| 1839–1876 | 1880s |
| – Western-style Tanzimat reforms in Ottoman Empire | – Educational reforms in France create a secular public school system |
| 1852–1870 | 1880s–1890s |
| – Reign of Napoleon III in France | – Widespread return to protectionism among European states |
| 1859–1870 | 1883 |
| – Unification of Italy | – First social security laws to help workers in Germany |
| 1861 | 1890–1900 |
| – Freeing of Russian serfs | – Witte initiates second surge of Russian industrialization |
| 1861–1865 | 1905 |
| – U.S. Civil War | – Revolution in Russia |
| 1866 | 1906–1914 |
| – Austro-Prussian War | – Social reform in Great Britain |
| 1870–1871 | 1908 |
| – Franco-Prussian War | – Young Turks seize power in Ottoman Empire |
| 1870–1878 | |
| – Kulturkampf, Bismarck’s attack on the Catholic Church | |
| 1873 |
| – Stock market crash spurs renewed anti-Semitism, beginning in central and eastern Europe | |