliest civil war, with an estimated 100,000 dead, leaving the country ruined.
Era: Partisan Wars and the Loss of Panama
Sources: The War of a Thousand Days · Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Asia
The Philippine-American War
Filipino nationalists under Aguinaldo fight the United States for independence; the war kills thousands of combatants and as many as 200,000 civilians before ending in 1902.
Era: Cession to America, the Philippine-American War and the Commonwealth
Sources: The Philippine-American War, 1899-1902 (Treaty of Paris cession) · U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian, Philippine-American War (and the Commonwealth) · Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Africa
The Dervish resistance
Sayyid Mohammed Abdullah Hassan leads the Dervish movement in a twenty-year armed struggle against British, Italian and Ethiopian forces, defeating several colonial expeditions from fortified bases in the interior.
Era: Colonial Partition and the Dervish Resistance
Sources: Dervish movement (Somali) · Wikipedia, The Somali leader who led a 20-year resistance against colonial powers · Face2Face Africa
- Africa
The Dervish resistance of Sayyid Muhammad Abdullah Hassan
A two-decade religious-led resistance to colonial rule, headed by Sayyid Muhammad Abdullah Hassan, tied down British forces until it was broken around 1920 in a campaign that included aerial bombing.
Era: The British Somaliland Protectorate
Sources: British Somaliland · Wikipedia, British Somaliland: The Protectorate on the Horn of Africa · World History Encyclopedia
- Africa
The South African War
War between Britain and the Boer republics featured guerrilla campaigns and British concentration camps in which tens of thousands of Boer and Black civilians died.
Era: Diamonds, gold, the South African War and Union
Sources: The South African War 1899–1902 · South African History Online, South African War · Encyclopaedia Britannica, Treaty of Vereeniging · Wikipedia
War & Rupture in the 1890s
Every event in the Terralore archive tagged war and rupture — wars, invasions, conquests, battles and armed conflict, narrowed to the 1890s — 28 of them, drawn from 24 nations, running from 1890 to 1899. Each entry keeps the sources it was verified against and links back to the chronicle it came from.
- Events
- 28
- Nations
- 24
- Earliest
- 1890
- Latest
- 1899
- Africa
- 17
- Asia
- 5
- North America
- 3
- South America
- 2
- Europe
- 1
Every entry below is the same record, with the same sources, as the one on its nation’s chronicle.