18641910

1864–1910 denotes a transitional period in world history characterized by intensifying industrialization, imperial expansion, and social transformation that set the stage for the 20th century. It saw rapid industrial growth, the expansion of railway networks, the widespread adoption of electricity, and innovations in communication. It was also a period of imperial rivalry and territorial consolidation, as many states pursued national unification or colonial expansion.

Economically, the second industrial revolution accelerated production and consumer economies. Steel, chemical industries, and galvanizing transportation created larger, more integrated markets. Global trade grew, aided by steamship lines and telegraph networks; by the 1900s, mass media and standardized time zones connected distant regions.

Politically and socially, nation-states consolidated power. The Meiji Restoration (1868) modernized Japan; the German Empire was founded in 1871; industrial capitalism shifted political power patterns. Reform movements emerged—labor organizing, education expansion, and early women's suffrage campaigns in several countries. Conflicts such as the American Civil War aftermath, the Franco-Prussian War, and the Boer War illustrated changing warfare and imperial competition.

Culture and science saw new schools of thought and art. Realism and naturalism reflected urban modernity; science expanded with Darwinian theory, statistics, and early physics and chemistry breakthroughs. International exhibitions and world fairs popularized technology and culture across continents.

By 1910, the world had become more interconnected yet more stratified and competitive, with rising nationalism, imperial entanglements, and social change that would contribute to the tensions preceding World War I.