During the late 19th century, powerful European nations and imperial powers like Great Britain, France, and Germany colonized much of Africa and Asia in pursuit of raw materials, new markets, and national prestige through building overseas empires. This period of imperial expansion, known as the Age of Imperialism, saw European powers divide up Africa at the Berlin Conference without input from Africans. Resistance to imperialism emerged from colonized peoples in places like South Africa, India, and China, but European military superiority allowed them to maintain control over most colonized territories by 1914.

1. The Age of Imperialism (1850 – 1914)

7. Imperialism in 1914

8. Europeans Colonize Africa

16. The United States’ Empire (1900)

19. Panama Canal

20. Japanese Empire (1905)

27. South Africa

30. India “ The Jewel of the Crown” for the British Empire

34. China