In Egypt, nominally part of the Ottoman Empire, British and French investment facilitated the construction of the Suez Canal, dramatically improved global shipping routes. However, inability to pay off debts forced the Egyptian ruler to sell his shares in the canal to the British. In 1882, using local unrest as a pretext, British forces invaded Egypt, claiming to protect the canal, which became a key asset for British imperial interests.

Elsewhere in the Ottoman Empire, defeat by well-equipped European armies during the Crimean War underscored the empire's military vulnerabilities. In response, the Ottomans deepened their integration into European commercial networks, reforming banking and currency systems to attract foreign investment. However, these measures were insufficient to counter declining state revenues and widespread corruption. The empire became increasingly dependent on foreign loans, often on terms favorable to European creditors. Lowered tariffs opened the Ottoman market to European goods, while European banks and merchants established a significant presence in Ottoman cities. 

The Ottoman economy faced significant structural imbalances during the 19th century. While imports of European goods surged, the empire became increasingly dependent on the export of commodities like opium and tobacco. However, European and American traders played a dominant role in controlling these exports, reducing the empire’s economic autonomy. At the same time, territorial losses in the Balkans and the independence of Greece, often facilitated by European intervention, further weakened the empire’s geographic and political influence. By the late 19th century, these combined pressures earned the Ottoman Empire the label of "the sick man of Europe," a reflection of its declining power amidst the rise of European imperial dominance.

Despite these setbacks, the empire witnessed efforts at reform and renewal. The Young Ottomans, a group of intellectuals and reformers, sought to modernize governance, advocating for a constitutional government. Their efforts reinvigorated reform movements within the empire, but these strides occurred against the backdrop of mounting tensions that would culminate in the First World War.

For centuries, China maintained a belief in its central role in the world, viewing itself as superior to other nations. This belief in the Middle Kingdom persisted through the Qing dynasty, shaping foreign policy and trade interactions. However, in the 19th century, this self-perception began to falter as European powers, particularly Britain, sought to expand their influence in East Asia. Central to this interaction was the Canton System, which regulated foreign trade by restricting merchants to the port of Canton (Guangzhou) and subjecting them to Chinese law. While this system allowed for profitable and relatively peaceful exchanges, it also fueled smuggling, which undermined Chinese control over trade. By the mid-1700s, British merchants began importing opium into China to pay for their massive tea imports and to finance their industrial growth. The illegal opium trade grew rapidly, sparking tensions between China and foreign merchants. This tension marks a key moment in the expansion of imperial influence: the shift from a regulated, stable trade system to one in which foreign powers began to actively use trade as a tool for political and economic leverage.

Both Chinese and British officials recognized that the legal trade served as a strong stabilizing factor in international affairs. However, when both governments began directly intruding in trade and using it as a tool to boost national prestige and manipulate diplomatic relations, problems arose. Contrary to popular belief, China was not against trade. However, China faced serious internal divisions in the 19th century. Imperial rulers and officials struggled to manage their country’s decline, and Confucian scholars grappled with how to use foreign trade to China’s advantage. 

Despite Qing attempts to ban the trade, both foreign and Chinese merchants profited greatly, fueling an illegal market. The conflict escalated into the Opium Wars, where Britain’s superior naval power forced China to sign the Treaty of Nanking. This treaty required China to pay reparations, cede Hong Kong to the British, open additional ports to British residence, and relinquish tariff control over key borders. When the Qing caught wind of this trade, they tried banning it, but both foreign and Chinese merchants were profiting so much that an illegal trade continued. The attempted ban led to the Opium Wars, during which the British enjoyed a considerable military (especially naval) advantage over China. The British forced the Chinese to sign the Treaty of Nanking, which forced the Chinese to pay for British losses during the war, denied the Qing government tariff control over some of its own borders, opened additional ports of residence to the British, and ceded the island of Hong Kong to Britain. Following the defeat, other foreign powers imposed similar treaties, creating spheres of influence that weakened Chinese sovereignty. The Qing's inability to address these challenges contributed to widespread unrest, including the Taiping Rebellion (1850–1864), a massive civil war rooted in religious, social, and economic grievances. While foreign powers eventually aided the Qing in suppressing the rebellion, China’s humiliating defeats and internal struggles marked a turning point in its decline as a regional power.

