10 records
Africa
- AGO
Angola · Colonisation · c. 1890–1904
Conquest of the Ovimbundu kingdoms
Portuguese forces conquered the Ovimbundu kingdoms of the central highlands, bringing one of Angola's largest peoples under colonial control.
The slow conquest of the interior
Sources: Angola — Ovimbundu and Kwanhama Kingdoms (U.S. Library of Congress Country Studies) · Angola — Colonialism, Independence, Civil War (history) (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- BEN
Benin · War & Rupture
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.
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))
- BDI
Burundi · Colonisation
Burundi assigned to German East Africa
Burundi is incorporated into German East Africa; Germany rules indirectly through the mwami while establishing military posts over the following years.
Ruanda-Urundi: German and Belgian Rule
Sources: Kingdom of Burundi (Wikipedia) · History of Burundi (Wikipedia)
- CAF
Central African Republic · War & Rupture
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.
Zande States and the Slave Trade
Sources: Dar al-Kuti (Wikipedia) · Rabih az-Zubayr (Wikipedia) · Central African Republic — History (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- ERI
Eritrea · Colonisation · 1 January 1890
Colony of Eritrea proclaimed
Italy unites its Red Sea holdings into the colony of Eritrea, promoted as its colonia primogenita or 'first-born colony', with the capital initially at Massawa.
Italy's First-Born Colony
Sources: Italian Colonialism in Eritrea (World History Encyclopedia) · Italian Eritrea (Wikipedia)
- ZMB
Zambia · Colonisation
The Lochner Concession
The Lozi king Lewanika granted mineral rights to Cecil Rhodes's British South Africa Company in exchange for promises of protection, opening the territory to company rule.
Company rule, Northern Rhodesia and the Copperbelt
Sources: Barotseland (the Lozi kingdom) (Wikipedia) · Northern Rhodesia (Wikipedia)
Europe
- LTU
Lithuania · Culture & Ideas · c. 1864–1904
The book smugglers (knygnesiai)
Defying the press ban, a clandestine network of book carriers smuggled Latin-script Lithuanian books across the Prussian frontier, preserving the language and fuelling the national revival.
The Commonwealth, the Partitions and the National Revival
Sources: History of Lithuania (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- LUX
Luxembourg · Independence · 9 Dec 1890
Separation of the crown from the Netherlands
On the death of William III the personal union ended; the Dutch crown passed to Wilhelmina while Luxembourg, under male-line succession, passed to Adolphe of Nassau-Weilburg, founding a national dynasty.
The Grand Duchy, the Second and Third Partitions, and Neutrality
Sources: The history of the Nassau dynasty (Cour grand-ducale (Grand Ducal Court of Luxembourg))
North America
- CRI
Costa Rica · Politics & Power · 1890 CE
First free election in Central America
Costa Rica holds what is regarded as the first free and honest election in Central America, beginning a long democratic tradition.
Coffee, Bananas, and a Maturing Democracy
Sources: History of Costa Rica (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
South America
- SUR
Suriname · Peoples & Migration · 1890-1939
Javanese indentured labour
Indentured workers from Java join the plantation workforce, numbering some thirty-three thousand and forming a community unique in the Caribbean.
Abolition and the Plural Society
Sources: Suriname: People (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Suriname: History (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
6 records
Africa
- COD
DR Congo · Catastrophe · 1890s
The rubber regime and the Force Publique
Monopoly decrees and rubber quotas, enforced by the Force Publique through hostage-taking and mutilation, drive a system of forced labour and mass death.
The Congo Free State
Sources: Congo Free State (Wikipedia) · Congo Free State (1885–1908) (BlackPast.org)
- GIN
Guinea · Colonisation · 1891–1894
Colony of French Guinea established
The coastal territory of Rivières du Sud is reorganised into the colony of French Guinea, its borders extended over the conquered interior.
French Guinea
Sources: French Guinea (Wikipedia)
- MWI
Malawi · Colonisation
British Central Africa Protectorate proclaimed
Britain proclaimed a protectorate over the lake region and the Shire highlands, with Harry Johnston as first commissioner; he suppressed the slave trade by force and parcelled out land to European settlers through certificates of claim.
