1879. War in Zululand. The Prince Imperial (only son of the late Emperor Napoleon III.), who had accompanied the British troops, killed by Zulus. Cetewayo, the Zulu king, captured, and the war ended. Zululand divided among a number of chiefs subject to British rule.
1880. Dissolution of parliament. Mr. Gladstone became premier. Burial Laws Amendment Act passed, permitting nonconformists to be buried in Church of England burial grounds, without the service of that church. The Speaker of the House of Commons invested with the power of the Closure. Rising of the Boers in the Transvaal. Abdul Rahman (nephew of Shere Ali) proclaimed Ameer of Cabul by the British: and end of the second Afghan war.
1881. Defeat of the British by the Boers at Majuba Hill. Assassination of Alexander II., Emperor of Russia. Death of Lord Beaconsfield. Irish Land Act passed, to improve the relations between landlord and tenant.
1882. Assassination of Lord Frederick Cavendish and Mr. Burke in Phœnix Park, Dublin. English occupation of Egypt. Alexandria bombarded. Battles of Kassassin and Tel-el-kebir. Arabi Pasha taken prisoner and sent into exile.
1883. War in the Soudan. Destruction by the Mahdi (leader of the rebels) of the army of Hicks Pasha.
1884. Continuance of the War in the Soudan. Defeat of the Mahdi at El Teb. REPRESENTATION OF THE PEOPLE ACT passed, which extended the household and lodger franchise of the boroughs to the counties, and added about 2½ million voters.
1885. Betrayal and assassination of General Gordon at Khartoum. Mr. Gladstone resigns the premiership, and is succeeded by Lord Salisbury. Redistribution of Seats Act passed, by which the parliamentary representatives were increased from 658 to 670. Revised version of the Bible, the result of fourteen years’ preparation, was published.
1886. Annexation of Upper Burmah. Lord Salisbury resigns the premiership, and is succeeded by Mr. Gladstone, who gives up office on the rejection of his measure for Home Rule in Ireland, and the Conservatives under Lord Salisbury return to power, supported by about eighty Liberals, since known as “Liberal Unionists,” who could not follow Mr. Gladstone in reference to the Irish question.
1887. THE JUBILEE OF THE REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. Prevention of Crimes (Ireland) Act passed. Proclamation of the Irish National League.