Imperialism and Colonialism

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Imperialism

Imperialism is the policy or practice of a country extending its control over a foreign country’s land, economic life, or political system. The ruling country usually does this through conquest, and the native people of the nation being taken over are often suppressed. If a nation takes over the government of another territory militarily or through political means, then this is called direct imperialism. Indirect imperialism is when a region is self-governing but another country takes over through economic processes.

Colonialism

Colonialism is when a nation extends its authority over another territory by establishing colonies in which the native people are either moved out or ruled over. Some people believe colonialism is a good thing because they say it benefits that nation that has been colonized by developing the infrastructure that is necessary for modernization. Others, however, argue that colonialism is a negative thing because the wealth of the colonized transfers to the colonizer, and colonialism usually ends up harming the colonized region politically and ...

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