Protectorate, Nyasaland and the Chilembwe rising
Sources: British Central Africa Protectorate (Wikipedia) · Sir Harry Hamilton Johnston (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- MOZ
Mozambique · Colonisation
Mozambique Company chartered
The Mozambique Company receives a vast concession with powers to tax, govern and recruit labour, one of several chartered companies to which Portugal subcontracts colonial rule.
Chartered Companies and Forced Labour
Sources: Mozambique (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · History of Mozambique (Wikipedia) · The History of Zambezia and Its Role in Mozambique's Colonial Economy (History Rise)
Asia
- SAU
Saudi Arabia · War & Rupture
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.
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)
4 records
Africa
- BEN
Benin · War & Rupture · 1892–1894
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.
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))
- GNB
Guinea-Bissau · Colonisation
A separate military district
Lisbon made Guinea a distinct military district to promote "effective occupation", but Portuguese authority still reached little beyond the coastal forts and trading towns.
Portuguese Guinea and the late conquest
Sources: Portuguese Guinea (Wikipedia)
Asia
- PHL
Philippines · Politics & Power
Founding of the Katipunan
Andres Bonifacio establishes the secret revolutionary society the Katipunan, dedicated to winning Philippine independence from Spain by armed force.
Rizal, the Katipunan and the Revolution of 1896-1898
Sources: Philippine Revolution (Katipunan; Bonifacio; Rizal's execution) (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- ARE
United Arab Emirates · Colonisation
The Exclusive Agreement with Britain
The Trucial rulers agreed to cede no territory and form no foreign relations except through Britain, in return for British protection, making the coast in effect a British protected zone.
The Qawasim and the Making of the Trucial States
Sources: Exclusive Agreement (British history) (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · History of the United Arab Emirates (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
10 records
Africa
- TCD
Chad · War & Rupture · 1892–1894
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.
Rabih's empire and French conquest
Sources: Rabih az-Zubayr (Wikipedia)
- CIV
Ivory Coast · Colonisation · 10 March 1893
France constitutes the colony of Côte d'Ivoire
After protectorate treaties negotiated by Binger and Treich-Laplène, France formally established the colony of Côte d'Ivoire on 10 March 1893, naming Louis-Gustave Binger its first governor.
The ivory coast, the French, and the conquest
Sources: History of Ivory Coast (Wikipedia) · History of Côte d'Ivoire (Encyclopædia Britannica)
- ZWE
Zimbabwe · War & Rupture
First Matabele War
Company forces invaded and destroyed the Ndebele kingdom; Lobengula fled and soon died, and the British South Africa Company annexed Matabeleland.
The Ndebele kingdom and British conquest
Sources: Lobengula (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Zimbabwe: History (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
Asia
- AFG
Afghanistan · Politics & Power
The Durand Line drawn
Amir Abdur Rahman Khan agrees the Durand Line with British India, fixing a frontier that divides Pashtun communities and remains a source of dispute with Pakistan to this day.
The Durrani Empire and the Great Game
Sources: Afghanistan: A Country Study (Library of Congress, Federal Research Division) · Afghanistan — history (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- LAO
Laos · Colonisation · 1893 CE
French protectorate established
Following the Franco-Siamese crisis, Siam cedes the territory east of the Mekong and France makes the Lao states a protectorate within French Indochina, administered from Vientiane.
The French Protectorate
Sources: Auguste Pavie (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Laos: Under foreign rule (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- QAT
Qatar · War & Rupture · March 1893
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.
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)
- THA
Thailand · War & Rupture
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.
Siam's Survival: Mongkut, Chulalongkorn, and the Imperial Century
Sources: Thailand (Encyclopædia Britannica)
Europe
- MKD
North Macedonia · Politics & Power
Founding of IMRO
The Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization was founded at Salonika to work for an autonomous Macedonia, its early leaders combining a Macedonian regional with a Bulgarian national identity.
Ottoman Rule and the Macedonian Question
Sources: Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO) (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
Oceania
- NZL
New Zealand · Politics & Power · 19 September 1893
Women win the vote
New Zealand became the first self-governing nation in the world to grant women the parliamentary vote, the culmination of a petition campaign led by Kate Sheppard and the temperance movement.
