1882

1882 was a year of significant imperial and political developments that helped shape late 19th-century geopolitics. It occurred amid ongoing industrial expansion, rising nationalism, and expanding global empires.

In Europe, the Triple Alliance was formalized when Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy signed a defense pact on May 20, creating a counterweight to France and its allies. The arrangement reinforced the competitive balance of power in the continent and influenced diplomatic calculations in the years before World War I.

In North Africa, British forces defeated the Egyptian army at the Battle of Tel el-Kebir on September 13, 1882, leading to the occupation of Egypt and the establishment of a British protectorate. The intervention reflected the broader pattern of European powers asserting control over territories in the region.

In the United States, Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act on May 6, 1882, prohibiting immigration of Chinese laborers for ten years. It marked the first major federal restriction on immigration and shaped U.S. policy for decades, with later extensions and revisions.

In France, the Jules Ferry laws enacted during 1881–1882 established free, mandatory, and secular education for all children, representing a landmark expansion of public schooling and a shift toward secular republican values.

Overall, 1882 sits within the era of formalized alliances and expanding empires that defined much of international relations at the time, while also illustrating shifts in domestic policy, immigration, and education that would have lasting domestic and global effects.