Opium War Book Report

The novel discusses and how tough war is and how hard others would fight for each other. Throughout the text we see how towns are invaded and families are torn apart, in some countries like Afghanistan for example, things like this still happen and it needs to stop!

In the beginning of the 19th century the British began to trade opium, an illegal drug, for tea with China which caused, “...the first Opium War...which resulted in a Chinese defeat and the expansion of British trading privileges...”This discrepancy in the trading relationship between the Chinese and the British caused China’s to forfeit their trading territory to the British. The outcome of the Opium War was a setback for the Chinese. Places where the Chinese previously conducted business was no longer available. Economical wars were not uncommon: “During the mercantilist period…a military...would deter attacks by other countries and aid its own territorial expansion.” The focus of many governments became to protect their economy by constantly gaining more territory to increase business. The change of China’s trade routes could have negatively affected the economy. If the Chinese economy were to weaken it could affect the economies of other countries that China interacted with. The Columbian Exchange, a network of trade routes throughout the world, caused the environment to change as, “ ...Old World crops such as wheat, barley, rice, and turnips...raveled west across the Atlantic, and New World crops...traveled east to Europe.” The exchanging of crops between the New World and the Old World, two different geographical areas,

I think what I found to be most interesting about the book was how the United States has dominated cotton production for so long. I am always interested in how rich people make money. It seems as if many people are wealthy because of cotton production. I just find how resourceful cotton growers have been historically to be very fascinating. I find it very interesting how cotton farmers have been able to make a profit at every turn and how they have turned even what at one time waste and byproduct into profit. Perhaps, their greatest achievement was to learn to even harvest the wind that at one point would destroy cotton farms into a source of profit.

Within this week’s reading of Ramsbotham, Woodhouse, and Miall (2015) there were several interesting points that stand out. Two of them being the discussion of economic repercussions in chapter three along with the idea of greed or grievances causing war in chapter four. These two are fascinating to me as they both deal with economics which appears to be a trending theme throughout this week’s reading assignment.

The brutal and vicious strategies used during the second Indochina war eloquently were brought to light by James W. McCoy in “Secrets of the Viet Cong.” McCoy describe the stories and acts that occurred during the second Indochina war that had taken place on all sides of the field. The main focus of this book is the U.S pitted against the V.C as well as the many other obstacles faced in the country of Vietnam. War in general is a very interesting topic, especially the Vietnam war. The fact that the superpower America had failed to compete and to win against the small country of North Vietnam makes this specific war as interesting as it is. Not to mention the warfare tactics and strategies used by either side makes it an enthralling topic to

My final example, the reason there was war while trading also leads to when the trades are being attacked leads to the ones that are trading defend themselves. when it comes to defending themselves it leads to a bigger and bigger wars what i mean by defending they call their allies. that makes the enemies call their allies and it gets to a huge war and from what i have heard there could’ve been up to 20 or more countries at war during the trade and war. no one knows how many casualties there were some people would just disappear some soldiers were never

At the beginning of the war, the British army relied on volunteers to swell the ranks, which propaganda facilitated. Newspaper articles were one of the main forms of media that spread British pro-war propaganda. Alice Goldfarb Marquis writes that the articles “were seen as powerful movers of men and women; they became mobilizers of the national spirit, calls to courage, to sacrifice and, finally, to simple endurance” (467). This statement portrays the general message of all articles: the men must have courage and be ready to make sacrifices for the greater good of their country. Describing the journalists as “powerful movers of men and women” (467) demonstrates journalists’ abilities to empower the British people to enter the war. Journalists were at the forefront of creating propaganda and influencing people to take action. Marquis describes the role of the journalist as ”‘an engineer of souls’ playing on the ‘whole keyboard of human instincts… to incite action’, and employing ‘a tremendous apparatus - the press’” (467). Referring to the journalists as “engineers of souls,” (467) makes it clear that the journalists had the ability to manipulate the people, and in this case, the journalists were inclined to “incite action,” (467) highlighting the ability of their articles to motivate people to take up arms. Furthermore, with access to the press, journalists were allowed to quickly circulate their articles around the country, allowing them to swiftly engineer the masses at

The Opium Wars -- two conflicts between the British and the Qing Dynasty that took place nearly two decades apart. Although, the main goal of the conflicts remained consistent; British desire for extraterritorial power through the trading of a restricted drug, and the Chinese Empire's refusal to allow the British this power. The modern history of China commences with The Opium War, in which China is often portrayed as a victim of western imperialism in Eastern Asia. This interpretation of Chinese history is more similar to that of contemporary Chinese politics than the reality of the conflict. The opposing side of the this argument states that British imperialism was beneficial in opening up an enclosed xenophobic country. Similarly to the