Colony, women's suffrage, and Dominion
Sources: New Zealand women and the vote (NZ History (Manatū Taonga — Ministry for Culture and Heritage)) · Kate Sheppard (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- SLB
Solomon Islands · Colonisation
British protectorate proclaimed
Britain declares a protectorate over the southern Solomons to curb labour-trade abuses and forestall French and German expansion.
Blackbirding, Missions and the Protectorate
Sources: British Solomon Islands Protectorate, 1893–1978 (University of Queensland (Law)) · History of Solomon Islands (Encyclopædia Britannica)
5 records
Africa
- BEN
Benin · Colonisation
Behanzin deposed and exiled
France deposed the last independent king of Dahomey and exiled him to Martinique and later Algeria, where he died in 1906; the kingdom passed under French control.
Behanzin, the French conquest, and colonial Dahomey
Sources: Behanzin — king of Dahomey (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Behanzin (Wikipedia)
- SWZ
Eswatini · Colonisation
Protectorate of the South African Republic
By convention the Transvaal (South African Republic) takes over the administration of Swaziland as a protectorate, while the kingdom keeps nominal autonomy.
The Concessions Era and Foreign Control
Sources: Swaziland — History (Nations Encyclopedia) · History of Eswatini (Wikipedia) · Eswatini (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- RWA
Rwanda · Colonisation
First European contact
The German explorer Count Gustav Adolf von Götzen reaches the Rwandan court; Rwanda is incorporated into German East Africa and ruled indirectly through the mwami.
German and Belgian Rule
Sources: History of Rwanda (Wikipedia) · Rise of Rwanda (EBSCO Research Starters)
- UGA
Uganda · Colonisation
Uganda Protectorate declared
Britain proclaims a protectorate over Buganda, soon extended across the wider territory, beginning sixty-eight years of colonial rule administered through the kingdoms.
The Uganda Protectorate
Sources: Protectorate of Uganda (Wikipedia) · History of Uganda (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
North America
- NIC
Nicaragua · Politics & Power · 1894 CE
Incorporation of the Mosquito Coast
President José Santos Zelaya militarily incorporates the British-influenced Caribbean coast into the Nicaraguan state.
Intervention, Sandino, and the Somoza Dynasty
Sources: Mosquito Coast (Encyclopædia Britannica) · History of Nicaragua (Encyclopædia Britannica)
13 records
Africa
- BWA
Botswana · Colonisation
Capital moved to Mafeking
The protectorate's administration is seated at Mafeking, a town outside the territory's own borders, where it remains until the 1960s.
The Bechuanaland Protectorate
Sources: Bechuanaland Protectorate (Wikipedia) · Botswana — History (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- BWA
Botswana · Politics & Power
The three kings' mission to Britain
Khama III, Sebele I and Bathoen I travel to Britain and persuade the government to keep the protectorate out of Cecil Rhodes's British South Africa Company.
The Bechuanaland Protectorate
Sources: Bechuanaland Protectorate (Wikipedia) · Khama III (Encyclopaedia Africana) · Bathoen I (Wikipedia) · William Charles Willoughby and the 1895 visit of the three kings (Making African Connections Digital Archive)
- CMR
Cameroon · Culture & Ideas · c. 1895–1900s
King Njoya devises the Bamum script
King Ibrahim Njoya of Bamum and his palace circle created an original writing system, the Bamum script, and the Shumom language, used to record the kingdom's history, laws, and knowledge.
Grassfields kingdoms, the Douala coast and the Fulani north
Sources: Sultan Ibrahim Njoya: A Scholar-King (Bamum Script research guide) (Library of Congress) · Bamum (people and kingdom) (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- GIN
Guinea · Colonisation
Incorporation into French West Africa
French Guinea becomes a constituent colony of the federation of French West Africa, administered from Dakar.
French Guinea
Sources: French Guinea (Wikipedia)
- KEN
Kenya · Colonisation · 1 July 1895
East Africa Protectorate established
Britain proclaims the East Africa Protectorate over the territory that would become Kenya, beginning nearly seven decades of formal British rule.
British East Africa and the Settler Colony
Sources: History of Kenya (Wikipedia) · U.S. Relations With Kenya / History (U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian)
- MDG
Madagascar · Colonisation
French capture Antananarivo
Franco-Hova war ends with the fall of the capital; Madagascar is forced into a French protectorate.
