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Europe conquers the world
European nations have sought to expand their sovereign territory since the 16th century. Spain, Portugal, England, France and later also Germany and Italy acquired colonial empires overseas. The main aims were to develop new sources of raw materials as well as to create new sales markets and settlements. At the same time, the individual countries wanted to use this expansion to secure their own power status within Europe. When the British colonies in North America became the first to declare independence in the late 18th century, the era of imperial rule slowly began to decline. But European withdrawal from Asia and Africa did not begin until after 1945. |
