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This is a non-exhaustive chronology of colonialism-related events, which may reflect political events, cultural events, and important global events that have influenced colonization and decolonization.

15th to 18th century

• 1402: The Spanish empire begins with the invasion of the Canary Islands
• 1415: The Portuguese empire begins with the capture of Ceuta (Morocco)
• 1419: The Portuguese discover Madeira
• 1427: The Portuguese discover Azores
• 1441: The first consignment of slaves is brought to Lisbon (Portugal)
• 1452: Papal Bull Dum diversas allows enslavement of pagans
• 1455: Papal Bull Romanus Pontifex grants a trade monopoly for newly discovered countries in Africa and Asia to the Portuguese.
• 1481: Papal Bull Aeterni regis
• 1482: The Portuguese build the Elmina Castle as the first trading point in Ghana
• 1488: Bartolomeu Dias rounded the Cape of Good Hope for the Portuguese king.
• 1492: "Discovery" of the "New World" and symbolic date of the European Age of Exploration; beginning of the colonization of the Americas and of the Columbian Exchange
• 1493: Papal Bull Inter caetera on May 4
• 1494: Treaty of Tordesillas dividing the world outside of Europe in an exclusive duopoly between the Spanish and the Portuguese empires along a north-south meridian 370 leagues west of the Cape Verde islands (off the west coast of Africa), roughly 46° 36' W. (This boundary was known as the Line of Demarcation.) The lands to the east would belong to Portugal and the lands to the west to Spain.
• 1498: Vasco da Gama sets foot on Goa, starting the Portuguese presence in India
• 1500: Pedro Álvares Cabral sails to Brazil for the Portuguese king
• 1511: The Portuguese capture Malacca, in present day Malaysia
• 1515: Spanish Leyes de Burgos on January 25
• 1519: The Portuguese capture Ormus, in the Strait of Hormuz, in the Persian Gulf
• 1542: Spanish Leyes Nuevas ("New Laws")
• 1542: Creation of the Viceroyalty of Peru
• 1550-1552: Valladolid Controversy and publication of A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies by Bishop of Chiapas Bartolomé de las Casas
• 1600: Queen Elizabeth I of England grants Royal charter to the British East India Company
• 1602: Establishment of the Dutch East India Company
• 1607: The first permanent British settlement in the North America at Jamestown, Virginia
• 1612-1615: The Portuguese captured Gamru Port and a few other places (like Hormuz Island ) in southern coast of Persia.
• 1615-1622: Abbas I, king of Persia, battled the Portuguese with the aid of the Royal Navy and British East India Company and recaptured those lands.
• 1619: The first African slaves arrive to Jamestown, Virginia
• 1624: The British set foot in Surat
• 1625: Charles I of England receives Oldman, king of the Mosquito Nation, who was taken to England by the Earl of Warwick.
• 1630: Puritans establish Massachusetts Bay Colony
• 1717: Creation of the Viceroyalty of New Granada
• 1775-1783: American War of Independence
• 1776: Creation of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata
• 1776: The 13 original colonies of the United States declare independence from Britain
• 1784: Britain passes Pitt's India Act
• 1791-1804: Haitian Revolution and abolition of slavery by the French First Republic (reestablished by Napoleon in 1804)
• 1795: Britain invades the Cape region of present-day South Africa
• 1798: French Invasion of Egypt

