New Imperialism

The New Imperialism was the phase of colonial expansion in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, when European powers, the United States and Japan acquired vast territories in Africa, Asia and the Pacific. The Scramble for Africa saw almost the entire continent divided up after the Berlin Conference of 1884 and 1885. Britain, France, Germany, Belgium, Italy and others competed for colonies, driven by a mixture of economic interests, strategic rivalry, national prestige and a belief in a civilising mission, as well as by industrial technologies such as steamships, railways, telegraphs and modern weapons. Colonial rule often involved violence and exploitation. The system began to unravel after the First World War.

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