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Opium Wars
Conflict between China and Britain in 1839-1842 over Britain’s illegal trading of opium in the Chinese market. The British blockaded Chinese ports, besieged Canton, and occupied Shanghai before the Chinese sought peace in the Treaty of Nanking.
First Balkan Crisis
Criss occuring from 1874-1878. It began when Bosnia and Herzegovina rebelled against Ottoman rule, leading to Serbia declaring war on the Ottoman Empire on 30 June 1876. Russia, based on its foreign policy of pan-Slavism, declared war on the Ottomans in due course. Britain, interested in maintaining the balance of power and protecting its Mediterranean holdings that depended upon the status quo, nominally supported the Turkish sultan. Sultan Hamid II of Turkey sought peace in January 1878.
Berlin Conference
Conference held in 1884-1885 to legitimize the Belgian King Leopold II’s spurious claim to control the Congo Basin. The conference granted him recognition and set out formal requirements for future international recognition: “effective occupation” designed for economic development would be required, meaning that no longer did plunging a flag into the ground mean it was occupied.
Second Balkan Crisis
Conflict in 1885 between Bulgaria and Serbia over territory. Russia warned it was ready to occupy Bulgaria if Bulgaria did not yield to Serbian claims. At this point, Austria-Hungary stepped in to support Bulgaria. Germany then supported Austria-Hungary, causing Russia to back down. As a result, the Three Emperors’ League broke down because Russia felt betrayed by Germany.
The Boulanger Affair
The 1889 attempt by French General Georges Boulanger to orchestrate his election to the presidency of France and establish a military dictatorship. Boulanger skillfully manipulated the press to endear himself to the agrarian poor of France, while maintaining his base of support among conservatives. The de facto coup attempt failed when Boulanger did not receive enough votes.
Dreyfus Affair
In 1894 Alfred Dreyfus, an Alsatian Jew, was tried and convicted of treason for selling French military secrets to the Germans. The French press went on extensive investigations to discover the truth. When conclusive evidence emerged to prove Dreyfus’s innocence, the entire French nation became caught up in the issue. Conservatives generally supported his conviction in the name of national unity and anti-Semitism, while liberals and supporters of the government demanded his exoneration in the name of liberty and truth. Dreyfus was eventually exonerated.
Boxer Rebellion
In 1899-1901, with secret encouragement from the Chinese empress, the Boxers (the name given by Westerners to a Chinese secret society) dedicated to ending foreign exploitation in north China, killed scores of European and seized the large foreign legation in Beijing. Reacting immediately, an international expeditionary force of Japanese, Russian, British, American, German, French, Austrian and Italian troops (called the “Eight-Nation Alliance”) sacked Beijing to protect the imperalist interests of their respective countries. After the Rebellion, the European powers propped up a weak central government for their own economic benefit.
Boer War
War fought from 1899-1902 between the British and the Afrikaner population of South Africa that was caused by British interests in mining gold out of Afrikaner land. The conflict progressed rather poorly for the better-equipped, better-trained, and larger British army. Due to inept leadership and harassment by effective Afrikaner guerrilla tactics, the British were forced fight the Boer War for three years. In 1902, the British accepted the conditional surrender of the Afrikaners in which the entire colony was united under British rule. However, the British promised the Afrikaners that no decision to include the Black majority in government would be made before rule was returned to the Afrikaners.
Third Balkan Crisis
The 1912-1913 crisis began with a dispute between Italy and the Ottoman Empire over holdings around the Adriatic Sea. Serbia took advantage of weakened Ottoman Empire to attack Bulgarian lands for her own sea port. Russia supported Serbia and Austria-Hungary supported Bulgaria, while Britain and Germany urged peace. This crisis enraged Serbs against Austria-Hungary for its support of Bulgaria and its continued occupation of Bosnia-Herzegovina.
