The Opium Wars were two wars fought between the Western powers and Qing China over the opium trade, taking place from 1839 to 1842 and from 1856 to 1860. In each war, the Qing dynasty's crackdown on British opium smugglers triggered British punitive expeditions which made use of their superior technology to easily defeat the Chinese forces and force Qing China to grant favorable tariffs, trade concessions, and territory to the Europeans. Ultimately, China was compelled to open "treaty ports" accessible by all imperial powers and cede Hong Kong to the British Empire.
History[]
First Opium War[]
China's ban on European imports and the increasing demand for Chinese tea, porcelain, and silk in Europe caused a huge trade imbalance between the regions. The British East India Company redressed this by illegally selling Bengali opium to China. As the number of addicts rose, the Chinese tried to suppress the trade, confiscating stocks of opium inn Guangzhou and besieging the British merchants.
In June 1840 a fleet of 44 British ships with some 4,000 Royal Marines was sent from Singapore to demand compensation. The expedition blockaded the mouth of the PEarl River, then defeated the Chinese at the mouth of the Yangtze River. Coastal towns were bombarded, Guangzhou was taken, and tax barges were seized, drastically cutting the imperial income. Due to lack of modernization, China's defenses were no match for ironclad steamships and European cannon and muskets; the chief weapon of the Manchu soldier (or bannerman) was still the composite bow. In 1842 the Chinese sued for peace and signed the Treaty of Nanking, ceding Hong Kong to Britain and opening up five so-called "treaty ports" to British merchants, who remained exempt from the jurisdiction of local law. The emperor also recognized Britain as equal to China. The United States and France gained similar rights in 1844.
Second Opium War[]
Although trade restrictions were lifted after the war, opium remained illegal. In 1856 Chinese officials boarded the Arrow, a British-registered Chinese ship it suspected Of smuggling opium. The British retaliated by seizing Guangzhou and attacking other Chinese ports, this time joined by the French who used the murder of a French missionary in China as a pretext. In 1858, with the British close to Beijing, the Chinese signed the Treaty of Tientsin, giving the British diplomatic representation at the imperial court for the first time, and opening up ten new treaty ports. Merchants from all foreign powers were allowed to use all 15 treaty ports, and Christian missionaries and other foreigners were given leave to travel throughout China, The Chinese failed to ratify the treaty immediately, only doing so after an Anglo-French force captured Beijing and burned the Summer Palace.