Imperialism Vocabulary

Question 1

Imperalism

Answer 1

A policy of extending a country’s power and influence through diplomacy or military force.

Question 2

Neo-Imperalism

Answer 2

A period of colonial expansion by European powers, the United States, and the Empire of Japan during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Question 3

King Leopold II of Belgium

Answer 3

The second King of the Belgians, known for the founding and exploitation of the Congo Free State as a private venture.

Question 4

Scramble for Africa

Answer 4

The invasion, occupation, division, colonization and annexation of African territory by European powers during the period of New Imperialism, between 1881 and 1914.

Question 5

Berlin Conference

Answer 5

Regulated European colonization and trade in Africa during the New Imperialism period, and coincided with Germany’s sudden emergence as an imperial power.

Question 6

Shaka

Answer 6

A common greeting in the Hawaiian culture, subsequently also used in surfer culture, and used as a sign of public school pride.

Question 7

Asante Kingdom

Answer 7

An Akan empire and kingdom in what is now modern-day Ghana.

Question 8

Cecil Rhodes

Answer 8

A British businessman, mining magnate and politician in South Africa, who served as Prime Minister of the Cape Colony from 1890 to 1896.

Question 9

Union of South Africa

Answer 9

The historic predecessor to the present-day Republic of South Africa.

Question 10

Suez Canal

Answer 10

An artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez.

Question 11

The Mahdi Annex

Answer 11

The prophesied redeemer of Islam who will rule for five, seven, nine, or nineteen years before the Day of Judgement and will rid the world of evil.

Question 12

Protectorate

Answer 12

A state that is controlled and protected by another.

Question 13

Indirect Rule

Answer 13

A system of government of one nation by another in which the governed people retain certain administrative, legal, and other powers.

Question 14

Federation of Indochina

Answer 14

Formed on 17 October 1887 from Annam, Tonkin, Cochinchina (which together form modern Vietnam) and the Kingdom of Cambodia; Laos was added after the Franco-Siamese War in 1893.

Question 15

Colonialist

Answer 15

A person who supports the practice of gaining political control over other countries and occupying them with settlers.

Question 16

Exploitation

Answer 16

The action or fact of treating someone unfairly in order to benefit from their work.

Question 17

Menelik II

Answer 17

Negus of Shewa, then Emperor of Ethiopia from 1889 to his death.

Question 18

Sphere of Influence

Answer 18

A country or area in which another country has power to affect developments although it has no formal authority.

Question 19

Settlement Colonies

Answer 19

Settlers stay permanently in settlement colonies.

Question 20

Dependent Colonies

Answer 20

A majority native population is ruled by a small number of representatives from the controlling nation.

Question 21

King Chulalongkorn

Answer 21

The fifth monarch of Siam under the House of Chakri.

Question 22

Assimilation

Answer 22

The process of taking in and fully understanding information or ideas.

Question 23

Panama Canal

Answer 23

An artificial 48-mile waterway in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean.

Question 24

White Man’s Burden

Answer 24

A poem about the Philippine–American War, which invites the U.S. to assume colonial control of that country

Question 25

Missionary

Answer 25

A person sent on a religious mission, especially one sent to promote Christianity in a foreign country.

Question 26

Meiji Restoration

Answer 26

An event of change that restored practical imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji.

Question 27

Samoa

Answer 27

A unitary parliamentary democracy with eleven administrative divisions.

Question 28

Guam

Answer 28

An unincorporated and organized territory of the United States.

Question 29

Spanish American War

Answer 29

A conflict fought between Spain and the United States in 1898.

Question 30

Sino-Japanese War

Answer 30

Was fought between the Qing Empire of China and the Empire of Japan, primarily over influence of Korea.

Question 31

Treaty of Shimonoseki

Answer 31

A treaty signed at the Shunpanrō hall, Shimonoseki, Japan on April 17, 1895, between the Empire of Japan and the Qing Empire, ending the First Sino-Japanese War.

Question 32

Mumbal

Answer 32

The capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra.

Question 33

Bombay

Answer 33

City in western India just off the coast of the Arabian Sea.

Question 34

Russo-Japanese War

Answer 34

Fought between the Russian Empire and the Empire of Japan over rival imperial ambitions in Manchuria and Korea.

Question 35

Dutch East Indies

Answer 35

A Dutch colony that was formed from the nationalised colonies of the Dutch East India Company, which came under the administration of the Dutch government in 1800.

Question 36

Treaty of Nanjing

Answer 36

A peace treaty which ended the First Opium War (1839–42) between the United Kingdom and the Qing dynasty of China on 29 August 1842.

Question 37

Opium War

Answer 37

Two wars in the mid-19th century involving Anglo-Chinese disputes over British trade in China and China’s sovereignty. The disputes included the First Opium War and the Second Opium War.

Question 38

The Taiping Rebellion

Answer 38

A massive rebellion or civil war in China that lasted from 1850 to 1864 fought between the established Manchu-led Qing dynasty and the millenarian movement of the Heavenly Kingdom of Peace.

Question 39

Open Door Policy

Answer 39

A term in foreign affairs initially used to refer to the United States policy established in the late 19th century and the early 20th century, as enunciated in Secretary of State John Hay’s Open Door Note, dated September 6, 1899 and dispatched to the major European powers.

Question 40

Self-strenthening Movement

Answer 40

A period of institutional reforms initiated in China during the late Qing dynasty following a series of military defeats and concessions to foreign powers.

Question 41

Empress Ci Xi

Answer 41

A Chinese empress dowager and regent who effectively controlled the Chinese government in the late Qing dynasty for 47 years from 1861 until her death in 1908.

Question 42

Boxer Rebellion

Answer 42

An anti-imperialist uprising that took place in China between 1899 and 1901, towards the end of the Qing dynasty.

Question 43

Ram Mohan Roy

Answer 43

The founder of the Brahmo Sabha movement in 1828, which engendered the Brahmo Samaj, an influential socio-religious reform movement.

Question 44

Indian Revolt of 1857

Answer 44

A rebellion in India against the rule of the British East India Company, that ran from May 1857 to July 1859.

Question 45

Thailand

Answer 45

A Southeast Asian country known for tropical beaches, opulent royal palaces, ancient ruins and ornate temples displaying figures of Buddha.

Question 46

Xhosa Cattle Killing

Answer 46

The Xhosa prophetess whose prophecies led to a millennialist movement that culminated in the Xhosa cattle-killing crisis of 1856–1857, in what is now the Eastern Cape Province of the Republic of South Africa.

Question 47

Natural Resources

Answer 47

Materials or substances such as minerals, forests, water, and fertile land that occur in nature and can be used for economic gain.

Question 48

Java

Answer 48

Coffee

Question 49

Sumatra

Answer 49

A large island in western Indonesia that is part of the Sunda Islands.

Question 50

David Livingstone

Answer 50

A Scottish congregationalist pioneer medical missionary with the London Missionary Society and an explorer in Africa, one of the most popular national heroes of the late-19th-century in Victorian Britain.