Opium Wars

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The Opium Wars (simplified Chinese: 鸦片战争; traditional Chinese: 鴉片戰爭; pinyin: Yāpiàn Zhànzhēng), also known as the Anglo-Chinese Wars, lasted from 1839 to 1842 and 1856 to 1860, the climax of a trade dispute between China under the Qing Dynasty and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. British smuggling of opium from British India into China and the Chinese government's efforts to enforce its drug laws erupted in conflict.

China's defeat in both wars left its government having to tolerate the opium trade. Britain forced the Chinese government into signing the Treaty of Nanking and the Treaty of Tianjin, also known as the Unequal Treaties, which included provisions for the opening of additional ports to foreign trade, for fixed tariffs; for the recognition of both countries as equal in correspondence; and for the giving of Hong Kong to Britain. The British also gained extraterritorial rights. Several countries followed Britain and sought similar agreements with China. Many Chinese found these agreements humiliating and these sentiments are considered to have contributed to the Taiping Rebellion (1850-1864), the Boxer Rebellion (1899-1901), and the downfall of the Qing Dynasty in 1912.

Background

Direct maritime trade between Europe and China started in the 16th century, after the Portuguese established the settlement of Goa in India, and shortly thereafter that of Macau in southern China. After Spanish acquisition of the Philippines, the pace of exchange between China and the West accelerated dramatically. Manila galleons brought in far more silver to China than the Silk Road. The Qing government attempted to limit contact with the outside world, only allowing trade through the port of Canton (now Guangzhou). Severe red-tape and licensed monopolies were set up to restrict the flow of trade, resulting in high retail prices for imported goods and limited demand. Spain began to sell opium, along with New World products such as tobacco and corn, to the Chinese in order to prevent a trade deficit.

As a result of high demand for tea, silk, and porcelain in Britain and the low demand for British goods, and as a result of the Qing dynasty trade restrictions and imperial monopolies, which made it impossible for British merchants to trade, the British were forced to purchase Chinese goods for silver. This was not a viable long term trading dynamic. Britain had been using the gold standard from the mid 18th Century and therefore had to purchase silver from other European countries. The flow of silver into China threatened to cripple British and other European economies and so British traders searched for other trade commodities to try and reverse this trend and balance the trade. The Qing dynasty restrictive trade practices made opium the only viable choice. Against strong protest from the weakened Qing Dynasty, Britain began exporting opium to China from British India in the 18th century to counter its deficit. The opium trade took off rapidly, and the flow of silver began to reverse. The Yongzheng Emperor prohibited the sale and smoking of opium in 1729 because of the large number of addicts, and only allowed a small amount of opium imports for medicinal purposes.

Growth of the opium trade

The British East India Company pursued a monopoly on production and export of opium in India after Britain conquered Bengal in the Battle of Plassey in 1757.

In 1773 the Governor-General of Bengal pursued the monopoly on the sale of opium in earnest and abolished the old opium syndicate at Patna. For the next fifty years opium was the key to the East India Company's hold on India. Importation of opium into China was against Chinese law (although China did produce a small quantity domestically). Thus, the British East India Company would buy tea in Canton on credit, carrying no opium, but would instead sell opium at the auctions in Calcutta. Eventually the opium would reach the Chinese coast aboard British ships and be smuggled into China by Chinese merchants. In 1797 the company ended the role of local Bengal purchasing agents and instituted the direct sale of opium by farmers to the company. British exports of opium to China skyrocketed from an estimated fifteen tons in 1730 to 75 tons in 1773, shipped in over two thousand "chests", each containing 140 pounds (64 kg) of opium.

Earl Macartney's negotiations with the Qianlong Emperor in 1793 to ease trade restrictions between Britain and China were unsuccessful.

In 1799 the Chinese Empire again banned opium imports. The Empire issued the following decree in 1810:

Opium has a harm. Opium is a poison, undermining our good customs and morality. Its use is prohibited by law. Now the commoner, Yang, dares to bring it into the Forbidden City. Indeed, he flouts the law!