After the reign of Aurangzeb in the early 18th century, the Mughal Empire in India began to weaken, leaving a power vacuum that various local rulers sought to fill. As the empire's control fragmented, many regional states asserted their independence. Meanwhile, the British East India Company, initially focused on trade, expanded its influence by securing trade rights and the right to collect taxes in key Mughal territories. By establishing coastal trading posts in cities such as Calcutta, Bombay, and Bengal, the Company gained increasing control over trade and local governance. The Company capitalized on the weakening Mughal power and the divided local political landscape to solidify its control. The Company employed a combination of diplomacy, military power, and strategic alliances with local rulers to extend its dominance over Indian territory. Notably, the Company maintained its own private army and recruited Indian soldiers known as sepoys to defend British interests, further entangling local elites in the imperial system.

By 1765, the Mughal emperor, powerless to resist, was forced to formally recognize British rule. While the Company began to implement policies designed to "modernize" India, but this modernization largely served British economic interests. India became a crucial supplier of raw materials, such as opium, tea, cotton, and coffee, which were exported to Britain and China (mostly the opium). In exchange, British imports flooded India, undermining local industries, particularly the once-thriving textile sector. In 1857, both Hindus and Muslim sepoys, joined by peasants and some elites, rebelled against British control in the First War of Indian Independence. 

After the rebellion, the British government took control of the colony, implementing a more centralized bureaucracy to govern the colony. The Indian Civil Service created an elite class of well educated British and Indian men. The colonial government also invested in infrastructure projects (like railroads, telegraphs and irrigation systems) to further support commerce and governance, and they encouraged farmers to grow cash crops for export (opium, tea, sugar, cotton). While British rule brought technological advancements and created new economic opportunities, it also entrenched social and political hierarchies. The highest-ranking jobs remained reserved for the British, and the majority of Indians were excluded from political power. However, the British also established universities that introduced Western education to a small, but growing, class of Indian professionals. This educated elite would later become the leaders of the Indian independence movement, challenging the very system that had educated them.

In 1853, US Commodore Matthew Perry arrived in Japan to pressure the Tokugawa Shogunate to open the country to trade. Since the 17th century, the Shogunate had restricted foreign trade to the port of Nagasaki, maintaining relations only with the Dutch and Chinese. By the mid-19th century, Western powers had sent expeditions to Japan requesting trade access, but Perry’s use of 'gunboat diplomacy' forced Japan to end its period of relative isolation. The US sought coaling stations, export markets, and easier access to China, and Perry threatened naval force if Japan refused. In 1854, the Treaty of Kanagawa (one of several “unequal treaties”) required Japan to open ports to American ships and established a U.S. consul in Japan.

Japanese nationalists protested the unequal treaties and the Tokugawa Shogunate’s inability to resist foreign pressure. This discontent contributed to the overthrow of the Shogunate in the Meiji Restoration of 1868, which restored the emperor to power. The new Meiji government implemented sweeping political, economic, and military reforms, modernizing Japan to become an industrial and military power capable of competing with Western nations.

By the late 19th century, Japan sought to assert itself as a global power. In 1894, Japan invaded Korea, sparking the Sino-Japanese War as China came to Korea’s aid. Japan’s victory over the declining Qing Dynasty secured Taiwan and the Liaodong Peninsula as colonies. In the Russo-Japanese War (1904–05), Japan shocked the world by defeating Russia in a conflict over competing claims in Manchuria. The Treaty of Portsmouth recognized Japan’s dominance in Korea and forced Russia to cede territory in Manchuria to Japan, establishing Japan as a major imperial power.

In Korea, Japanese merchants began settling in cities, and by 1910 the number of Japanese settlers in Korea was over 170,000. Many Koreans became tenant farmers for Japanese landowners, growing rice to export to Japan. Many Korean families had to send family members to work in factories in order to pay rent. The Japanese also exploited the Korean sources of timber, coal, and iron. They also pursued a policy of "Japanization," creating a school system model after Japan's and accelerating industrialization and public works (including railroads). Among Koreans, Christianity (brought by Protestant missionaries) became an expression of opposition to Japanese rule, which would not end until after WWII.