19th century to World War I

• 1804-1813: Uprising in Serbia against the presence of the Ottoman Empire
• 1810-1820s: South American Wars of Independence
• 1810-1821: Mexican War of Independence
• 1815-1817: Serbian uprising leading to Serbian autonomy
• 1821-1823: Greek War of Independence
• 1822: Independence of Brazil proclaimed by Dom Pedro I
• 1823: British abolish slavery in the West Indies
• 1830: Start of the French conquest of Algeria
• 1834: Beginning of the Boers' Great Trek
• 1839-42: First Opium War and First Anglo-Afghan War
• 1846-1848: Mexican-American War, which results in the Mexican Cession
• 1848: Spring of Nations in Europe
• 1848: Decree-law Victor Schoelcher which abolish slavery (permanently) in the French colonial empire
• 1853-55: Publication of Gobineau's An Essay on the Inequality of the Human Races (one of the first, major formulation of racial theories ^[1])
• 1854-56: Crimean War
• 1854- Convention of Kanagawa after Commodore Perry's expedition to Japan
• 1856-60: Second Opium War
• 1857: Uprising in India against British occupation, which leads to the creation of the British Raj
• 1861-1867: French intervention in Mexico ordered by Napoleon III
• 1870: Franco-Prussian War
• 1870-80s: Conquest of the Desert in Argentina, led by Julio Argentino Roca
• 1877-1878: War between Russia and the Ottoman Empire and March 3, 1878 Treaty of San Stefano
• 1878: Treaty of Berlin recognising the independence of Romania, Serbia and Montenegro and the autonomy of Bulgaria
• 1878-1881: Second Anglo-Afghan War
• 1879: Anglo-Zulu War
• 1880-81: First Boer War
• 1881: Indigenous Code in Algeria
• 1882: Triple Alliance between Italy and the German-Austrian Dual Alliance
• 1883: Publication of The Story of an African Farm by Olive Schreiner
• 1884-85: Berlin Conference (UK, France, Germany) which sets the right of conquest for the scramble for Africa
• 1885: Foundation of the Indian National Congress
• 1885: Treaty of Simulambuco (between Portugal and the N'Goyo Kingdom).
• 1887: France creates the Indochinese Union
• 1888: Lei Áurea ("Golden Law") on May 13 in Brazil which abolish slavery
• 1889: Foundation of the Republic of Brazil
• 1889: British South Africa Company of Cecil Rhodes chartered by the British government to seek treaties and administer territory between the Limpopo River and African Great Lakes.
• 1890: Cecil Rhodes sends the Pioneer Column into Mashonaland, starting the process of annexing the territory which became Southern Rhodesia
• 1891: The Stairs Expedition to Katanga kills its king, Msiri and obtains treaties from his successors for the territory to become the possession of Leopold II of Belgium
• 1894: Franco-Russian Alliance, breaking France's isolation by Bismarck
• 1895: Treaty of Shimonoseki between Japan and China and Triple Intervention
• 1895: Creation of French West Africa (AOF)
• 1895-96: First Italo–Ethiopian War
• 1896: Anglo-Zanzibar War (on August 27)
• 1897: Punitive Expedition led by British Admiral Harry Rawson against Benin, which brings to an end the highly sophisticated West African Kingdom of Benin
• 1898: Fashoda Incident
• 1898: On July 25, 1898 at the outbreak of the Spanish–American War, Puerto Rico was invaded by the United States with a landing at Guánica. Following the outcome of the war, Spain was forced to cede Puerto Rico, along with Cuba, the Philippines, and Guam to the United States under the Treaty of Paris (1898)
• 1899: Publication of Rudyard Kipling's The White Man's Burden, as well as Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness ^[2]
• 1899-1902: Second Boer War
• 1899-1913: Philippine-American War
• 1902: Anglo-Japanese Alliance: end of UK's Splendid isolation
• 1902: Italy puts a supplement to the Triple Alliance concerning France
• 1904: Entente Cordiale between France and the UK
• 1904-05: Russo-Japanese War
• 1904-07: Herero Genocide
• 1905: Partition of Bengal
• 1905: First Moroccan Crisis after the March 31, 1905 visit of Kaiser Wilhelm to Tangiers
• 1906: Algeciras Conference to mediate the Tangier Crisis between France and Germany
• 1907: Triple Entente between Russia, France and the UK
• 1910: Mexican Revolution and overthrow of Porfirio Díaz's dictatorship
• 1910: Creation of French Equatorial Africa (AEF)
• 1911: Agadir Crisis
• 1911: Chinese Revolution
• 1912: France establish a full protectorate over Morocco
• 1912-1913: Balkan Wars and Italo-Turkish War (Tripolitania and Cyrenaica are transferred from the Ottoman Empire to Italy)
• 1914-1918: World War I
• 1916: May 16 Sykes-Picot Agreement
• 1916-1918: Arab Revolt initiated by Hussein bin Ali and Emir Faisal
• 1917: October Revolution
• 1918: Woodrow Wilson's January 9 speech on the Fourteen Points

