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The world: 1880s

1880–1889

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Events in this period 7

  1. 1881 – 1914 · Africa · Politics

    Scramble for Africa

    The Scramble for Africa was the invasion, conquest, and colonisation of most of Africa by seven Western European powers, which were driven by the Second Industrial Revolution during the late 19th and early 20th centuries through the era of "New Imperialism". Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom were the contending powers.

  2. 1885 · Africa · Politics

    Congo Free State

    The Congo Free State (CFS), also known as the Independent State of the Congo, was a state and absolute monarchy in Central Africa from 1885 to 1908. It was privately owned by King Leopold II, the constitutional monarch of the Kingdom of Belgium. In legal terms, the two separate countries were in a personal union. The Congo Free State was not a part of, nor did it belong to, Belgium. Leopold was able to seize the region by convincing other European states at the Berlin Conference on Africa that he was involved in humanitarian and philanthropic work and would not tax trade. Via the International Association of the Congo, he was able to lay claim to most of the Congo Basin. On 29 May 1885, after the closure of the Berlin Conference, the king announced that he planned to name his possessions "the Congo Free State", an appellation which was not yet used at the Berlin Conference and which officially replaced "International Association of the Congo" on 1 August 1885. The Free State was privately controlled by Leopold from Brussels; he never visited it.

  3. 1885 · India · Politics

    Indian National Congress

    The Indian National Congress (INC), also known as the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a big tent political party in India. It is India's oldest political party and is widely regarded as one of the world's oldest continuously active political parties, outside Europe and North America. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British Empire in Asia and Africa. From the late 19th century, and especially after 1920, under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi, the Congress became the principal leader of the Indian independence movement. The Congress was one of the parties that led India to independence from the United Kingdom, and significantly influenced other anti-colonial nationalist movements in the British Empire.

  4. 1886 · Europe · Politics

    Berne Convention

    The Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, usually known as the Berne Convention, was an international assembly held in 1886 in the Swiss city of Bern by ten European countries with the goal of agreeing on a set of legal principles for the protection of original work and intellectual property. They drafted and adopted a multi-party contract containing agreements for a uniform, border-crossing system that became known under the same name. Its rules have been updated many times since then. The treaty provides authors, musicians, poets, painters, and other creators with the means to control how their works are used, by whom, and on what terms. In some jurisdictions these types of rights are referred to as copyright; on the European continent they are generally referred to as authors' rights.

  5. 1888 · South America · Politics

    Lei Áurea

    The Lei Áurea, officially Law No. 3,353 of 13 May 1888, is the law that abolished slavery in Brazil. It was signed by Isabel, Princess Imperial of Brazil (1846–1921), an opponent of slavery, who acted as regent to Emperor Pedro II, who was in Europe.

  6. 1889 · Japan · Politics

    Meiji Constitution

    The Constitution of the Empire of Japan, known informally as the Meiji Constitution, was the constitution of the Empire of Japan which was proclaimed on February 11, 1889, and remained in force between November 29, 1890, until May 2, 1947. Enacted after the Meiji Restoration in 1868, it provided for a form of mixed constitutional and absolute monarchy, primarily based on the German and partly based on the British models.

  7. 1889 · South America · Politics

    Proclamation of the Republic (Brazil)

    The Proclamation of the Republic was a military coup d'état that established the First Brazilian Republic on November 15, 1889. It abolished the constitutional monarchy of the Empire of Brazil and ended the reign of Emperor Pedro II.

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