~1881: Little wars
January 1881: Chilean troops occupy the Peruvian capital of Lima, demonstrating their military domination of the war, Despite this defeat, the Peruvians will keep up a guerilla war against Chilean occupation.
January 1881: Chief Secretary for Ireland, James Lowther, introduces a Coercion Bill suspending habeas corpus in Ireland. Chamberlain, Shaw and Churchill attempt to rally sufficient support to defeat it, but it is enacted as the Protection of Persons and Property (Ireland) Act. The act will greatly increase land reform agitation in Ireland.
January 1881: In order to implement the Buckingham Report, Disraeli introduces the Government of India Bill. In accord with Lord Buckingham's recommendations, the bill aims to devolve much of the routine administration of India to the provinces, with increased Indian participation at that level, while retaining the core functions under the Viceroy and British. Under the bill, defence, the maintenance of public order, industrial development, communications and railways, and the court system would remain under the central Indian government, while all other matters would be devolved to the provinces. Control over finances would be split, with provincial legislatures able to directly control the financing of matters under their control, including a degree of control over taxation. The bill also includes provision for legislation passed in India, both at the central and provincial level, to be reviewed by the Secretary of State for India and for him to require modification if felt necessary. Despite being far less radical than Lord Northbrook's earlier proposals, the bill nonetheless generates fierce opposition, especially in the Lords.
February 1881: Chinese ambassador to Russia, Zeng Jize, with the backing of British Ambassador Lord Dufferin, is able to successfully renegotiate the Treaty of Livadia. Under the terms of the new Treaty of St Petersburg, Russia agrees to return virtual all the disputed territory in the Ila valley to China, and despite Russian demand for a massive increase in the indemnity, Zeng is able to hold the increase to just six million roubles {£605,573} against the nine million {£908,359} demanded due to Lord Dufferin's support. However this support, along with the recent Second Anglo-Afghan War and Treaty of Berlin, leads to a significant deterioration in Anglo-Russian relations.
March 1881: James Garfield is inaugurated as President of the United States. His Anglophobic US Secretary of State James Blaine adopts a policy of trying to remove British influence from Latin America. Convinced the British instigated the War of the Pacific, he throws the US firmly behind Bolivia and Peru, seeking to end the war without any Chilean territorial gains.
March 1881: Disraeli. Who's health has been deteriorating for some time falls ill and is not expected to recover. The Queen is distraught at the possibility of his loss. She insists on granting him a peerage as Earl of Beaconsfield. The title has a remainder allowing it to pass to Disraeli's brother and an annual pension attached. Disraeli will eventually pass in April and Lord Salisbury will be chosen as Prime Minister in his place.
March 1881: Tsar Alexander II is assassinated by Russian radicals. He is succeeded by his son Alexander III who brings an end to his attempts to reform Russia and institutes a harsh crackdown on dissent. His assassination will also spark a series of anti Jewish pogroms throughout Russia,
March 1881: After a series of small actions with have resulted in sharp British defeats, cabinet discusses the situation in southern Africa. Gladstone argues defeating the Boers of Transvaal would be costly and time consuming, requiring considerable reinforcements and likely to bring Britain into conflict with the Orange Free State. Cabinet agrees with his assessment and agrees to end the conflict as quickly as possible. An armistice is arranged followed by a face saving peace settlement. Under the Pretoria Convention, the Transvaal's independence is restored, with the British retaining control over foreign and native affairs.
May 1881: In response to the ongoing pogroms in Russia have sparked a wave of intense criticism in Britain, especially in the more radical elements of society. Despite the government of Lord Salisbury taking no official action, the Interfaith Jewish Relief Society (IJRS) undertakes a program to encourage Russian Jews to migrate to Britain and the Empire. By 1889, some 150.000 Russian Jews have migrated to Britain, with another 80.000 settling in the Dominions.
May 1881: With the restoration of responsible government to the Cape Colony, Gordon Spragg's unelected government imposed by previous Governor Henry Frere falls. He is replaced by a compromise government under Thomas Scanlen. Scanlen will spend the next three years attempting to undo Spragg's divisive and racist policies. However he will be hampered in this by the rise of Boer nationalism in in the Cape under the newly formed Afrikaner Bond of Jan Hofmeyr.
April 1881: At Gladstone's insistence, the garrison in Afghanistan is reduced two just 3,000 men. With an undertaking to totally withdraw it by 1883.
June 1881: The 1878 Treaty of Berlin left the issue of Greek claims to Ottoman territory unsettled, with the Greeks claiming Epirus, Crete, Macedonia, Thessaly and Thrace, with the Treaty merely calling for the two states to negotiate a new border in Thessaly and Epirus. Since the Treaty however the Ottomans have refused to discuss the matter. Finally, with war seeming likely, the Great Power intervene and the Convention of Constantinople is signed, ceding the majority of Thessaly to Greece,
June 1881: With Disraeli's death Lord Salisbury is able to muster sufficient support to pass his Government of India Bill into law, albeit in a somewhat watered down form. While the new act does allow for the entry examinations for the Indian Civil Service to be held in India as well as Britain, only those who passed the exam in Britain will be eligible to service in the civil service of the central Indian government, effectively barring Indian participation. However, the act does establish separate police forces for each province, open to Indians at most levels except the very highest, to enforce provincial laws.