French Conquest & Colony
Sources: Madagascar (Encyclopædia Britannica) · Ranavalona III (Wikipedia)
- MOZ
Mozambique · War & Rupture
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.
Prazos, the Gaza Empire and Conquest
Sources: Gungunhana (Wikipedia) · Gaza Empire (Wikipedia) · Mozambique (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- RWA
Rwanda · Politics & Power
Death of Rwabugiri
Rwabugiri dies during a campaign, just as European powers reach the central African interior; a disputed succession leaves the kingdom weakened on the eve of colonial rule.
The Kingdom of the Mwami
Sources: Kigeli IV Rwabugiri (Wikipedia)
- SEN
Senegal · Colonisation
Bamba exiled; French West Africa formed
France exiles Amadou Bamba to Gabon for his independent influence; the same year Senegal is incorporated into French West Africa.
French Conquest, the Four Communes and the Marabouts
Sources: Amadou Bamba (Wikipedia) · French conquest of Senegal (Wikipedia)
Asia
- TWN
Taiwan · Colonisation
Japanese colonial administration
Japan develops Taiwan with railways, ports, public health and expanded agriculture while suppressing resistance and, from the late 1930s, pursuing intensive assimilation campaigns.
Fifty Years of Japanese Colonial Rule
Sources: Taiwan (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- TWN
Taiwan · Colonisation · 17 April 1895
Treaty of Shimonoseki cedes Taiwan to Japan
Ending the First Sino-Japanese War, the treaty obliges the Qing empire to cede Taiwan and the Pescadores to Japan, beginning fifty years of Japanese colonial rule.
Fifty Years of Japanese Colonial Rule
Sources: Treaty of Shimonoseki (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · First Sino-Japanese War (1894-95) (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
North America
- CUB
Cuba · Independence · 1895 CE
Marti's War of Independence
Jose Marti orders the resumption of war and lands in Cuba, dying at Dos Rios on 19 May; the rising continues under Gomez and Maceo.
The Wars of Independence and 1898
Sources: Jose Marti (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Jose Marti — The World of 1898: The Spanish-American War (Library of Congress)
South America
- ECU
Ecuador · Politics & Power · 1895 CE
The Liberal Revolution of Eloy Alfaro
Eloy Alfaro seizes power and launches liberal reforms separating church and state, founding secular schools and building the Guayaquil-Quito railway.
Cacao, Liberals and Bananas
Sources: History of Ecuador (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Ecuador: A Country Study (U.S. Library of Congress, Country Studies)
15 records
Africa
- BFA
Burkina Faso · Colonisation
French conquest of the Mossi
France claims the Volta region and occupies Ouagadougou; Mossi resistance collapses and the Mogho Naba Wobgo goes into exile.
Conquest and the Colony of Upper Volta
Sources: French Upper Volta (Wikipedia) · Mossi Kingdoms (Wikipedia)
- DJI
Djibouti · Colonisation · 20 May 1896
Colony of French Somaliland created
A French decree constitutes the holdings as the colony of the Côte française des Somalis (French Somaliland), with Djibouti as its capital, replacing Obock as the seat of government.
The French Foothold and the Founding of Djibouti
Sources: Djibouti (country and history) (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · History of Djibouti (Wikipedia)
- ERI
Eritrea · War & Rupture · 1 March 1896
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.
Italy's First-Born Colony
Sources: Battle of Adwa (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Battle of Adwa (Adowa), 1896 (BlackPast.org)
- ETH
Ethiopia · War & Rupture · 1 March 1896
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.
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)
- ETH
Ethiopia · Independence · October 1896
Treaty of Addis Ababa
Italy recognises the full sovereignty and independence of Ethiopia, abrogating the Treaty of Wuchale, though it retains the separate coastal colony of Eritrea.
Menelik II, Adwa and the Defeat of Colonisation
Sources: Battle of Adwa (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- GIN
Guinea · Colonisation
French annexation of Futa Jallon
After decades of nominal autonomy, the imamate is brought under French colonial control as European expansion absorbs the Guinea interior.
The Imamate of Futa Jallon
Sources: Imamate of Futa Jallon (Wikipedia) · French Guinea (Wikipedia)
- KEN
Kenya · Colonisation · 1896–1901
The Uganda Railway is built
The 'Lunatic Line' is driven from Mombasa to Lake Victoria, built largely by indentured Indian labourers; it reaches Nairobi in 1899 and opens the interior to settlement.
