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
China War Medal (1842) were authorised for this medal. The medals were named in bold block capital letters with stars used to fill in the spaces as on the Waterloo Medal. However, since new punches were used for this medal the naming appears somewhat sharper than on Waterloo Medal examples. Recipients of this medal who also qualified for the Second China War Medal in 1861 received a clasp inscribed "China 1842" to add to their existing medal, in addition to any clasps relating to the second war to which they were entitled. Although these clasps were intended to be fixed to the earlier medal,