When Rizal was born on June 19,1861, the American Civil War (1861-65) was raging furiously in the United States over the issue of Negro Slavery.
June 1,1861 just 18 days before Rizal's birth, Emperor Napoleon III of the 2nd French Empire in his imperialistic desire want to secure of the colonial state in Latin America, sent French troops which invaded and conquered Mexico.
In Rizal's time two European nation ( Italian and German) succeeded in unifying their own country. Under King Victor Emmanuel proclaimed the Kingdom of Italy while Prussian led by OttoVon Bismarck defeated France in the Franco-Prussian War and establish the German Empire on January 18,1871.
The time of Rizal saw the flowering of Western Imperialism. England emerged as the world's leading imperialist power. Thus the British people during the glorious reigns of Queen Victoria (1837-1901) proudly asserted "Britannia rules the Waves"
Opium War (1840-1842)
July 8, 1853 an American squadron under the command of commodore Mathew c. Perry re-opened Japan to the world.