British East Africa and the Settler Colony
Sources: Uganda Railway (Wikipedia) · History of Kenya (Wikipedia)
- SLE
Sierra Leone · Colonisation
The Protectorate proclaimed
Britain declared a Protectorate over the interior of Sierra Leone, extending colonial rule over the Temne, Mende, and other peoples beyond the coastal Crown Colony.
Protectorate, the Hut Tax War, and independence
Sources: Sierra Leone (country overview and history) (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Hut Tax War of 1898 (Wikipedia)
- UGA
Uganda · Economy & Trade · 1896–1901
The Uganda Railway is built
The railway is driven from Mombasa to Kisumu on Lake Victoria by some 32,000 indentured Indian labourers, binding Uganda to the coast and bringing a lasting South Asian presence.
The Uganda Protectorate
Sources: Uganda Railway (Wikipedia) · History of the Uganda Railway (Daily Monitor)
- ZWE
Zimbabwe · War & Rupture · 1896–1897
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.
The Ndebele kingdom and British conquest
Sources: Zimbabwe: History (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · History of Zimbabwe (Wikipedia)
Asia
- KWT
Kuwait · Politics & Power
Mubarak Al-Sabah seizes power
Mubarak took control of Kuwait in a palace coup in which the ruling sheikh and his brother were killed, beginning a reign that would shape the modern state.
Mubarak the Great and the British Agreement
Sources: The reign of Mubarak Al-Sabah and the British Protectorate (1896-1950) (Fanack)
- PHL
Philippines · Politics & Power · 30 Dec 1896
Execution of Jose Rizal
Spain executes the reformist writer Jose Rizal by firing squad in Manila; his martyrdom galvanises Filipinos and makes Spanish retention of the colony untenable.
Rizal, the Katipunan and the Revolution of 1896-1898
Sources: Jose Rizal and the Revolution (National Historical Commission of the Philippines) · Philippine Revolution (Katipunan; Bonifacio; Rizal's execution) (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- PHL
Philippines · War & Rupture · Aug 1896
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.
Rizal, the Katipunan and the Revolution of 1896-1898
Sources: Philippine Revolution (Katipunan; Bonifacio; Rizal's execution) (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- THA
Thailand · Politics & Power · 15 January 1896
Anglo-French guarantee of Siam's independence
Britain and France declare their mutual respect for the independence of Siam's core territory, fixing the kingdom as a buffer state between their empires.
Siam's Survival: Mongkut, Chulalongkorn, and the Imperial Century
Sources: The Anglo-French Declaration of January 1896 and the Independence of Siam (The Siam Society (Journal of the Siam Society)) · Thailand (Encyclopædia Britannica)
7 records
Africa
- DJI
Djibouti · Economy & Trade
Franco-Ethiopian Railway begun
Construction starts on the railway from the port of Djibouti toward the Ethiopian interior, the project that will define the colony's economy.
The Railway and the Colony of French Somaliland
Sources: Ethio-Djibouti Railways (Wikipedia) · Djibouti (country and history) (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- ERI
Eritrea · Colonisation
Asmara becomes the colonial capital
The colonial seat is moved from Massawa to the highland town of Asmara, later rebuilt as a planned modernist city.
Italy's First-Born Colony
Sources: Asmara: A Modernist City of Africa (UNESCO World Heritage Centre) · Italian Eritrea (Wikipedia)
- MDG
Madagascar · Colonisation
Monarchy abolished, Ranavalona III exiled
France ends the Merina monarchy and exiles the last queen, ultimately to Algiers, where she dies in 1917.
French Conquest & Colony
Sources: Ranavalona III (Wikipedia) · Madagascar (Encyclopædia Britannica)
- NGA
Nigeria · Colonisation · February 1897
British sack of Benin City
A British punitive expedition destroyed Benin City, exiled the Oba, and looted thousands of the Benin Bronzes, dispersing centuries of court art to foreign museums and collectors.
British conquest, amalgamation and colonial Nigeria
Sources: Benin Bronzes (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · The Benin Bronzes (The British Museum) · The British raid on Benin 1897 (National Museums Scotland)
- TGO
Asia
- PSE
Palestine · Politics & Power
First Zionist Congress
Theodor Herzl convened the First Zionist Congress in Basel, founding the World Zionist Organization and adopting the aim of a Jewish national home in Palestine.
