Defining terms

Maria should distinguish three related but different concepts:

• Colonialism: the practice of settling and politically controlling foreign territory. Often involves substantial settler populations.
• Imperialism: the broader practice of exerting political, economic, military, and cultural domination over weaker societies. Can take many forms, not all of which involve formal colonization.

• New Imperialism: the specific wave of imperial expansion from approximately 1870 to 1914, driven by industrial powers and characterized by extraordinarily rapid territorial conquest.