(1873-1907)--Part of the Dutch colonial conquest of what
is now Indonesia. The Dutch slowly reduced the Muslim
kingdom of Aceh (site of anti-government violence 100
years later), on the northern section of the island of
--De Tham, a Vietnamese resistance leader, led a
thirty-year guerrilla campaign against the colonial
French occupiers in the mountains near Yen The in
northeastern Tonkin. In 1909 the French launched a major
offensive against his forces. De Tham was involved in the
This guerrilla resistance ended with De Tham's
assassination in 1913.
Conquest of Chad
(1897-1914) French forces continued their conquest of
the Sahara by moving into the area of Lake Chad, razing
villages and forcing compliance with Paris' rule. In
1900, French troops defeated Rabah Zobeir, a follower of
the Sudanese Mahdi. Other native leaders and tribes
continued resistance to the French invasion.
(1895-1899)--Native uprisings against Portuguese colonial
rule in Mozambique.
(1895 and 1897-1900)--The Batetela tribe in the Congo
revolted against the harsh rule of Belgian King Leopold
II. The first revolt in 1895 was put down, but lingering
discontent with colonial rule and exploitation led to a
second revolt in 1897. Despite the
native troops commanded by Belgian Baron Francois Dhani
in 1898 or 1899, the colonial forces suppressed the
(1896-1899)--Britain and Egypt vs. the Mahdist "dervish"
Army of Khalifa Abdullah. Britain decided to re-conquer
the Sudan from the Mahdist cult that had defeated
Britain's General "Chinese" Gordon in the
of 1881-1885. One of the driving forces in the timing
of this offensive was the interest of Italy, Belgium and,
most of all, France in the Sudan region. The
Anglo-Egyptian army commanded by Lord Kitchener defeated
the Mahdists at the Battle of Omdurman on September 2,
1898. On November 24, 1899, Khalifa Abdullah and the
remainder of his army were wiped out and the Sudan fell
under Anglo-Egyptian rule.
(1898?-1899?)--Native Ugandan troops mutinied against
their colonial British officers, causing difficulty for
British forces fighting Mahdist forces in the
(1899-1900)--The secret religious and nationalistic
Society of the Righteous Harmonious Fists (Boxers),
initiated a rebellion against the both foreign
colonizers, missionaries and their own government in
1899. By 1900, the Chinese government had co-opted the
rebels and directed their violent fury entirely upon the
foreign presence in China. The Boxers, aided by Chinese
Imperial troops, besieged the diplomatic legations
(embassies) of the Western powers and Japan, sparking a
truly international response. A retaliatory relief
expedition composed of troops from: the United States,
Great Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Austria-Hungary,
Russia, and Japan invaded China and captured the capital
of Peking (now called Beijing).
Second Boer War
(1899-1902)--Britain vs. The Boer Republics (Orange
Free State and Transvaal) in what is now South
"Mad Mullah" Jihad
(1899-1905)--Somali tribesmen led by religious leader
Muhammad ibn Abd Allah Hasan waged a desert guerrilla war
against Britain, Italy and Ethiopia. Following repeated
defeats by the Somalis, the colonial powers offered him
territory in Italian Somaliland in exchange for peace. He
resumed his war in 1908 and harassed the occupiers of his
country until 1920.
(1899-1902)--Originally called the "Philippine
Uprising", this was a war of independence fought by the
Filipinos against the occupying American military.
Filipino resistance was ruthlessly crushed.
(1898-1899) with U.S.
and British Naval Bombardment of Samoa
resumption of past civil wars in which Samoan chief
Mataafa seized power following the death of his rival,
King Malietoa Laupepa, who had defeated him in the last
(1893-1894). Fighting ensued, which was complicated
by the long-standing rivalry between the U.S., Britain
and Germany for de facto control over the Samoan Islands.
On March 15, 1899, warships of the American and British
Navies bombarded the Samoan city of Apia to intimidate
the reigning Samoan king, who was allied with the
Germans. An Anglo-American landing force took control of
Apia, but were not able to pacify the interior. All sides
agreed to cease fighting on May 13, 1899. Later that
year, the three Western nations signed a treaty dividing
Samoa between them. This whole conflict was part of a
wider Samoan civil war.
War of the Thousand Days
war in Colombia between the Liberal Party and the ruling
Conservative Party. Begins October 18, 1899 with an
uprising in the north-eastern Santander region in
response to government imposition of martial law
throughout the nation.
Indian War (1899-1904?)--One
of the last of the long series of Mexican-Indian Wars,
this conflict began when chiefs of the eight principal
Yaqui Indian tribes demand Mexican withdrawal from the
Civil War (1899-1902)--Civil
war between Venezuela's Liberal and Conservative
factions. Won by Conservative "Blue" leader Cipriano
Castro. See also Wars
and Conflicts of
(1898-1899)--This uprising in Bolivia brought down
President Severo Fernandez Alonso. The conflict was a
battle between the Conservative Party of Alonso, which
wanted to make the city of Sucre the permanent national
capitol, and the Liberals, who wanted a more
decentralized government in which the city of La Paz
would share the duties and honor as Bolivia's
workers who had moved into the Bolivian border district
of Arce, declared independence in 1899. The Treaty of
Petropolis between Bolivia and Brazil in 1903 formally
gave the region to Brazil.