February 8, 1904 – September 5, 1905
Japan defeats the Russian Empire in a war over Manchuria and Korea, the first modern victory of an Asian power over a European one.
Phan Bội Châu organises sending young Vietnamese to study in Japan to prepare for the independence struggle.
Soldiers fire on peaceful workers marching to the Winter Palace, sparking the Russian Revolution of 1905.
The anti-foreign Boxer movement besieges Beijing's legation quarter; an Eight-Nation Alliance intervenes and occupies Beijing in 1900.
The Guangxu Emperor and Kang Youwei launch sweeping reforms, which Empress Dowager Cixi halts after about 100 days.
The Japan–Korea Annexation Treaty takes effect, making Korea a Japanese colony until 1945.
A mutiny in Wuchang triggers the Xinhai Revolution, which spreads across the provinces and brings down the Qing dynasty.