Assimilation and Empire

Assimilation has been, over the centuries, one of the major ways of conceptualizing the relationship between center and periphery within imperial systems. It can be described as the attempt to integrate (through the use of force if necessary) conquered or colonial territories and populations into the political, sociocultural, and often economic mold of the conquering power. Assimilation has been practiced for political, military, religious, or cultural reasons since Roman times, with the Spanish, Portuguese, and French Empires often placing it at the center of their colonial strategies, though the British Empire also practiced it (especially for legal matters). The early Muslim conquest of the Mediterranean, or the Japanese assimilation of the Korean peninsula, offer examples of cultural or religious assimilation implemented by non-European powers.