| 1805–1848 | Muhammad Ali modernizes Egypt |
| 1839–1842 | First Opium War; Treaty of Nanking |
| 1853 | Perry “opens” Japan for trade |
| 1856–1860 | Second Opium War |
| 1857–1858 | Britain crushes Great Rebellion in India |
| 1863–1879 | Reign of Ismail in Egypt |
| 1867 | Meiji Restoration in Japan |
| 1869 | Suez Canal opens |
| 1880–1900 | Most of Africa falls under European rule |
| 1884–1885 | Berlin Conference |
| 1885 | Russian expansion reaches borders of Afghanistan |
| 1898 | United States takes over Philippines; hundred days of reform in China; Battle of Omdurman |
| 1899 | Kipling writes “The White Man’s Burden” |
| 1899–1902 | South African War |
| 1902 | Conrad publishes Heart of Darkness; Hobson publishes Imperialism |
| 1912 | Western-style republic replaces China’s Qing Dynasty |
| 1914 | Panama Canal opens |