History of colonialism colonies had acquired independence during the Latin American revolutions at the beginning of the 19th century. In Asia, The Great Game, which lasted from 1813 to 1907, opposed the British Empire against Imperial Russia for supremacy in central Asia. China was opened to Western influence starting with the First and Second Opium Wars (1839–1842; 1856–1860). After the visits of Commodore Matthew Perry in 1852–1854, Japan opened itself to the Western world during the Meiji Era (1868–1912). Imperialism also took place in Burma, Indonesia (Netherlands East Indies), Malaya and the Philippines. Burma had been under British rule for nearly a hundred
An Authentic Account of an Embassy from the King of Great Britain to the Emperor of China in 1798 for George Nicol in two volumes. The American edition was published in two volumes in 1799 in Philadelphia by John Bioren for Robert Campbell. The English text was soon after its publication translated into various languages. The German version "Reise der englischen Gesandtschaft an den Kaiser von China in den Jahren 1792 und 1793" was published in two volumes in Zürich by Geßner 1798-1799, translated by Johann Christian Hüttner. The translation holds no illustrations due to its small size and is the only version that admits being freely translated. The Dutch translation "Reis van lord Macartneij, naar China"