Effects Of Opium Wars On China

Also, citizens became addicted, and the drug eventually killed thousands of people. China’s actions angered Britain politicians even though opium was illegal in Britain as well. But was a result, war started between the two countries. In 1842, the treaty of Nanking ended the war. It was the first unequal treaty with Britain and it said that Chinese had to give up Hong Kong to Britain for ninty-nine years, the British would live in China by extraterritoriality at four ports, distribution of opium would continue and Christain missionaries will be set up throughout China. When China couldn’t meet the ridiculous requirements of the treaty, the second Opium War began in 1956. As a result, Britain won again by the Treaty of Tientsin. The treaty asked to open more ports to outer nations, let foreign leaders into the capital Beijing, and legalized the distribution and use of opium. Their situation was dangerously bad.

The Opium Wars were a series of conflicts that eventually led to China’s decline through the trade and abuse of the drug opium. The first of the Opium Wars (1839-42) was fought between China and Britain, and the second war (1856-1860) involved France as well. In both wars, the foreign powers triumphed over China, causing havoc, causing the fall of the Qing dynasty. Prior to the Opium Wars, China was full of rich culture, remarkable goods, and useful inventions. They had invented gunpowder, kites, and porcelain, all of which were in demand. The Qing dynasty had believed that they were superior to other countries, and refused to let any foreigners access any Chinese territory. There was only one area where trade was permitted, and it was inside the province of Canton, though payments were only allowed to be made in silver. The largest demand was for silk and tea from China, but England had a limited amount of the silver to trade. So instead, they began to trade Opium to China. Opium was in high demand at the time, and many merchants accepted it as currency for goods. With Britain having control of several poppy fields in India, producing large amounts of the drug was not a problem. The trade of opium was the root cause of the Opium Wars, but other causes such as China’s unfair trade superiority, the economic opportunity the west saw in the trade, and the addiction to the drug all helped cause the wars as well.

Opium came from opium poppy seeds, which were grown and sold under British ruling in India. The British East India Company developed a monopoly which took place in effectively growing opium and making profits and/or trading it with the Chinese in exchange for their premium good such as silk, porcelain, and tea. According to Memorials on the Legalization and Elimination of Opium by Xu Naiji and Yuan Yulin, they explained how the rise of opium prompted many debts and death around China. Opium became an addiction for many, from the poor to officials in government positions. Cutting off all access of trading opium would’ve started issues in the trading network, not just with Britain but with the Western countries as well. Instead of passing laws to completely ban opium, they reverted to only permitting the barbarian merchants to import opium to pay duty as a medication. This made it unacceptable for money to be involved with the product. According to Xu Naiji, smokers of opium were lazy, with no purpose in life and if they were caught smoking it, the only punishment was getting the opium confiscated. However, if any officer, scholar, or soldier were found smoking opium, the would be immediately dismissed from public employ. Yuan Yulin, a minister, believes that the expansion of opium is the government’s fault, being that they cannot decipher right from wrong; he thought it was unfair that prohibition of smoking opium only applied to the officers of the government, scholars, and military but not the common people. The British capitalized on the effects of opium, because many of China’s population were going to put forth their money, goods, etc. for

As a result of Britain’s presence in India, Britain “introduced Western education. This has brought an ancient and civilized nation in touch with modern thought, modern sciences, and modern life. [Britain] built an administration that is strong and efficient. [Britain] framed wise laws and have established courts of justice.” (Doc 12) Although India experienced many improvements in education and technology, China was left in a poor state. Doc 14 states that “[A chinese woman’s] husband sold everything [they] had.”, and this was the case for many Chinese people. Since many citizens were addicts, they were willing to sell everything they owned for money. As a result of opium, China had a growing poor rural population. There was also inflation and heavy taxes which didn’t help

China and British perspectives on the opium trade were contradistinctive and ultimately became the foundations of the Opium Wars in 1839-42 and 1856-60. The clash of opinions were not based around the narcotic opium itself but stemmed from a misunderstanding of cultures, conflicting economic behaviours and different ethical ideologies.

People in Britain were not allowed to smoke opium because it was illegal and had hash punishments if they did therefore the people were too scared to start smoking it. Because of the harsh consequences of smoking opium, Britain tries to sell it to China to make money. They made money because the Chinese bought and became addicts that lead them to buy more. In The Treaty of Nanjing, it states “ His Imperial Majesty further agrees to pay to the British Government the sum of Three Millions of Dollars, on account of Debts due to British subjects by some of the said Hong Merchants who become insolvent” (Article V). China has to pay a large amount of money to Britain because it was said to be due to the “British subjects.” It also affected Britain socially because British subjects were allowed to reside in China even when it isn’t trade season, which benefits them to trade more along with the sudden gain of money from

