Ferdinand de Lesseps was a Frenchman whose company built the Suez Canal. At the time it was thought to be an impossible feat. This was due to the fact that the distance between the Red Sea and Mediterranean Sea was over 100 miles of desert. It was thought that it would be too difficult to dig the canal; however, de Lesseps and his men were able to complete the project over a fifteen-year period, with the extensive and inhumane use of forced labor.

The Industrial Revolution was the main cause of Imperialism. This is because the European nations now had all these goods they could make, but not enough people to sell them to. This meant they needed to create captive markets to sell their goods to, such as nations in Africa and Asia. They were also in need of the raw materials in order to keep making these goods, which they did not have in Europe.

The Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905 saw Japan defeat Russia to become the dominant power in East Asia. The First Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895 saw Japan defeat China and emerge as one of the major powers in the region, but not the dominant one. World War I was fought after Japan had emerged as a major world power. The Boxer Rebellion of 1899-1901 was simply an internal conflict in China in which foreign nations, including Japan, intervened, and did not have any direct major effect on Japan's status. The Second Sino-Japanese War of 1937-1945 was fought long after Japan emerged as a major world power, and in fact became part of the larger conflict of World War II, in which Japan was totally defeated. 

The Boer won a decisive victory against the British. The casualty rate was 10 British for every one Boer. The Boer were just as well equipped as the British with the same level of technology. The Boer also had a vast advantage when it came to the terrain and using it to their advantage. The British were soundly defeated and they retreated back the the South African Colony.

The Ottoman Empire, which lasted from 1500 until the end of World War I, grew from a small state west of modern day Turkey into a major player in global politics. At its height the Ottomans controlled the Balkans, the Middle East, North Africa, and parts of what are now Southern Russia and the Ukraine. Upon its dissolution after World War I in 1923 the Ottoman Empire was replaced by the Republic of Turkey. 

Most of Africa had not experienced the Industrial Revolution before the Berlin Conference divided the continent. Parts of it that were more linked with the outside world (trading ports) had already begun to experience the Industrial Revolution. 

Imperialism is the extension of an empire into foreign lands. It is using political and/or military power to dictate policy and governing decisions emanating from the home empire. Imperialism can be achieved through means such as colonialism or economic manipulation.

Colonialism is the practice of settling one's own people in a foreign land. The word "colony" refers to an extension of the home empire, thus implying the empire has power to govern the colonized land. By placing citizens on the ground in foreign lands, the home empire has a greater ability to manage economic and political affairs.

Economic Imperialism refers specifically to resource extraction and wealth generation in a foreign land for the benefit of the home empire. Economic Imperialism in the 19th century led to harsh mining conditions in places such as South Africa and slave-like treatment in the rubber plantations of Brazil. Many argue the practice of economic imperialism continues today with resource extraction from the Global South for the benefit the Global North.

European imperialism and colonization came at great detriment to the indigenous people of the land they conquered. The justification for this practice was that they were bringing "civilization" to these "backward," "savage" people. This led to the use of missionaries and religious conversion, the use of European legal systems, forced cultural integration, and new technologies. Unfortunately, the "civilization" brought by the Europeans had no reasonable place in it for the inhabitants of the land they conquered, indigenous groups were violently oppressed, and in many cases murdered on a large scale.