What were some of the obstacles to industrialization faced by India, Egypt, and China? How might industrialization have played out if these obstacles had been addressed differently?

What role did the Japanese government play in Japan’s industrialization during the Meiji Restoration? How did their approach to industrialization differ from that of governments in Europe and North America?

What role did racism play in motivating those from industrialized nations to colonize other lands?

Which of the inventions of the industrial world do you think played the greatest role in enabling the colonization of Asia, Africa, and the Pacific? Why?

What role did geography play in determining where and how industrialized nations built empires in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries?

What role did violence play in industrialized nations’ attempts to build their empires? Do you think it is ever justifiable to use violence against other nations except in self-defense? Why or why not?

Are people in the poorer parts of Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Pacific still exploited by wealthier nations? If so, how?

If you lived under colonial rule, would you consider resistance an option? What factors might influence your position one way or the other?