In the latter half of the nineteenth century, the industrial powers of western Europe swiftly extended their control over vast areas of Africa and Asia. This new imperialism was rationalized by theories of racial and cultural superiority; it was made possible by new technologies of warfare. While the United States and Japan, and to a lesser extent Russia, joined the western European states as imperial powers near the turn of the century, the previously powerful Ottoman and Qing empires struggled with military weakness and internal problems and soon found themselves under foreign domination. Modern imperialism is characterized by the following:

• Mixed motives. Imperial powers claimed economic necessity, strategic imperatives, and a high-minded "civilizing mission." Frequently motives were confused, so it became "the white man's burden" to convert Africans to Christianity while at the same time enslaving them.
• Different models of colonial rule. In practice, the new imperialism varied considerably; including settler colonies such as Australia, indirect rule as in British Africa, direct rule as in French Indochina, and even the private fiefdom of Leopold II in the Belgian Congo. In all cases, ultimate authority rested with the imperial state, and local rulers had little real power.
• Economic colonialism. The purpose of the colony was to supply cheap raw commodities to the imperialist state and to be a market for manufactured goods. All resources, natural and human, were directed to this effort. Forests were transformed into plantations, and workers impressed into service. There was no effort to develop a colonial industry that might compete with the imperial state.
• Informal domination. Even states such as the Qing dynasty and the Ottoman empire that escaped direct imperial control were subject to informal domination by the industrialized powers. Taking advantage of the relative military and economic decline of the Ottoman and Qing states, imperial powers compelled acceptance of one-sided commercial treaties that placed those once-powerful states in subservient positions. Despite significant top-down reform efforts, neither the Ottoman nor the Qing state proved able to stop their decline or to fend off the imperial powers.
• Contempt for local cultures. With few exceptions, the imperial powers regarded colonial people as their inferiors and treated them as such. The French made an effort to convert and educate colonial peoples. The British also employed colonials as soldiers and minor civil servants, but made little provision for education. This disrespect contributed to a growing nationalism in India.
• Competition between imperial powers. The scramble for Africa and later for the Pacific islands illustrates the intense competition among imperial nations. The United States took over the Philippines in order to be on an equal footing with other powers already in China. Japan seized Korea and Taiwan for the same reason.