Comprehensive History of 19th Century Revolutions and Imperialism

Opium War (1839-1842)

Conflict between Britain and Qing China over the opium trade, ending in Chinese defeat.

Treaty of Nanjing (1842)

Unequal treaty that opened treaty ports and ceded Hong Kong to Britain.

Millenarianism

Belief in the imminent arrival of a transformed, just society.

Taiping Heavenly Kingdom

Revolutionary state founded by Hong Xiuquan (1851-1864).

Hong Xiuquan (1813-1864)

Leader of the Taiping Rebellion who claimed divine kinship with Jesus Christ.

Confucius (551-479 BCE)

Philosopher whose teachings formed the basis of Chinese orthodoxy; rejected by the Taiping.

Manchu Rulers

Ethnic minority that ruled China during the Qing dynasty.

1644

Establishment of Qing dynasty.

1837

Hong Xiuquan's visionary dream.

1842

Treaty of Nanjing signed.

1850

Beginning of Taiping Rebellion.

1853

Capture of Nanjing.

1864

Fall of Nanjing and death of Hong Xiuquan.

East India Company

British trading corporation that evolved into the governing authority over much of India.

Sepoys

Indian soldiers serving in the British colonial army.

Awadh (Oudh)

Wealthy north Indian kingdom annexed by the British in 1856; a major center of rebellion.

Greased Cartridge Controversy

Rumor that rifle cartridges were greased with cow and pig fat, offending Hindu and Muslim soldiers.

Meerut

Military cantonment where the rebellion began.

Crown Rule

Direct governance of India by the British monarchy after 1858.

Bahadur Shah II

Last Mughal emperor, restored symbolically by rebels to legitimize the uprising.

Lord Dalhousie

Governor-General whose annexation policies intensified resentment toward British rule.

Bakht Khan

Former sepoy who became commander of rebel forces in Delhi.

Maulavi Ahmadullah Shah

Muslim religious leader and popular rebel commander in Awadh.

Devi Singh

Peasant leader who mobilized rural resistance against British authority and moneylenders.

Queen Victoria

British monarch who issued the 1858 proclamation promising reforms after the rebellion.

1757 - Battle of Plassey

Established the East India Company as the dominant political power in Bengal, laying the foundation for company rule in India.

1848-1856 - Lord Dalhousie's Governorship

Period of aggressive annexation and administrative centralization that destabilized Indian political society.

1856 - Annexation of Awadh

British violation of treaty obligations that alienated landed elites, soldiers, and peasants.

May 10, 1857 - Mutiny at Meerut

Sepoy rebellion that ignited the wider uprising.

August 1858 - Government of India Act

Abolished Company rule and transferred authority to the British Crown.

November 1858 - Queen Victoria's Proclamation

Promised religious toleration and non-interference in Indian traditions.

Nationalism

Ideology asserting that political legitimacy derives from a unified people.

Nation-State

Political entity claiming sovereignty over a defined cultural population.

Imperialism

Extension of state control over foreign territories and peoples.

Elite-Led Nation-Building

Top-down construction of national identity by ruling classes.

Cultural Imperialism

Imposition of colonizers' culture on subject populations.

Export Economy

Economic system reliant on primary commodity exports.

Suffrage Restrictions

Legal limits on voting rights to exclude certain groups.

Napoleon Bonaparte

His wars spread nationalist ideas while reinforcing centralized state power.

Otto von Bismarck

Architect of German unification through militarized nationalism.

Victor Emmanuel II

First king of a unified Italy, symbolizing elite-led nationalism.

Pedro II of Brazil

Emperor who oversaw gradual abolition and elite stability.

Brazilian Planter Elite

Landowners who dominated politics and resisted mass inclusion.

British Colonial Scientists

Smuggled rubber seeds, undermining Brazil's monopoly.

1830

Brazil formally abolishes the slave trade.

1876

British smuggling of rubber seeds from Brazil.

1888

Abolition of slavery in Brazil.

1891

Brazilian republican constitution.

Late 1800s

Height of global imperial expansion.

British Raj

Period of direct British rule in India (1858-1947).

Indian Rebellion of 1857

Large-scale uprising against British authority.

Berlin Conference

Meeting that formalized the partition of Africa.

Effective Occupation

Principle requiring physical presence to claim territory.

Maxim Gun

Early machine gun symbolizing European military superiority.

Scorched-Earth Policy

Destruction of resources to deny them to enemies.

Cecil Rhodes

British imperialist in southern Africa.

King Leopold II

Belgian king who privately owned the Congo.

Samori Touré

West African leader who resisted French conquest.

Menelik II

Ethiopian emperor who defeated Italy.

Lat Dior

Senegalese leader resisting French expansion.

1857

Indian Rebellion.

1858

Beginning of the British Raj.

1882

British occupation of Egypt.

1884-1885

Berlin Conference.

1896

Battle of Adwa.

1908

Congo transferred to Belgian state.

Meiji Restoration

Political revolution restoring imperial rule and launching modernization in Japan.

Unequal Treaties

Agreements granting extraterritorial rights to foreigners.

Zaibatsu

Family-controlled industrial conglomerates in Japan.

Great Reforms

Alexander II's modernization policies in Russia.

Serf Emancipation

1861 abolition of serfdom in Russia.

Self-Strengthening Movement

Chinese effort to adopt Western technology.

Hundred Days' Reform

Brief Qing reform attempt in 1898.

Sphere of Influence

Foreign-dominated economic regions in China.

Emperor Meiji (Mutsuhito)

Symbol of Japanese modernization.

Commodore Matthew Perry

U.S. naval officer who opened Japan.

Tsar Alexander II

Russian reformer-emperor.

Empress Dowager Cixi

Conservative power broker in Qing China.

Kang Youwei

Reformist Chinese scholar.

Liang Qichao

Advocate of constitutional reform.

Yung Wing

Promoter of Western education for Chinese students.

1861

Emancipation of serfs in Russia.

1868

Meiji Restoration.

1879

Annexation of Ryukyu Islands.

1894-1895

Sino-Japanese War.

1898

Hundred Days' Reform.