Interwar period

• 1919: Foundation of the League of Nations at the Paris Peace Conference and creation of the League of Nations Mandates (Iraq and Palestine — including Transjordan — are passed to Great Britain's control, Lebanon and Syria to France; the Cameroons and Togoland are split between the UK and France; Ruanda-Urundi goes to Belgium and Tanganyika to the UK; Nauru and New Guinea to Australia; the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands and the South Pacific Mandate to Japan; Samoa to New Zealand and South West Africa to South Africa)
• 1919: Third Anglo-Afghan War
• 1919: Non-Cooperation Movement led by Mahatma Gandhi
• 1920: San Remo conference in April
• 1920: Treaty of Sèvres on August 10 between the Triple Entente (UK, France and Russia) and the Ottoman Empire; Mustafa Kemal leads the Turkish War of Independence leading to the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne
• 1922: Creation of the Soviet Union
• 1923: Proclamation of the Republic of Turkey by Mustafa Kemal on October 29
• 1924: British Empire Exhibition
• 1925: Foundation of the Algerian Star of North Africa by Messali Hadj
• 1921-1926: Rif War in Morocco, led by Abd el-Krim
• 1927: May 19 Treaty of Jedda accords independence to Saudi Arabia led by king Abdul Aziz
• 1927-1928: Publication of André Gide's Travels to Congo ^[3].
• 1931: Paris Colonial Exposition
• 1931: South Africa gains independence from Britain
• 1932: Independence of Iraq
• 1930: Portuguese Colonial Act
• 1933: Publication of Gilberto Freyre's Casa-Grande & Senzala ("The Great House and the Slave Quarters" - 1933 ^[4])
• 1934-1935: Long March by the Chinese Communist Army
• 1935: Aimé Césaire coins the word Négritude
• 1936: Franco-Syrian Treaty of Independence (never ratified by France)
• 1936-1939: Great Arab Revolt in the British Mandate of Palestine
• 1935-36: Second Italo-Abyssinian War
• 1937-45: Second Sino-Japanese War

World War II : Cold War until the Détente

• World War II
• 1941: Atlantic charter signed by president Roosevelt
• 1941: Foundation of the Viet Minh by Ho Chi Minh
• 1941: Syria proclaims its independence from Vichy France, which is recognized in 1944
• 1942: Quit India Movement called for by Gandhi on August 9
• 1943: Independence of Lebanon
• 1944: Nelson Mandela joins the African National Congress
• 1945: Sétif massacre in Algeria on May 8
• 1945: Proclamation of the independence of Vietnam by Ho Chi Minh
• 1945: Foundation of the Arab League on March 22 (Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Yemen)
• 1945: Fifty states sign the Charter of the United Nations on June 26
• 1945-1950: Chinese Civil War between the nationalist Kuomintang and the Communist Party led by Mao Zedong
• 1946-54: First Indochina War
• 1947: Official start of the Cold War (see Cold War (1947-1953) and Cold War (1953-1962))
• 1947: Independence of India and of Pakistan on August 15
• 1947: UN Resolution 181 on the partition of Palestine in favor of a Two-state solution.
• 1947: French repression of the Malagasy uprising. 90 to 100 000 killed.
• 1948: Declaration of the establishment of the State of Israel on May 14 and first Arab-Israeli War
• 1948: Colonial exhibition in Belgium
• 1949: Proclamation of the People's Republic of China by Mao Zedong
• 1951: Publication of Hannah Arendt's The Origins of Totalitarianism (second section dedicated to imperialism)
• 1952: Alfred Sauvy coins the term "Third World"
• 1953: US Operation Ajax against Mossadegh in Iran
• 1954: US Operation PBSuccess against Guatemalean president Arbenz
• 1954-62: Algerian War
• 1955: Bandung Conference
• 1955: Creation of the Latin American Episcopal Conference in Rio de Janeiro
• 1956: Suez Crisis between Israel, the UK and France against Egypt, after Nasser's nationalisation of the Suez Canal Company
• 1957: Algerian independence militant Larbi Ben M'Hidi murdered in prison, early March
• 1958: Foundation of the United Arab Republic as a first step toward a Pan-Arab nation; it is formed by Egypt and Syria (until 1961). Creation also of the short-term Arab Federation of Iraq and Jordan.
• 1959: Cuban Revolution
• 1959: Independence of Morocco and Tunisia
• 1960: Independence of French colonies in Africa; the United Nations (UN) reach 99 members states
• 1961: Assassination of Patrice Lumumba, first prime minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on January 17
• 1961: Formation of the Conferência das Organizações Nacionalistas das Colónias Portuguesas on April 18 in Casablanca, Morocco ( PAIGC, MPLA, FRELIMO and MLSTP)
• 1961: Creation of the Non-Aligned Movement
• 1961: Bay of Pigs Invasion
• 1961: Soviet premier Khrushchev declares that the Soviet Union would support all "national liberation movements"
• 1961: Publication of Frantz Fanon' The Wretched of the Earth
• 1961: October 17 Paris massacre
• 1961: The Indian Union invades Portuguese India (Goa, Dadra, Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu).
• 1961-74: Portuguese Colonial War; See also Angolan War of Independence (1961-1989)
• 1962: March 18 Evian Accords put an end to the Algerian War
• 1962: Sino-Indian War from September to November
• 1962: Cuban missile crisis in October, which marks the climax of the Cold War and leads to the Détente

