First Opium War

Context

The First Opium War

Britain vs China

The first opium war started in 1839 and was a conflict between the Qing dynasty and the british empire over british importation of opium to china. The war emerged from many factors like economics, politics, and cultural factors. The british had been illigally exporting opium form india to china for centuries but the trade increased significantly around 1820. The Qing government was concerned about the negative effects opium had on its population and supressed the trade. In 1839, the Qing government destroyed more than 20,000 chest of opium. This led to the Canton system and the emperor of Daoguang to ban opium in 1839. The british responded to this in war, and due to thier superior naval power they were victorious.

Citations

By: Olivia Veale

• Eberspaecher, Cord. "China, to the First Opium War." Encyclopedia of Western Colonialism since 1450, edited by Thomas Benjamin, vol. 1, Macmillan Reference USA, 2007, pp. 215-216. Gale In Context: World History, link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX2587300088/WHIC?u=inn_aca&sid=bookmark-WHIC&xid=d076fb10. Accessed 20 Apr. 2024.
• Danner, L. K., & Martín, F. E. (2019). China’s hegemonic intentions and trajectory: Will it opt for benevolent, coercive, or Dutch‐style hegemony? Asia & the Pacific Policy Studies, 6(2), 186–207. https://doi.org/10.1002/app5.273
• Libretexts. (2021, January 15). 7.7: The first Opium War. Humanities LibreTexts. https://human.libretexts.org/Courses/Lumen_Learning/Book%3A_History_of_World_Civilization_II-2_%28Lumen%29/07%3A_5%3A_Imperialism_in_Asia/07.7%3A_The_First_Opium_War
• "The First Opium War Begins: March 18, 1839." : , edited by Jennifer Stock, vol. 2: Asia and Oceania, Gale, 2014. , link.gale.com/apps/doc/KPVNQV147938712/WHIC?u=inn_aca&sid=bookmark-WHIC&xid=a11973c5. Accessed 21 Apr. 2024.

Main events

1841

Battle of Bogue

1842

1839

Treaty of Nanjing was signed

Battle of Canton

Outcomes

Modern attributes

Capture of Shanghai and Ningbo

Importation of opium to china increased.

British supplementary treaty of Bogue

1842

1843

1820

The capture of Chusan

1840

The first opium war is remembered in china as a turning point in history and the beggining of Chinas "century of humiliation", a period of foreign intervention that lasted until the start of Peoples rupublic in China in 1949. The treaty of Nanjing was expanded on by England and other western powers until World War II. The first Opium war played a crutial role on shaping modern China and its relations with the western world.

Some outcomes of the war included the treaty of Nanking, singed in 1842. This marked the end of war and forced china to reopen trading ports to british and cede Hong Kong to Britain. The war also opened China to increased foreign influence from western powers. This marked the beggining to unequal treaties from western powers. The qing dynaties defeat in war caused them to feel shameful for thier weak military and led to an authrotiy decline. Britains ownership of Hong Kong laid the foundation for the most important trading hub worldwide. The Opium market expanded despite chinas efforts to confiscate it.