June 1881: An attempt by Gladstone to introduce a second Irish land act which would ensure the 'three F's,' fixity of tenure, fair rents and free sale, is rejected by Lord Salisbury's cabinet. Instead the more limited new Landlords and Tenants Act (Ireland) Act is passed. This act improves the terms under which tenants may purchase land but does little to quiet unrest in Ireland.
June 1881: Gordon's attempts to reform Sudan have pushed it to the brink of rebellion. Rauf Pasha's attempt to calm the situation have proved ineffective. In this climate, Sufi religious leader Mudammand Ahmad declares himself to be Mahdi, proclaiming the Mahdiyya to prepare the way for the second coming of the prophet Isa, or Jesus. Governor of Sudan Rauf Pasha fails to give the matter much weight, simply offering him a pension. Expecting that would satisfy him. Ahmad rejects the offer stating “He who does not believe in me will be purified by the sword.”
July 1881: President Garfield of the US is shot by a deranged officer seeker. He will eventually die due to infection in September. His Vice President Chester Arthur will replace Secretary of State Blaine with Frederick Frelinghuysen, who will abandon Blaine's anti British policies.
July 1881: A congress of international anarchists is held in London. Attended by prominent anarchist leaders such as Peter Kroptkin, Louise Miheal, Saveio Merlino, Marie Le Compte and Nikolai Tchaikovsky. The Congress agrees that while each individual anarchist group is completely autonomous, certain common policies they term 'propaganda by the deed' are necessary to bring about social revolution. These include targeted violent actions as well as political agitation to incite revolution. The congress will lead to the formation of the International Working People's Association or Black International.
July 1881: The Treaty of Buenos Aires settles the boundary dispute between Argentina and Chile, awarding control of the Straits of Magellan to Chile but guarantees the permanent freedom of navigation and their demilitarisation.
July 1881: As part of the government's coalition agreement the Technical and Scientific Scholarships Act establishes government scholarships for "worthy candidates of sober morals and modest means" to foster scientific and technical education amongst the working and middle classes. This act will noticeably increase the number of graduates in these fields.
July 1881: Secretary for War Hugh Childers, one of Gladstone's ministers, continues the earlier Cardwell reforms of the British Army by grouping cavalry and infantry into new 'county' regiments. These new regiments will be assigned a recruiting district from which they will usually take their name. Each line regiment will consist of two regular battalions and two militia or three yeomanry battalions, with the volunteer battalions attached to regiments associated with their county. It is intended one of the regular battalions will be deployed overseas, while the other will provide drafts to keep that unit up to strength. The reforms are not applied entirely strictly. The allocation of militia and yeomanry is uneven and some regiments only consist of a single battalion. The reforms result in the creation of three regiments of foot guards, two regiments of horse guards, seventy of numbered line infantry and fifteen of numbered line cavalry. As before, the changes are fiercely opposed by the head of the army, the Duke of Cambridge, preventing the further reform.
August 1881: Muhammad Ahmad's proclamation of the Mahdiyya with himself as the Mahdi has gathered considerable support. Rauf Pasha sends a small force of 200 men to arrest him. This force is quickly overwhelmed. Rauf Pasha downplays the incident to Khedive and sends a larger force of 1,000 men to deal with the situation. However they find he has fled to the Nuba Mountains, raising a Jihad there. This begins the First Mahdist War.
August 1881: The Second Anglo-Afghan War has expose a number of serious short comings in the Indian Amy and a Commission of Inquiry under General Garnet Wolseley recommends substantial changes to improve its performance. Most important is the abolition of the separate Presidential armies and the establishment of a centralised system of supply and intendance. Wolseley also recommends that the policy of equipping Indian units with obsolete British arms and equipment be abandoned, with Indian troops being armed with the most modern weapons available. He further recommends Indians regiments be linked along the lines of the recent reforms to the British army and that training be improved. Most controversially he suggests the Indian army should once again have its own corps of artillery. Despite fierce resistance within the Indian army the bulk of Wolseley's recommendations are accepted. The only major exception being the rejection of the expansion of Indian artillery.
September 1881: The Chinese order two battleships and a protected class cruiser from Britain in an effort to further strengthen their fleet. These are the largest and most powerful warship thus far ordered by the Chinese, The two battleships will be named Chen Yuan and Ting Yuen, with the cruiser named Chi Yuan. The original Chinese intention was to order twelve such ships, but even with generous British terms for financing, only three vessels can be afforded. A small naval mission under Rear Admiral Nowell Salmon is also dispatched to assist in reforming the Chinese Navy.
November 1881: The Dowager Empress Ci'an dies unexpectedly. Her co-regent, Dowager Empress Cixi begins pressing for the Guangxu Emperor to return from his education in Britain, in a renewed attempt to bring him under her control. Prince Gong, now realising the importance of British support, abandons his efforts to place his own son on the throne and allies with Li Hongzhang to mobilise support in the Qing Grand Council and ensure he remains in Britain.
December 1881: A larger force of Egyptian soldiers is dispatched to deal with the expanding Mahdist revolt. This force will be slaughtered to a man, further increasing the Mahdi's support.