Ottoman Palestine
Sources: Origins and Evolution of the Palestine Problem, Part I (1917-1947) (United Nations)
North America
- PRI
Puerto Rico · Politics & Power · 1897 CE
Charter of Autonomy
Spain grants Puerto Rico an Autonomous Charter conceding limited self-government, only months before the Spanish-American War.
Plantation, Abolition, and the End of Spanish Rule
Sources: The Grito de Lares: The Rebellion of 1868 (Library of Congress) · The Changing of the Guard: Puerto Rico in 1898 (Library of Congress)
13 records
Africa
- GIN
Guinea · War & Rupture · 29 September 1898
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.
Samori Touré and the Resistance to France
Sources: Samori Ture (Wikipedia) · Guinea — History (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- CIV
Ivory Coast · War & Rupture · 29 September 1898
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.
The ivory coast, the French, and the conquest
Sources: Samori Touré (1830–1900) (BlackPast.org) · Samory (Encyclopædia Britannica) · History of Ivory Coast (Wikipedia)
- MLI
Mali · Colonisation · 29 September 1898
Capture of Samori Touré
French forces seize Samori Touré, founder of the Wassoulou Empire and Mali's last great armed resister, ending nearly two decades of war.
Segou, the Tukulor and Samori
Sources: Samori Touré (1830–1900) (BlackPast.org) · Samory — Mandingo Empire, Jihad, Abolitionist (Encyclopædia Britannica) · Samori Ture (Wikipedia)
- SLE
Sierra Leone · War & Rupture
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.
Protectorate, the Hut Tax War, and independence
Sources: Hut Tax War of 1898 (Wikipedia) · Bai Bureh (Wikipedia)
- SDS
South Sudan · War & Rupture
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.
Conquest, Ivory and the Slave Raids
Sources: Anglo-Egyptian Condominium (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- SDN
Sudan · War & Rupture · 2 September 1898
Battle of Omdurman
Kitchener's Anglo-Egyptian army destroys the Khalifa's forces with overwhelming firepower, ending the Mahdist state.
Turco-Egyptian Rule and the Mahdist Revolt
Sources: Battle of Omdurman (Encyclopædia Britannica) · Mahdist State (Wikipedia)
Asia
- PHL
Philippines · Independence · 12 Jun 1898
Declaration of Philippine independence
Emilio Aguinaldo proclaims independence from Spain at Kawit, Cavite, founding a provisional republic; this date later becomes the national Independence Day.
Rizal, the Katipunan and the Revolution of 1896-1898
Sources: Independence Day (Philippines): the 12 June 1898 declaration (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Emilio Aguinaldo y Famy (World of 1898 research guide) (Library of Congress)
- PHL
Philippines · Colonisation · 10 Dec 1898
Treaty of Paris: Spain cedes the Philippines to the U.S.
By the Treaty of Paris ending the Spanish-American War, Spain cedes the Philippines to the United States without consulting Filipinos, who had already declared independence.
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)
Europe
- ESP
Spain · War & Rupture
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.
Loss of Empire, Republic and Civil War
Sources: The World of 1898: The Spanish-American War (Library of Congress)
North America
- CUB
Cuba · War & Rupture · 15 Feb 1898
Sinking of the USS Maine
The U.S. battleship Maine explodes in Havana harbour, propelling the United States toward war with Spain over Cuba.
The Wars of Independence and 1898
Sources: The Spanish-American War, 1898 (U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian)
- CUB
Cuba · War & Rupture · 10 Dec 1898
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.
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)
- PRI
Puerto Rico · War & Rupture · 10 Dec 1898
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.
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)
- PRI
Puerto Rico · Colonisation · 1898 CE
U.S. takes control of Puerto Rico
American military rule begins; the island passes from Spain to the United States as a new colonial relationship is established.
Under the United States: Citizenship and a New Order
Sources: The Changing of the Guard: Puerto Rico in 1898 (Library of Congress) · Puerto Rico: Rule by the United States (Encyclopædia Britannica)
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Africa
- BEN
Benin · Colonisation · c. 1899–1904
Colony of French Dahomey
Dahomey was organised as a French colony with its capital at Porto-Novo and incorporated into the federation of French West Africa, where it remained for six decades.
