The correct option is:
Rule large amounts of territory.
The new imperialism of the late nineteenth century depended profoundly on the new technologies by which the Europeans overcame such vast areas so quickly.
The development of the river steamboat, for example, admitted the more extensive penetration of Africa and was also a significant determinant in the British victory in the Opium War. Western technology also produced efficient, long range, accurate, rapid-firing weapons for which the older weapons used by Asian or African forces were no match.