1850s
- 10 January, 1850 - Dom Pedro Afonso, heir to the throne of Brazil, survives his bout of fever at his family's estate at Petrópolis. As a result he continues to walk in the footsteps of his father Pedro II, who does not begin to reject the monarchy as an institution and train his son to uphold the mantle once he takes the throne.
1870s
- 13 March, 1870 - Dom Ferdinand II, the previous King of Portugal and father of the current king Luíz I, takes the throne of Spain following its revolution. The concerns of Ferdinand and his government were assuaged by British and French support.
- 1 September, 1870 - Prussian forces defeat the French at the Battle of Sedan, ending the Second French Empire. Napoleon III flees to exile in Britain while a republican government is declared.
- 18 January, 1871 - The German Empire is declared in the palace of Versailles, completing German unification.
- 8 February, 1871 - Pro-Monarchist forces win the majority of the legislative elections in France. They soon agree to a compromise on which royal candidate takes the throne, but faces opposition from the Comte de Chambord and the republican factions.
- 19 February, 1871 - The Comte de Chambord agrees to a compromise regarding the flag of France and his own personal standard and thus takes the thone of France as Henry V.
- 21 April, 1872 - Outbreak of the Third Carlist War in Spain, pitting the Liberal government and Portugal against the Carlists.
- 20 January, 1875 - Conclusion of the Third Carlist War with a Liberal victory. Carlist pretenders are exiled to France.
- 20 February, 1876 - Republicans and liberals gain the majority in French legislative elections. They vow to halt any of Henry V's semi-authoritarian ideals.
1880s
- 20 May, 1882 - Formation of the Triple Alliance between Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy.
- 24 August, 1883 - Henry V of France dies, leaving the throne to his more liberal heir and cousin, who takes the throne as Louis-Phillippe II. Constitutional changes follow, liberalizing the system further.
- 15 December, 1885 - King Ferdinand VIII of Spain dies a natural death, leaving the throne to his son Luíz I of Portugal. He titles himself as Emperor of Iberia so as to not be outranked by his relatives in Brazil.
- 13 May, 1888 - The Brazilian parliament passes the Golden Law, which is signed by Dom Pedro Alfonso, abolishing slavery in Brazil. The upper classes and slaveholders are outraged.
- 15 November, 1889 - Republican and military opposition to the monarchy launch a coup in the streets of Rio de Janeiro. The Imperial government resists, starting the Brazilian Civil War.
1890s
- 1 January, 1890 - Italy establishes their colony in Eritrea.
- 6 March, 1890 - The final Republican holdouts in the Brazilian Civil War surrender, ending the conflict.
- 1 July, 1890 - The United Kingdom and Germany sign the Heligoland-Zanzibar Treaty, trading the two territories.
- 16 January, 1891 - Civil war breaks out in Chile.
- 29 January, 1891 - Liliuokalani becomes Queen of Hawaii.
- 15 May, 1891 - Pope Leo XIII issues the encyclical Rerum novarum, on the rights and duties of capital and labor, resulting in the creation of many Christian Democrat parties throughout Europe.
- 6 March, 1892 - "Exclusive Agreement": Rulers of the Trucial States (Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Ras al-Khaimah and Umm al-Quwain) sign an agreement, by which they become de facto British protectorates.
- 8 November, 1892 - Grover Cleveland is elected President of the United States for the second of his two non-consecutive terms.
- 5 May, 1893 - Panic of 1893: A crash on the New York Stock Exchange starts a depression.
- 13 October, 1893 - The Franco-Siamese Treaty of 1893 is signed, as the Kingdom of Siam cedes all of its territories east of the Mekong River to France, creating the territory of Laos.
- 4 January, 1894 - A military alliance is established between the Kingdom of France and the Russian Empire.
- 1 August, 1894 - War is declared between the Qing Empire of China and the Empire of Japan, over their rival claims of influence on their common ally, the Joseon Dynasty of Korea.
- 1 November, 1894 - Russian emperor Alexander III is succeeded by his son, Nicholas II.
- 17 April, 1895 - The Treaty of Shimonoseki is signed between China and Japan. This marks the end of the First Sino-Japanese War, and the defeated Qing Empire is forced to renounce its claims on Korea, and to concede the southern portion of Fengtien province, Taiwan, and the Pescadores Islands to Japan.
- 20 June, 1895 - The Treaty of Amapala establishes a union of Nicaragua, Honduras and El Salvador, the Greater Republic of Central America.
- 1 March, 1896 - An Ethiopian victory at the Battle of Adwa concludes the Italian-Ethiopian War in Ethiopia's favor.
- 30 September, 1896 - Costa Rica signs the Treaty of Amapala, joining the Greater Republic of Central America.
- 22 June, 1897 - The United Kingdom celebrates the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria.
- 20 September, 1897 - Conclusion of the Greco-Turkish War.
- 12 October, 1897 - The Joseon Dynasty of Korea is reborn as the Korean Empire, a modernized and westernized state.