1963 to the fall of the Berlin Wall

• 1963: Assassination of Sylvanus Olympio on January 13, first president of Togo; he is replaced by Gnassingbé Eyadéma, who ruled over Togo until his death in 2005
• 1965-1973: Vietnam War
• 1965: Assassination of Mehdi Ben Barka, leader of the UNPF and of the Tricontinental Conference
• 1965: Joseph Mobutu becomes the dictator of the Democratic Republic of Congo until his overthrow in 1997 by Laurent-Désiré Kabila
• 1967: Assassination of Che Guevara in Bolivia.
• 1969: Assassination of Eduardo Mondlane, leader of the FRELIMO
• 1970s: Independence of the former Portuguese colonies, following the April 25, 1974 Carnation Revolution and the Portuguese Colonial War
• 1971: Independence of Bangladesh following the war with Pakistan
• 1971: Publication of Eduardo Galeano's Open Veins of Latin America ^[5]
• 1971: Publication of Gustavo Gutiérrez's A Theology of Liberation: History, Politics, Salvation ^[6]
• 1973: Assassination of Amilcar Cabral, leader of the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC) on January 20
• 1973: The PAIGC proclaims the independence of Guinea-Bissau on September 24
• 1975: Portugal recognizes Mozambique's independence on June 25 and Angola on November 11
• November 1975: Green March during which Morocco annexes Western Sahara, formerly part of Spanish Morocco.
• 1979: Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and start of the "Second Cold War"
• 1980: The UN reach 154 member states
• 1980: Assassination of Óscar Romero, prelate archbishop of San Salvador and proponent of the Liberation theology, on March 24
• 1982: Latin American debt crisis (in particular in Mexico, Brazil and Argentina)
• 1983: Invasion of Grenada
• 1984: Bhopal disaster in India
• 1988: Assassination of Dulcie September, member of the African National Congress
• 1989: Operation Just Cause against Manuel Noriega
• 1990: Independence of Namibia, the UN reach 159 states.

1990s-2000s

• 1994: Nelson Mandela becomes president of South Africa in the nation's first all race election
• 2001: French law recognizing slavery and the Atlantic slave trade as crimes against humanity (Taubira Law)
• 2005: February 23 French law on the "positive aspects" of "French presence abroad, in particular in North Africa"
• 2006: Repeal of the February 23, 2005 French law, following criticisms of historical revisionism

See also

• Colonialism
• Historiography
• Wars of national liberation
• Decolonization

References