c. 1880–1914 CE · conventional imperial-intensification survey · Global · Empire
Industrial powers intensified territorial conquest in Africa, Asia and the Pacific through wars, unequal treaties, chartered companies and settler colonization.
Atlas dossier · Industrial & Imperial AgeFree device narration · synchronized English captions · transcript available
Why it matters
The c. 1880–1914 range is a teaching convention for accelerated conquest and partition, not the beginning or end of imperialism. Older empires, settler colonies and commercial coercion preceded it; colonial rule and anti-colonial struggle continued after 1914.
UNESCO General History of Africa ↗Unequal treaties, chartered companies and military expeditions operated differently across Africa, Asia and the Pacific. Colonised states and communities negotiated, adapted and resisted. Maps of imperial claims therefore show assertions of power, not complete or uncontested control on the ground.
Academic research on New Imperialism ↗Silent pan-and-zoom motion derivative of the New Imperialism and colonial partition reconstruction; not archival footage.
Enlarge and examine the picturePrimary Atlas editorial reconstruction for New Imperialism and colonial partition.
World History in Pictures · Public site artwork. This record does not grant third-party republication rights.
How Atlas classifies this artwork →
Enlarge and examine the pictureDetail crop from the same New Imperialism and colonial partition reconstruction; not an independent historical record.
World History in Pictures · Same editorial artwork package
How Atlas classifies this artwork →
Enlarge and examine the pictureContext crop from the same New Imperialism and colonial partition reconstruction; not an independent historical record.
World History in Pictures · Same editorial artwork package
How Atlas classifies this artwork →Interpretation note
This dossier distinguishes the event’s basic chronology from later arguments about meaning, responsibility and legacy. When comparing religious, national, Indigenous or scholarly interpretations, consult the primary and institutional sources above alongside peer-reviewed historical work.
Elsewhere in the world
1881–1925 CE · cache discovery and excavation milestones · AfricaEgyptian mummies: royal cache and TutankhamunThe Deir el-Bahari royal-mummy cache entered official archaeology in 1881. Tutankhamun’s tomb was found in 1922 and his mummy examined in 1925 through work involving Egyptian excavators and officials as well as Howard Carter’s team.
1884–1885 CE · Berlin meeting within a longer partition · AfricaBerlin Conference and Scramble for AfricaEuropean powers negotiated rules for claiming African territory without African representation as conquest accelerated.
1868–1912 CE · Meiji reign and imperial transformation · AsiaMeiji transformation of JapanJapan centralized government, industrialized rapidly and reorganized education and the military while building an empire of its own.
Samoa: colonial rule, the Mau and independence →
Fiji: cession, labour and the terms of independence →
Tonga: constitution, land and the boundaries of sovereignty →