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1815    

Congress of Vienna. Britain retained most of her conquests made during the Napoleonic  wars, including the Cape of Good Hope, Malta and Mauritius

1819      

Raffles acquired Singapore

1820     

 5,000 settlers arrived in the Cape Colony

1824      

First Burma War (to 1825)

1829

Suttee abolished in Bengal

1834      

Abolition of Slavery in the British Empire

1837      

Canadian Rebellion

1838     

Lord Durham’s mission to Canada resulting in the Durham Report

1839     

 ‘Opium War’ between Britain and China

Wakefield settlers settled in New Zealand

1840     

Upper and Lower Canada united

New Zealand annexed

1841      

Britain wins the ‘Opium War’.

China paid £1.3 million war indemnity, opened five ports and  ceded Hong Kong.

1843     

Natal annexed

Maori wars against Britain in New Zealand began

Sind conquered by General Napier

1845     

 First Sikh war (to 1846)

1846      

Kaffraria and Labuan annexed

Repeal of the Corn Laws

1848    

Nova Scotia first colony with responsible government

 Second Sikh War

1849   

Navigation Acts abolished

Annexation of the Punjab

1852       

New Zealand received responsible government

 Second Burma War

Livingstone exploration of the Zambesi area

1854      

Bloemfontein established Independence for Orange Free State

1856      

Second Chinese War (to 1858)

Annexation of Oudh

1857      

Indian rebellion began at Meerut

1858      

British Columbia established

Queen Victoria’s Proclamation of British Rule over India

Government of India Act

Burton and Speke discovered Lakes Tanganyika and Victoria

1859     

Queensland became a separate colony

1860     

 Second phase of Maori Wars

1861     

 Select Committee on Colonial Military Expenditure recommended cuts in British troops in  the colonies.

Lagos annexed

 Gold discovered in New Zealand

1865     

Commons Select Committee recommended no more annexations in west Africa.

Morant Bay rebellion in Jamaica

1866     

West African settlements united

1867     

British North America Act established the dominion of Canada.

1869    

Suez canal opened

Hudson Bay Company ceded its right to territory to the government of the Dominion of  Canada.

1870    

Ruskin’s ‘Imperial Duty’ speech at Oxford

Riel’s rebellion in Canada

1871     

Stanley met Livingstone in Ujiji

1872    

Responsible government granted to Cape Colony

Disraeli’s Crystal Palace speech

1873    

The Ashanti war began

1875      

Disraeli purchased the Khedive of Egypt’s shares in the Suez Canal

1876      

 Queen Victoria proclaimed ‘Empress of India’

1877      

Transvaal annexed

1878      

Congress of Berlin

Afghan War began

1879     

 Zulu War

1880      

First Anglo-Boer War

Annexation of Griqualand

1881      

British defeat at Majuba Hill led to British withdrawal from Transvaal.

1882      

Wolseley’s defeat of Egyptian forces led to British occupation of Egypt.

1883     

 Publication of Seeley’s ‘Expansion of England’.

1884      

West Africa Conference in Berlin decided rules for partitioning Africa.

Conference of London confirmed Transvaal’s independence.

1885      

General Gordon died at Khartoum.

Indian National Congress founded.

1886      

Gold discovered in Transvaal

Niger Company received royal assent and control of Nigerian coast.

1888     

Imperial East Africa Company chartered

1889     

British South Africa Company chartered

1890     

Treaties between Britain and Germany over east Africa and Britain and France over west  Africa

Cecil Rhodes became Prime Minister of Cape Colony

 Zanzibar acquired from Germany in exchange for Heligoland

 British East Africa formed

Pioneer column settled Mashonaland and founded Salisbury.

1893      

Natal given responsible government

Expedition against the Matabele

1895       

Joseph Chamberlain became Colonial Secretary

Jameson Raid ended in failure

1897     

Lord Milner appointed High Commissioner for South Africa

1898      

Chamberlain announced Five Year Plan for West Indies

Battle of Omdurman

‘Fashoda Crisis’ with France

Lord Curzon became Viceroy of India

1899      

Bloemfontein Conference failed to resolve Anglo-Boer issues

Second Anglo-Boer War

1900       

Kitchener replaced Buller in South Africa and March on Pretoria

Relief of Mafeking

Royal Niger Company replaced by protectorates over Southern and Northern Nigeria

1901       

Queen Victoria died

Emily Hobhouse made public the conditions in the Boer concentration camps

Federation of Australia

1902       

Treaty of Vereeniging ended war in South Africa

Anglo-Japanese Alliance

1903       

Chamberlain resigned as Colonial Secretary to form the Tariff Reform League

1904       

Anglo-French Entente

Empire Day began

1905       

Bengal partitioned

Milner replaces as High Commissioner of South Africa

1906        

Liberals won General Election

1907        

Anglo-Russian Entente

Self government for Transvaal and Orange Free State

1909       

Morley-Minto reforms in India

1910       

Union of South Africa formed

1911        

Delhi Durbar for the coronation of George V

1914       

First World War began

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to be expanded