ow did relatively small European powers come to control enormous territories across Africa, Asia, the Americas and beyond?
The answer is more complicated than simply saying Europeans had better weapons.
By the late 19th century, several different advantages were reinforcing one another: industrial production, modern firearms, steamships, railways, telegraph communication, finance, political alliances, Indigenous soldiers, medicine, diplomacy and administrative systems.
But colonial conquest was not inevitable and it was not always easy.
African, Asian and Indigenous American societies had powerful states, armies and political institutions, and resistance to European expansion was widespread. In some cases, European forces suffered major defeats. The eventual success of imperialism came from a combination of military technology, logistics, political circumstances, economic power and the ability to build systems of control.
In this video, we examine the deeper reasons behind colonial expansion and why colonialism was ultimately a system of power, not simply a gun.