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