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The Opium Wars refers to two wars of aggression waged in the mid-19th century by Western imperialist powers (first Britain, later joined by France) against China, who sought to force China into opening its markets and into forcing the legalization of the opium trade. The First Opium War began in 1840 after China had begun enforcing an opium ban, to which the British responded with typical gunboat diplomacy, sending a fleet to Guangzhou and opening fire, marking the start of the war. This conflict concluded in the signing of an unequal treaty in 1842 that was favorable to the British and resulted in the ceding of Hong Kong island, among other terms.[1] The Second Opium War occurred from 1856 to 1860 and was an aggression conducted by both British and French forces to force China to legalize the opium trade. Terms set by the British and French also forced China to agree that foreigners could not be tried in Chinese courts and to legalize Christian missionary work.[2]
China had considered itself economically self-sufficient and was not seeking products from other countries. Meanwhile, Western countries bought goods such as tea, silk, and porcelain from China, gradually depleting Western gold and silver reserves. The British engaged in state-backed drug smuggling as a remedy for this issue. Opium smuggling was highly profitable for the British and other Western powers,[2] including smugglers from the US who made fortunes doing so.[3] Opium had come to play a major role in the British economy after the gradual decline of the Transatlantic slave trade.[2] After the Opium Wars had put China into a significantly weakened position, China began to domestically cultivate opium, rather than importing the costly and highly addictive product, to prevent further economic loss, leading to large tracts of land being converted to opium production. Over time, China would lose territory to Russia, France, and Japan. This weakening of China laid groundwork for the later invasion by the Eight-Nation Alliance (Japan, Russia, Britain, France, the United States, Germany, Italy, and Austria-Hungary) in 1900.[2]
See also[edit | edit source]
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ "The Opium War: an Overview". Academy of Chinese Studies.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Stansfield Smith (2024-05-30). "Britain’s century long Opium trafficking and China’s ‘Century of Humiliation’ (1839-1949)" MR Online.
- ↑ “Prominent families, known as Boston Brahmins built their fortunes shipping — and in this case, on smuggling opium to China. The shipments caused clashes known as the Opium Wars and fueled addiction across China.”
Irina Matchavariani and Tiziana Dearing (2023-07-18). "How Boston profited from the opium trade in the 19th century" WBUR.