Modern Era
First Sino-Japanese War (1894-1895): Japan's Rise Over Qing China
Japan defeated Qing China; under the Treaty of Shimonoseki China recognised Korean independence, ceded Taiwan and the Pescadores and paid a large indemnity.
Region
Asia
Modern Era
Assassination of Empress Myeongseong (1895): Korea's Queen Min
The queen was killed and her body burned; Japan's standing in Korea collapsed and King Gojong fled to the Russian legation in 1896.
Modern Era
Execution of José Rizal (1896): Martyr of the Philippines
Rizal was shot by a firing squad; his death made him the foremost martyr of the Philippine nationalist cause.
Modern Era
Philippine Revolution (1896-1898): The Katipunan Against Spain
Spanish rule collapsed in 1898, but the Philippines passed to the United States under the Treaty of Paris, leading to the Philippine-American War.
Modern Era
Spanish-American War (1898): The US Becomes an Overseas Power
The United States defeated Spain in under four months; Cuba was freed from Spanish rule and the US acquired Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines.
Modern Era
Hundred Days' Reform (1898): China's Failed Modernisation Drive
The reforms were halted by Cixi's coup of 21 September 1898; the emperor was confined and six reformers were executed.
Modern Era
Philippine-American War (1899-1902): US Conquest of the Islands
US victory; the First Philippine Republic was destroyed and the Philippines became an American colony until 1946.
Modern Era
Boxer Rebellion (1899-1901): Uprising and Siege of the Legations
The Eight-Nation Alliance relieved the legations and occupied Beijing; the Boxer Protocol of 1901 imposed a huge indemnity and foreign garrisons on China.
Modern Era
Younghusband Expedition (1903-1904): Britain's Invasion of Tibet
British forces reached Lhasa and imposed the Anglo-Tibetan Convention of 1904, but Britain soon withdrew and later recognised Chinese suzerainty over Tibet.
Modern Era
Siege of Port Arthur (1904-1905): Trench Warfare in Manchuria
Japanese victory; the Russian garrison surrendered and the Russian Pacific Squadron was destroyed, at a cost of tens of thousands of Japanese casualties.
Modern Era
Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905): Japan Defeats a European Power
Japanese victory; Russia ceded southern Sakhalin and its Manchurian leases and recognised Japanese dominance in Korea in the Treaty of Portsmouth.
Modern Era
Tongmenghui (1905): Sun Yat-sen's Revolutionary Alliance
The alliance launched a series of failed uprisings, then helped lead the Xinhai Revolution of 1911 and became the core of the Kuomintang in 1912.