page_title: 19th century
section_title: Colonialism
hierarchical_section_title: 19th century / Wars / Colonialism
caption_attribution_description: Arrival of Marshal Randon in Algiers in 1857.
context_page_description: The 19th century was a century that began on January 1, 1801, and ended on December 31, 1900.
  The 19th century saw large amounts of social change; slavery was abolished, and the First and Second Industrial Revolutions led to massive urbanization and much higher levels of productivity, profit and prosperity. The Islamic gunpowder empires were formally dissolved and European imperialism brought much of South Asia, Southeast Asia and almost all of Africa under colonial rule.
  It was marked by the collapse of the Spanish, Zulu Kingdom, First French, Holy Roman and Mughal empires. This paved the way for the growing influence of the British Empire, the Russian Empire, the United States, the German Empire, the Second French Empire, the Kingdom of Italy and Meiji Japan, with the British boasting unchallenged dominance after 1815. After the defeat of the French Empire, and its Indian allies in the Napoleonic Wars, the British and Russian empires expanded greatly, becoming the world's leading powers. The Russian Empire expanded in the Caucasus, central and far eastern Asia.
context_section_description: In 1862, France gained its first foothold in Southeast Asia, and in 1863 France annexes Cambodia.
  1803: The United States more than doubles in size when it buys out France's territorial claims in North America via the Louisiana Purchase. This begins the U.S.'s westward expansion to the Pacific referred to as its Manifest Destiny which involves annexing and conquering land from Mexico, Britain, and Native Americans.
  1823–1887: The British Empire annexed Burma (now also called Myanmar) after three Anglo-Burmese Wars.
  1867: The United States purchases Alaska from Russia.
caption: Arrival of Marshal Randon in Algiers, French Algeria in 1857
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