8.7Meanwhile, elsewhere (1877–1900)

Europe's powers raced to carve up Africa in the "Scramble" of the 1880s and 1890s, dividing nearly the entire continent among themselves at conferences where no African was present. Imperial rivalry stretched across Asia and the Pacific as well. Britain stood at the height of its global empire.

Industrialization spread to Germany, which challenged Britain economically, and to Japan, now a rising Asian power. The era's confident faith in progress, science, and empire masked mounting tensions among the great powers. As the century closed, the United States joined the imperial contest itself, defeating Spain in 1898 and acquiring overseas territories—a prelude to its emergence as a world power.