Behanzin, the French conquest, and colonial Dahomey
Sources: French Dahomey (Wikipedia) · Benin — History (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- CAF
Central African Republic · Economy & Trade · 1899–1927
Concessionary companies take over
France leased huge tracts of Ubangi-Shari to private companies such as the Company of the Upper Ubangi Sultanates, whose militias exacted rubber and ivory through brutal forced labour.
Conquest and the Concession Regime
Sources: French Equatorial Africa (Wikipedia) · Company of the Upper Ubangi Sultanates (Wikipedia) · The Economic History of the Central African Republic (Yaw Boadu (Substack))
- NER
Niger · Colonisation
The Voulet-Chanoine mission
A French military column under Captains Voulet and Chanoine drove across the region with extreme brutality, massacring the people of Birni-N'Konni on 8 May 1899 before disintegrating into mutiny and the murder of Colonel Klobb.
Conquest, the Voulet-Chanoine column and colonial Niger
Sources: Voulet–Chanoine Mission (Wikipedia) · France Signals Willingness to Discuss Reparations for Colonial Massacres in Niger (International Center for Transitional Justice) · History of Niger (Wikipedia)
- SOM
Somalia · War & Rupture · 1899–1920
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.
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)
- SOL
Somaliland · War & Rupture · c. 1899–1920
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.
The British Somaliland Protectorate
Sources: British Somaliland (Wikipedia) · British Somaliland: The Protectorate on the Horn of Africa (World History Encyclopedia)
- ZAF
South Africa · War & Rupture · 1899–1902
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.
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)
- SDS
South Sudan · Colonisation
Anglo-Egyptian Condominium established
Britain and Egypt establish joint rule over Sudan, with the largely Christian and traditionalist south administered separately from the Arab-Muslim north.
The Condominium and the Southern Policy
Sources: Anglo-Egyptian Condominium (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · History of South Sudan (Wikipedia)
- SDN
Sudan · Colonisation
Anglo-Egyptian Condominium established
Sudan is placed under joint British and Egyptian rule by the Condominium agreements of January and July 1899.
Turco-Egyptian Rule and the Mahdist Revolt
Sources: Anglo-Egyptian Condominium (Encyclopædia Britannica) · Anglo-Egyptian Sudan (Wikipedia)
Asia
- KWT
Kuwait · Colonisation · 23 January 1899
The Anglo-Kuwaiti agreement
Mubarak signed a secret treaty placing Kuwait's foreign relations under British control in exchange for protection, making the sheikhdom a British protectorate and shielding it from the Ottomans.
Mubarak the Great and the British Agreement
Sources: The reign of Mubarak Al-Sabah and the British Protectorate (1896-1950) (Fanack) · Kuwait: History (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- PHL
Philippines · War & Rupture · 1899-1902
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.
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)
Europe
- FIN
Finland · Politics & Power
Russification and Finlandia
Nicholas II's February Manifesto curtailed Finnish autonomy, beginning a campaign of Russification; resistance found voice in Jean Sibelius's tone poem Finlandia, composed that same year.
The Grand Duchy of Finland under the Russian Empire
Sources: History of Finland (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Finlandia by Jean Sibelius (thisisFINLAND (Finland Promotion Board))
North America
- HND
Honduras · Economy & Trade · c. 1899
Rise of the fruit companies
U.S. firms, foremost United Fruit and Standard Fruit, develop the north coast, making bananas Honduras's dominant export.
The Banana Economy and the Original Banana Republic
Sources: Banana republic (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Honduras: History (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
South America
- COL
Colombia · War & Rupture · 1899-1902
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.
Partisan Wars and the Loss of Panama
Sources: The War of a Thousand Days (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
Oceania
- SLB
Solomon Islands · Colonisation
Germany cedes the northern islands
Germany transfers most of the northern Solomons to Britain in exchange for recognition of its claims elsewhere, enlarging the protectorate.
Blackbirding, Missions and the Protectorate
Sources: British Solomon Islands Protectorate, 1893–1978 (University of Queensland (Law)) · History of Solomon Islands (Encyclopædia Britannica)