Industrial Revolution
The shift from agrarian to industrial economies beginning in Britain ~1760; powered by coal, steam, and new manufacturing processes that transformed labor, urbanization, and global trade.
IndustrializationImperialism
Policy of extending national power through colonization, military force, or economic domination; 19th-century European powers colonized most of Africa and Asia, driven by industrialization's demand for raw materials and markets.
Political PowerSocial Darwinism
Misapplication of Darwin's evolutionary theory to justify racial hierarchy and imperialism as "survival of the fittest" nations; used to rationalize European domination of non-European peoples.
IdeologyScramble for Africa
The rapid colonization of nearly all of Africa by European powers between 1881 and 1914; formalized at the Berlin Conference (1884–85) where Africa was divided without African input.
ImperialismBerlin Conference
1884–85 meeting where European powers negotiated the partition of Africa; no African representatives were present. Established "effective occupation" as the standard for colonial claims.
ImperialismProletariat
The industrial working class; as defined by Marx, those who sell their labor and do not own the means of production. Their exploitation drove socialist and communist political movements.
MarxismMarxism
Political and economic theory of Karl Marx arguing that history is driven by class struggle; the capitalist system exploits workers, who will eventually overthrow it to create a classless communist society.
Political IdeologySepoy Mutiny (Indian Rebellion of 1857)
Major uprising against British East India Company rule in India; triggered by cultural insensitivity (greased cartridges) but rooted in broader resentment of British economic exploitation and cultural imperialism.
ResistanceMeiji Restoration
1868 Japanese political revolution that restored imperial rule and launched rapid modernization; Japan deliberately industrialized and built a Western-style military to avoid colonization.
ModernizationIndentured Servitude
Labor system where workers contracted to work for a set period in exchange for transportation and wages; used across British colonies after the abolition of slavery, often exploiting South Asian and Chinese workers.
Migration & LaborSteam Engine
Machine developed by James Watt in the 1760s that converted heat (from burning coal) to mechanical work; powered factories, locomotives, and steamships — the engine of industrialization.
TechnologyKarl Marx
German philosopher whose Communist Manifesto (1848, with Engels) and Das Kapital argued capitalism would inevitably collapse and be replaced by communist society.
IdeologyOpium Wars
Two wars (1839–42, 1856–60) in which Britain forced China to legalize opium imports and open trade; produced unequal treaties and Hong Kong's cession to Britain.
ImperialismSphere of Influence
Region where a foreign power has special economic or political privileges without formal colonization; used by European powers and the US in late Qing China.
ImperialismBattle of Adwa
1896 battle in which Ethiopian forces under Emperor Menelik II decisively defeated invading Italian troops — the only African nation to defeat European colonization in this era.
ResistanceBoxer Rebellion
Anti-foreign uprising in Qing China (1899–1901) that targeted Christian missionaries and Western influence; suppressed by an eight-nation alliance, further weakening Qing sovereignty.
ResistanceLaissez-faire Economics
Economic theory (Adam Smith, 1776) advocating minimal government interference in markets; aligned with industrial capitalism and used to oppose labor regulations and worker protections.
Economic TheorySuez Canal
Canal completed in 1869 linking the Mediterranean to the Red Sea; cut the sea journey from Europe to Asia in half and made British control of Egypt strategically vital.
Technology & EmpireSettler Colonialism
Form of colonialism where European migrants permanently settle and displace Indigenous populations (e.g. US, Canada, Australia, South Africa), as opposed to extractive colonialism.
ColonialismUrbanization
Massive movement of people from countryside to cities during industrialization; created new social classes, public health crises, and demands for political reform.
Social Change