During the 19th century, China transformed from a prosperous economic center to a weakened country in a system controlled by Great Britain, largely due to the opium trade. Prior to Europe’s industrial revolution in 1800, China had little need for products from other countries, and participated sparingly in world trade, while Europe borrowed China’s ideas and inventions to gain a financial foothold. But in the 19th century Britain introduced opium into the Chinese market, setting off a chain of events that lead to the Opium Wars, which along with the opium trade sapped China’s economic strength. Nevertheless, she persisted, and in 1907 China passed a law that blocked the opium trade once and for all and took out Britain’s system of power within

The Chinese sold many things that European markets were interested in. The British, observing the demand for opium in China, both for legitimate reasons, and by addicts, grew and sold large amounts of opium, and sold it to intermediaries for silver that would eventually sell it on to the Chinese. The balance of trade being upset, and the concern over the growing number of Chinese opium addicts, led the Chinese government to impound foreign ships, destroy cargos, and arrest merchants. Basically suppressing the trade. The British did not like China's decisions. Therefore the British responded violently, they had a couple of bloody battles, the British won numerous times , dominating Chinese armies. China tried fighting back but it made things worse. Another major event that occurred in the Opium wars is the Treaty of Nanjing. This treaty is a big event because it gave Britain a lot of advantages, like the Chinese giving full control of Hong Kong to Britain. Also giving Britain more ports where they could trade Opium, the last thing that the British was given by the Chinese in accordance to the treaty was money. This basically showed that the British won the first Opium war, due to all the privileges the British gained from the Chinese’s peace

The aim of this investigation is to find the extent to which the British and Chinese trade of opium into China caused the corruption and eventual downfall of the Qing dynasty. The main body of this investigation focuses on the corruption and failure of the Chinese government in controlling British incursions, which caused its citizens to rebel and thus began the downfall of the Qing Dynasty. The introductions of opium to China and the effects it had on China will be assessed in accordance to origin, value, purpose, and limitation. The British and Chinese trade in relation to opium and its role of corruption in the Qing Dynasty will be analyzed also.

In both opium wars, the foreign powers were victorious and obtained commercial advantages and legal and territorial concessions in China. The wars began an era of unequal treaties on Qing sovereignty that helped weaken the dynasty and eventually lead to the collapse in favor of republican China. The opium wars are significant because they humiliated the Chinese, who still considered themselves a great and powerful empire. The wars were also a clear example in showing the world that China could be pushed around by distant foreign powers. Contemporary Chinese still feel the need to prove themselves on the world stage because of this.

The Opium Wars lasted from 1839-1860 and had a major effect on world affairs. The dispute between Britain and China escalated throughout the years. In the mid 19th centuries, the first Opium War was fought between the forces of Britain and the Qing Dynasty. The first war began because of what China and Britain did to each other to cause this war. The Chinese officials had shut down the drug trafficking to China because it was becoming very addictive to the Chinese population. There was a drug known as opium which was very addictive and grew in india. Britain got the opium from india because . They were giving it to China because they wanted silver for opium in exchange they were getting sliver. Today the drug known as opium back then it was know as heroin. However recreational use was illegal and not widespread. Britain just did not stop and it was becoming bad for the chinese and they got really mad. Britain began shipping ton of drug without getting in trouble using the loopholes and out right smuggling to get around the ban. It destroyed imperial China. China even arrested 1700 dealers and were surprised of how many drug addict there were. British attack one of their merchants boat When the british were trading illegal substance. china they had to destroy more than 1400 tons of drugs that were warehoused at canton by British merchants. At this point china was getting very upset and something happen were a drunk british man killed a chinese person and

The Opium Wars made a big impact in China’s history. The effects of the wars can still be seen today. The treaties that China was forced to sign weakened that countries trust in their government during a very significant time. These treaties excluded all foreigners from obeying Chinese laws. Also, Chinese citizens that lived with or worked for a British citizen

The growing tensions between the British and Chinese governments led to the First Opium War. The essay will discuss the key events and causations leading up to this conflict and discuss how it effectively stopped the Chinese government’s interference with the trade but did not legalize it within

The Opium War sparked as the Chinese tried subdue the opium trade. British sellers made large quantities of money illegally selling the drug grown in India used for Chinese teas. The drug began to be a troubling addiction in China, the addiction was causing problems in China’s social and economics. The Chinese government banned opium, killed Chinese dealers, and asked the British traders to stop. But the British didn’t agree to stop trade and demanded free trade. Later on in 1839 the war began due to Chinese warships clashing with British sellers. Advanced British gunboats attacked Chinese coastal and river ports, Chinese had no choice but to fight back with outdated war tactics making them an easy victory for the

The Opium Wars were a series of three wars between the Chinese and the British; primarily fought in regard to the illegal trade of opium in China during the 19th century. They manifested the conflicting natures of both nations and demonstrated China’s misconceptions of its own superiority. The Opium Wars resulted in the humiliating defeat of the Chinese to a country they considered to be “barbarians”.