CONCEPTS AND DEFINITIONS.

UNIT- THE AGE OF IMPERIALISM

Imperialism: attitude or political action that took some

States to impose over others by means of military,
economic or political force. This process had its peak
moment during the second half of the 19th Century,
when Europe, thanks to its technical, economical and
financial superiority jumped into the conquest of new
territories, mostly in Africa and Asia.

Metropolis: it is a nation that possesses colonies. It is

applied in reference to the European colonial powers.

Colony: a settling of population, controlled and

administrated from a foreign territory, the metropolis.
In the process of colonisation developed during the
second half of the 19th century, three types of colonies
could be distinguished, the exploitation ones, the
settler colonies, the concessions and the strategic enclaves.

Taylorism: scientific organisation of work invented by

Frederick Taylor who steered production towards
assembly lines to increase productivity, reduce
employment time and reduce production costs.

Protectorate: territory in which a State existed with

international recognition that, despite keeping an
indigenous government, in the practical issues it was
controlled by the metropolis, who took the main
decisions on defence and exterior policies.

Acculturation: a process of cultural change, resulting

from the contact of different cultures, typically
produced by the substitution of a culture through the
imposition of a dominant one.

Trust/holding/cartel:
Trust: concentration of companies to share the market,
and fix production and prices.
Holding: creation of a finance group to invest capital
and administrate other companies or properties.
Cartel: fusion of companies from the same branch to
create one company and to control the market.
Exploitation colony/settlers colony:

Exploitation colony: dependents of the metropolis, who exerted a real policy of

occupation and exploitation.
Didn’t have their own government, they had to supply
the metropolis with raw materials. The colonies of
exploitation covered many of the raw materials needed
for European capitalism.
Settlers colony: constituted a solution to the problem of
population surplus in the metropolis, since due to its climatic characteristics, the type of
lands or the lower
density of indigenous occupation, they were places
where the metropolis’ inhabitants would come to
install themselves.