Western imperialism
European colonial expansion
Western imperialism refers to the political, economic, and cultural domination exerted by European powers and later the United States over territories in Africa, Asia, the Americas, and the Pacific.
The term covers centuries of colonization, resource extraction, and imposed governance, from the Spanish conquest of the Americas through the British Empire's global reach.
Critics use it to describe ongoing economic and military influence: Western imperialism didn't end with decolonization—it just changed forms.
- Christian missionary workFaith-spreading efforts abroad
- civilizing missionClaimed duty to "improve" peoples
- puppet governmentsRegimes controlled by outsiders
- banana republicsPolitically unstable, export-dependent nations
- divide and ruleControl through fragmentation
Eurocentrism · protectorates · mercantilism · trade routes · colonization · industrial revolution · capitalism · Bandung Conference · spheres of influence · guerrilla warfare · Scramble for Africa · economic dependency · multinational corporations · indigenous activism · Manifest Destiny · Monroe Doctrine · liberation theology · resource extraction
- Qing Diplomacyextraterritoriality, Opium Wars, Treaty of Nanking, spheres of influence, kowtow
- Opium WarsTreaty of Nanking, opium trade, British East India Company, Nemesis, Elliot
Western imperialismdecolonization
Ending imperial control
national liberation · self-determination · independence · anti-colonialism · indigenous sovereignty
Western imperialismfree trade
Unrestricted international exchange
mutual cooperation · fair trade · equal partnership · international solidarity · multilateralism
western, westerly, westward, westerner, westernmost, imperial, imperialism, imperialist, imperialistic