Colonization Harbin founded as a
Russian city within
Manchuria to serve as the center of construction and the main junction and administration center of the Russian-built
Chinese Eastern Railway. The location for the city was largely chosen strategically to cross the
Songhua River, a tributary of the
Amur, and the largest
river in Manchuria.
Wars •
First Franco-Dahomean War (1890) •
Second Franco-Dahomean War (1892–1894) •
First Sino-Japanese War (1894–1895) •
First Italo-Ethiopian War (1895–1896) •
Greco-Turkish War (1897) •
Spanish–American War (1898) •
Philippine–American War (1899–1902) •
Second Boer War (1899–1902)
Local conflicts The
Wounded Knee Massacre in
South Dakota on December 29, 1890, when 365 troops of the
US 7th Cavalry, supported by four
Hotchkiss guns, surrounded an encampment of Miniconjou (
Lakota) and Hunkpapa Sioux (Lakota) near
Wounded Knee Creek, South Dakota. The Army had orders to escort the Sioux to the railroad for transport to
Omaha, Nebraska. One day earlier, the Sioux had been cornered and agreed to turn themselves in at the
Pine Ridge Agency in South Dakota. They were the last of the Sioux to do so. In the process of disarming the Sioux, a deaf tribesman named Black Coyote could not hear the order to give up his rifle and was reluctant to do so. A scuffle over Black Coyote's rifle escalated into an all-out battle, with those few Sioux warriors who still had weapons shooting at the 7th Cavalry, and the 7th Cavalry opening fire indiscriminately from all sides, killing men, women, and children, as well as some of their own fellow troopers. The 7th Cavalry quickly suppressed the Sioux fire, and the surviving Sioux fled, but US cavalrymen pursued and killed many who were unarmed. By the time it was over, about 146 men, women, and children of the Lakota Sioux had been killed. Twenty-five troopers also died, some believed to have been the victims of
friendly fire as the shooting took place at
point-blank range in chaotic conditions. Around 150 Lakota are believed to have fled the chaos, with an unknown number later dying from
hypothermia. The incident is noteworthy as the engagement in military history in which the most
Medals of Honor have been awarded in the
military history of the United States. This was the last tribe to be invaded which broke the backbone of the
American Indian Wars and the
American Frontier. In 1891 the
Chilean Civil War was fought from January to September.
José Manuel Balmaceda, President of Chile, and the Chilean Army loyal to him face
Jorge Montt's
Junta. The latter was formed by an alliance between the
National Congress of Chile and the Chilean Navy. In 1892 the
Johnson County War occurred in
Wyoming. Actually this
range war took place in April 1892 in
Johnson County,
Natrona County and
Converse County. The combatants were the
Wyoming Stock Growers Association (the WSGA) and the Northern Wyoming Farmers and Stock Growers' Association (NWFSGA). WSGA was an older organization, comprising some of the state's wealthiest and most popular residents. It held a great deal of political sway in the state and region. A primary function of the WSGA was to organize the cattle industry by scheduling roundups and cattle shipments. The NWFSGAA was a group of smaller Johnson County ranchers led by a local settler named
Nate Champion. They had recently formed their organization in order to compete with the WSGA. The WSGA "blacklisted" the NWFSGA and told them to stop all operations, but the NWFSGA refused the powerful WSGA's orders to disband and instead made public their plans to hold their own roundup in the spring of 1892. The WSGA, under the direction of
Frank Wolcott (WSGA Member and large
North Platte rancher), hired a group of skilled gunmen with the intention of eliminating alleged rustlers in Johnson County and break up the NWFSGA. Twenty three gunmen from the
Paris, Texas, region and four cattle detectives from the WSGA were hired, as well as
Idaho frontiersman George Dunning who would later turn against the group. A cadre of WSGA and Wyoming dignitaries also joined the expedition, including State Senator Bob Tisdale, state water commissioner W. J. Clarke, as well as W. C. Irvine and Hubert Teshemacher, both instrumental in organizing Wyoming's statehood four years earlier. They were also accompanied by surgeon Charles Penrose, who served as the group's doctor, as well as
Asa Mercer, the editor of the WSGA's newspaper, and a newspaper reporter for the
Chicago Herald, Sam T. Clover, whose lurid first-hand accounts later appeared in the eastern newspapers. During the span of 1893–1894 the
Enid-Pond Creek Railroad War was fought in the
Oklahoma Territory. It was effectively a
county seat war. The
Rock Island Railroad Company had invested in the townships of
Enid and
Pond Creek following an announcement by the
United States Department of the Interior that the two would become county seats. The Department of the Interior decided to create an Enid and Pond Creek at another location, free of company influence. Resulting in two Enids and two Pond Creeks vying for becoming county seats, starting in September 1893. Rock Island refused to have its trains stop at "Government Enid". They would pass by without taking passengers. Frustrated Enid residents "turned to acts of violence". Some were regularly
shooting at the trains. Others were damaging
trestles and
rail tracks, setting up train accidents. Only government intervention stopped the conflict in September 1894. During 1893–1897 the
War of Canudos arose, a conflict between the state of
Brazil and a group of some 30,000 settlers under
Antônio Conselheiro who had founded their own community in the northeastern state of
