colonial expansion
Territorial acquisition overseas
Colonial expansion is the process by which a nation extends control over foreign territories, typically through settlement, military conquest, or economic domination.
The term usually refers to European powers spreading into Africa, Asia, and the Americas from the 15th through 20th centuries: The scramble for Africa marked the peak of colonial expansion.
The phrase carries critical undertones, emphasizing the aggressive, often exploitative nature of empire-building.
- annexationAbsorbing territory into jurisdiction
- protectoratesTerritories under external control
- crown coloniesTerritories governed by sovereign
- imperialismExtending dominion over others
- mercantilismTrade policy favoring exports
sea routes · Scramble for Africa · settler colonialism · resource extraction · neocolonialism · anti-colonial movements · colonial administration · religious conversion · Berlin Conference · gunboat diplomacy · transatlantic slave trade · cultural assimilation · indigenous resistance · industrial revolution · sovereignty claims · economic dependency · triangular trade · native lands
- Colonial AmericaGeorge Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Ben Franklin, Benjamin Franklin, Declaration of Independence
- colonialismcolonization, colonial rule, colonial powers, colonizer, colonies
- Italian HistoryRome, Venice, Florence, Naples, Sicily
- naval historybattleships, naval battles, naval history, admiral, battleship
- 1800s AsiaQing dynasty, Opium Wars, Boxer Rebellion, British Raj, Emperor Meiji
- Frontier WarsIndian Wars, French and Indian War, cavalry charge, militia, militias
colonial expansionisolationism
Policy avoiding foreign alliances
withdrawal · retrenchment · non-interventionism · disengagement · retreat
colonial expansiondecolonization
Ending imperial control
liberation · independence · self-determination · national liberation · emancipation