The main theme of 19th century was the imperialism expansion of western capitalistic industrial nations throughout the whole world. During this process, the conflicts between occidental imperialism powers and oriental countries never stopped. The First Opium War, well known as the Opium War, was the war that happened during September, 1839 to Autumn, 1842, between China and Britain. The war was initiated by the conflicts between China and Britain on the fact that some British merchants, who worked for the East India Company, smuggled opium to China and ignored Chinese laws. The mania of opium smoking shocked the Chinese government and triggered the anti-opium movement. Lin Zexu, a Chinese official known as Commissioner Lin, burned out the confiscated opium at Humen. During the war, China suffered great loss and ended up with a disastrous fiasco. The result was extremely humiliating to China and profoundly changed the fate of China: China was compelled to sign a series of unequal treaties, cede Hong Kong and compensate huge war indemnity. When I viewed this miserable history of China, a question was created in my mind. Considering the great power gap between the declining China and the rising Britain, what factors led the Chinese government to launch the anti-opium movement at the expense of triggering the Opium War? My answer is quite explicit: the

The outcome of the Opium War marked a new age of western imperialism, effectively forcing China’s doors open to the West. How did such a war come about in the first place? At the heart of the conflict lay incompatible market ideologies: China’s interests were in maintaining their traditional tributary system and suppressing the opium trade, while the British desired free trade and diplomatic equality. In a complex storyline filled with misunderstandings and failed negotiations, the events leading up to the war show how in the end, by failing to adequately compensate for the destructive effects of the opium trade, Great Britain was responsible for the start of the Opium War.

Considering both sides, I strongly believe that the reason for the strength of the superpowers in worldly capitalism is due to the increased amount of smuggling, albeit illegal, of opium into and out of China. I intend to argue that because of the prohibition in China, which led to an increased flow of revenue, whether directly or indirectly, that incorporated the Chinese government in more universal affairs (Rush 552). This, in turn, led to a more substantial end result, including increased financial gain and more open interactions between China and other countries. This is simply coming from the fact that for a majority of the countries affiliated with China, they needed to rely on the support from China in most every aspect of daily life, with added importance on the Chinese economy to survive. In order to carry this out, China needed to boast whatever means necessary to gain profits, regardless of whatever official edict restricts those profiteers, at the cost of affecting the international community (Wen 52).

What caused the First Opium War to take place? From attempts to suppress the Opium trade, diplomatic relations on China’s and Britain’s conflicting viewpoints and foreign nationals of justice for the administration, resulted in the commencement of the First Opium War. Silk, porcelain, and tea throughout the European market for Chinese goods was placed on high demand throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, creating a trade imbalance as of the virtually non-existent market for Western goods in China. In the mid-17th century, when the Canton system was established, China gained large amounts of European silver, in which the trade to Canton confined the sea. The British East India Company (EIC) had an extremely identical or similar trade to the British. In the increasing exchange for silver, opium grown in India by the EIC was undertaken by auctioning off the opium to foreign independent traders. To middlemen on the China coast, the drug was transported then retailed inside China. From India to China throughout the 18th century, the British illegally exported opium, resulting in economic and serious social disruption as of the widespread addiction to the drug. With the act of confiscating and destroying 20,000 opium chests in 1839 throughout March, the Chinese government, which led to being warehoused

The Nineteenth and early twentieth centuries were ripe with wars and rebellions in China. Such instances included the Opium wars, the Taiping Rebellion, the Japanese invasions, and the Boxer Rebellion. China has a long history with opium. The Chinese were alarmed at the fact that there were astoundingly high rates of opium addiction among its population that it decided to cease trade with the British. The British were unhappy that China had ceased imports of opium that they launched a naval offensive. The Qing dynasty was embarrassingly defeated. The Taiping Rebellion was a massive civil war. The rebellion sought to overthrow the Qing dynasty. The rebels sought to bring Christianity to China and engage in social

Overall Resource Wars: The New Landscape of Global Conflict is well written. Klare uses his knowledge and previous research to give his readers the big picture on how he thinks thing will evolve because to the dwindling resources. Klare backs up all of his predictions with facts that are not debatable. This is one of the most informative but interesting books that I have read in along time. Unlike most informative readings this book kept my attention throughout most of the reading. After I completed reading the book I realized that there is not an unlimited supply of resources and that we as a society must conserve what is remaining. Klare made me realize that if we

Few advancements in human history have made more impact on our modern world than the industrial revolution. Coupled with this leap in industry, imperialism defined the economic political and social structure across the globe. Essentially the industrial revolution defined the means, while imperialism dictated who would have eventual control. H.G Wells explores both imperialism and the industrial revolution by taking them to extremes, and through his satire reflects the specific flaws of both processes as they changed the world around him.