Bahia, named
Canudos. After a number of unsuccessful attempts at military suppression, it came to a brutal end in October 1897, when a large Brazilian army force overran the village and killed most of the inhabitants. The conflict started with Conselheiro and his
jagunços (landless peasants) of this "remote and arid" area protesting against the payment of taxes to the distant government of
Rio de Janeiro. They founded their own
self-sufficient village, soon joined by others in search of a "
Promised Land". By 1895, they refused requests by
Rodrigues Lima,
Governor of Bahia and
Jeronimo Thome da Silva,
Archbishop of São Salvador da Bahia to start obeying the laws of the Brazilian state and the rules of the
Catholic Church. In 1896, a military expedition under Lieutenant Manuel da Silva Pires Ferreira was sent to pacify them. It was instead attacked, defeated and forced to retreat. Increasingly stronger military forces were sent against Canudos, only to meet with fierce resistance and suffering heavy casualties. In October 1897, Canudos finally fell to the Brazilian military forces. "Those jagunços who were not killed in combat were taken prisoner and summarily executed (by beheading) by the army". In 1894 the
Donghak Peasant Revolution in
Joseon Korea came to pass. The uprising started in Gobu during February 1894, with the
peasant class protesting against the
political corruption of local government officials. The revolution was named after
Donghak, a
Korean religion stressing "the
equality of all human beings". The forces of
Emperor Gojong failed in their attempt to suppress the revolt, with initial skirmishes giving way to major conflicts. The Korean government requested assistance from the
Empire of Japan. Japanese troops, armed with "
rifles and
artillery", managed to suppress the revolution. With Korea being a
tributary state to
Qing Dynasty China, the Japanese military presence was seen as a provocation. The resulting conflict over dominance of Korea would become the
First Sino-Japanese War. In part, the government of
Emperor Meiji was acting to prevent expansion by the
Russian Empire or any other
great power towards Korea. Viewing such an expansion as a direct threat to Japanese
national security. During 1895, the
Doukhobors, a
pacifist Christian sect of the
Russian Empire, attempt to resist a number of laws and regulations forced on them by the Russian government. They are mostly active in the
South Caucasus, where universal military
conscription was introduced in 1887 and was still controversial. They also refuse to swear an
oath of allegiance to
Nicholas II, the new Russian Emperor. Under further instructions from their exiled leader
Peter Vasilevich Verigin, as a sign of absolute pacifism, the Doukhobors of the three Governorates of Transcaucasia made the decision to destroy their
weapons. As the Doukhobors assembled to burn them on the night of June 28/29 (July 10/11,
Gregorian calendar) 1895, with the singing of psalms and spiritual songs, arrests and beatings by government
Cossacks followed. Soon, Cossacks were billeted in many of the Large Party Doukhobors' villages, and over 4,000 of their original residents were dispersed through villages in other parts of
Georgia. Many of those died of starvation and exposure. 1896–1898 was when
Philippine Revolution occurred. The
Philippines, part of the
Spanish East Indies, attempt to secede from the
Spanish Empire. The Philippine Revolution began in August 1896, upon the discovery of the
anti-colonial secret organization Katipunan by the Spanish authorities. The
Katipunan, led by
Andrés Bonifacio, was a
secessionist movement and shadow government spread throughout much of the islands whose goal was
independence from Spain through armed revolt. In a mass gathering in
Caloocan, the
Katipunan leaders organized themselves into a revolutionary government and openly declared a nationwide armed revolution. Bonifacio called for a simultaneous coordinated attack on the capital
Manila. This attack failed, but the surrounding provinces also rose up in revolt. In particular, rebels in
Cavite led by
Emilio Aguinaldo won early victories. A power struggle among the revolutionaries led to Bonifacio's execution in 1897, with command shifting to Aguinaldo who led his own revolutionary government. That year, a truce was officially reached with the
Pact of Biak-na-Bato and Aguinaldo was exiled to Hong Kong, though hostilities between rebels and the Spanish government never actually ceased. The miners, mostly of
Polish,
Slovak, and
Lithuanian ethnicity, were shot and killed by a
Luzerne County sheriff's
posse. Scores more workers were wounded. The Lattimer massacre was a turning point in the history of the
United Mine Workers (UMW). In 1898 the
Bava Beccaris massacre in
Milan,
Kingdom of Italy came about, killing and injuring hundreds. On May 5, 1898, workers organized a
strike to demonstrate against the government of
Antonio Starabba, Marchese di Rudinì, Prime Minister of Italy, holding it responsible for the general
increase of prices and for the famine that was affecting the country. The first blood was shed that day at
Pavia, when the son of the mayor of Milan was killed while attempting to halt the troops marching against the crowd. After a protest in Milan the following day, the government declared a
state of siege in the city. Infantry, cavalry and artillery were brought into the city and General
Fiorenzo Bava Beccaris ordered his troops to fire on demonstrators. According to the government, there were 118 dead and 450 wounded. The opposition claimed 400 dead and more than 2,000 injured people.
