Colonization is treated here as a logistics problem within the much larger history of empire. In the age of sail, a power might first secure a valuable destination and care little about the route as long as ships could complete the voyage. Protecting those destinations then created pressure to acquire intermediate ports and support points. The transition from sail to steam made the network still more important because fuel joined food, water, ammunition, and repair stores among the supplies that determined operational reach.
Chapter · 0:34-3:30
Colonization begins with routes and support
Routes, ports, consumables, ammunition, and ship maintenance define the practical logistics of colonization within the much larger history of empire.