Key events, empires, and consequences of European colonialism and imperialism from the 1500s to the 1900s. Front: the term, event, or empire. Back: a one to two sentence explanation of its significance.
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- Spanish Conquistadors
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Spanish military leaders who conquered indigenous empires in the Americas (1500s-1600s), establishing Spain's vast colonial empire and extracting enormous wealth through gold and silver.- Treaty of Tordesillas (1494)
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Agreement between Spain and Portugal dividing the non-European world into two spheres of influence, granting Portugal Brazil and Africa while Spain received most of the Americas.- Mercantilism
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Economic theory guiding colonial policy that emphasized accumulating wealth through trade surplus and acquiring colonies for raw materials and captive markets.- Triangular Trade
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System of commerce linking Europe, Africa, and the Americas where manufactured goods traded for enslaved people in Africa, who were traded for sugar and tobacco in the colonies.- Portuguese maritime empire
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First European global empire (1500s-1600s) built on ocean exploration and trading posts across Africa, India, and Asia under leaders like Prince Henry the Navigator.- Vasco da Gama
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Portuguese explorer who found the sea route to India (1497-1498), breaking Arab and Venetian monopolies on Asian trade and opening new colonial possibilities.- British East India Company
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Private trading company chartered in 1600 that gradually conquered and administered India for England, pioneering the corporate colonial model.- The Raj
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British rule over India from 1858 to 1947, establishing direct Crown control after suppressing the 1857 Rebellion and extracting resources while transforming Indian society.- Scramble for Africa
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Rapid European partition of Africa (1880s-1900s) driven by competition for resources and territory, with the continent divided among Britain, France, Germany, Belgium, and others.- Opium Wars
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Two conflicts (1839-1842, 1856-1860) between Britain and China over Britain's right to sell opium, resulting in Chinese humiliation and British acquisition of Hong Kong.- Boxer Rebellion
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Chinese resistance movement (1899-1901) that attacked foreign colonizers and Christians, suppressed by a multinational force and resulting in China's further subordination.- French Indochina
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French colonial possession (1887-1954) in Southeast Asia comprising Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos, exploited for resources and used as a strategic base in Asia.- Berlin Conference (1884-1885)
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European powers met to establish rules for colonizing Africa, dividing the continent among themselves without African input or consideration of existing political boundaries.- Cecil Rhodes
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British imperialist and businessman who built a fortune in South African diamonds and gold, promoting British expansion and colonialism throughout Africa.- Suez Canal
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Egyptian waterway opened in 1869 that Britain eventually controlled, providing a crucial route to Asia and becoming a source of imperial competition and conflict.
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