Filippo Turati, one of the founders of the
Italian Socialist Party, was arrested and accused of inspiring the riots. During 1898 the
Voulet–Chanoine Mission became a disastrous French military expedition sent out from
Senegal to conquer the
Chad Basin and unify all French territories in West Africa. The expedition descended into wanton violence against the local population and ended in sedition on the part of the commanders. In 1898, the
Battle of Sugar Point takes place in the northeast shore of
Leech Lake,
Minnesota. "Old Bug" (
Bugonaygeshig), a leading member of the
Pillager Band of Chippewa Indians in
Bear Island had been arrested in September 1898. A reported number of 22 Pillagers helped him escape.
Arrest warrants were issued for all Pillagers involved in the incident. On October 5, 1898, about 80 men serving or attached to the
3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment arrived on Bear Island to perform the arrests. Finding it abandoned, they proceeded to
Sugar Point. There, a force of 19 Pillagers armed with
Winchester rifle was observing the soldiers from a forested area. When a soldier fired his weapon, allegedly a new recruit who had done so accidentally, the Pillagers returned fire. Major
Melville Wilkinson, the commanding officer, was shot three times and killed. By the end of the conflict, seven soldiers had been killed (including Wilkinson), another 16 wounded. There were no casualties among the 19 Natives. Peaceful relations were soon re-established but this uprising was among the last
Native American victories in the
American Indian Wars. It is known as "the last Indian Uprising in the United States".
Prominent political events – Alfred Dreyfus being dishonorably discharged, 5 January 1895. • 1890: A split erupted in
Irish nationalism over a scandal involving the Irish leader
Charles Stewart Parnell's affair with a fellow MP's wife,
Katharine O'Shea. • 1890: The
Revolution of the Park - a failed uprising in
Argentina, against the government of
Miguel Juárez Celman, which forced Celman's resignation and marked the decline of the historical period known as the
Generation of '80. • 1893: New Zealand becomes the first country to grant women the vote. • 1894: The
Greenwich Observatory bomb attack. This was possibly the first widely publicised terrorist incident in Britain. • The
Dreyfus affair – a political scandal that divided France in the 1890s and the early 20th century. It involved the conviction for
treason in November 1894 of Captain
Alfred Dreyfus, a young French artillery officer of
Alsatian Jewish descent. • 1895: The
Gongche Shangshu movement. In April, over 1300
Jǔrén, present in Beijing to participate in the imperial examination, sign a petition requesting reforms by the
Guangxu Emperor.
Kang Youwei is the main organizer of the movement. In May, thousands of Beijing scholars and citizens protested against the
Treaty of Shimonoseki. The emperor would respond with the
Hundred Days' Reform of 1898. •
Venezuelan crisis of 1895: It is resolved by the Paris Arbitration Award of 1899 by which much of the
disputed territory is awarded to
British Guiana instead of
Venezuela. •
1896 Republican Realignment • The 1896
Cross of Gold speech by
William Jennings Bryan • In June 1897: The
Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria was celebrated marking
Queen Victoria's 60-year reign. Celebrations to honour the grand occasion — the first Diamond Jubilee of any British monarch — showcased the Queen's role as 'mother' of the British Empire and its Dominions. • 1899: • The
New Imperialism • The
Populist Party reaches its high point in American history. ==Economics in the United States==