Colonial Era
The world in 1781 AD
5 powers on the map
Industrial Revolution and imperialism. Railways, telegraphs, ironclads, Suez Canal (1869). Berlin Conference (1884): the Scramble for Africa. Meiji Restoration (1868): Japan industrializes in 30 years. The United Kingdom controls a quarter of the planet.
Battles this year
Empires and states
Active trade routes
- Cape Route — Europe–Asia around the Cape of Good Hope
- Manila Galleon — American silver exchanged for Chinese silk
- Atlantic Triangular Trade — Manufactured goods, enslaved Africans and American sugar
- Tea Clipper Route — Chinese tea to London under full sail