However, recently the purchases, eaters, and consumers of opium have become numerous. Deceitful merchants buy and sell it to gain profit. The customs house at the Ch'ung-wen Gate was originally set up to supervise the collection of imports (it had no responsibility with regard to opium smuggling). If we confine our search for opium to the seaports, we fear the search will not be sufficiently thorough. We should also order the general commandant of the police and police- censors at the five gates to prohibit opium and to search for it at all gates. If they capture any violators, they should immediately punish them and should destroy the opium at once. As to Kwangtung and Fukien, the provinces from which opium comes, we order their viceroys, governors, and superintendents of the maritime customs to conduct a thorough search for opium, and cut off its supply. They should in no ways consider this order a dead letter and allow opium to be smuggled out!

The decree had little effect because the Qing government in Beijing in the north could not stop merchants from smuggling opium into China from the south. This, along with the addictive properties of the drug, the desire for more profit by the British East India Company which had been granted a monopoly on trade with China by the British government, and the fact that Britain wanted silver (see gold standard) furthered the opium trade. By the 1820s China was importing 900 tons of opium from Bengal annually.

Napier Affair to the First Opium War (1839–1843)

[[Image:Letter by Lin Zexu to Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom.jpg|thumb|right|200px|[[Linin this war every one died this website fuckin sux so go fuck yourself & go to another one thank you have a nice day.

Second Opium War (1856-1860)

Main article: Second Opium War

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The Second Opium War, or Arrow War, broke out following an incident in October 1856 during which Chinese officials boarded a vessel by the name of Arrow outside the port of Whampoa. The eponymous ship was owned by a Chinese privateer who had registered the vessel with British authorities in Hong Kong (according to some to facilitate privateering); he had received a one-year permit from the Hong Kong authorities but it was expired when inspected by the official who boarded the vessel. The crew were accused of piracy and smuggling and were arrested. In response, the British consulate in Guangzhou insisted the vessel was under British jurisdiction and accused Chinese officials of tearing down and violating the British flag during the inspection. The war started when British forces attacked Guangzhou in 1856.

French forces joined the British intervention after a French missionary Auguste Chapdelaine was killed by a local mandarin in China. Other nations became involved diplomatically, although they didn't provide military personnel.

The Treaty of Tianjin was created in July 1858 but was not ratified by China until two years later; this would prove to be a very important document in China's early modern history as it was one of the primary Unequal Treaties.

Hostilities broke out once more in 1859 after China refused to establish a British embassy in Beijing as had been promised by the Treaty of Tianjin. Fighting erupted both in Hong Kong as well as Beijing, where the British set out to destroy the Summer Palace and the Old Summer Palace. China ratified the Treaty of Tianjin at the Convention of Peking in 1860, ending the war. The treaty provided for the creation of ten new port cities, permission for foreigners (including Protestant and Catholic missionaries) to travel throughout the country, and indemnities of three million ounces of silver to Great Britain and two million to France.

Hero in the war against opium

Main article: Lin Zexu

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Lin Zexu, the Governor-General of Hunan and Hubei, recognized the consequences of opium abuse and warned the Daoguang Emperor of this nationwide problem. The Manchu emperor authorized him to do so, and Lin Zexu embarked on an anti-opium campaign which saw the immediate arrest of 1,700 opium dealers and confiscation and destruction of 2.6 million pounds of opium.

These actions have earned Lin Zexu fame in the annals of Chinese history as a man of superlative conduct and high moral ground, a shepherd of his people. Although his war against the illicit drug ultimately failed and he was made the scapegoat for setting into motion events leading to British military retaliation in the First Opium War, Lin Zexu is popularly viewed as a hero of 19th century China who stood up against European imperialism and whose likeness has been immortalized at various locations around the world.

References

Hanes, William Travis (2002). Opium Wars: The Addiction of One Empire and the Corruption of Another. p. 3. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
Chisholm, Hugh (1911). The Encyclopædia Britannica: A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, Literature and General Information. p. 130.
Fu, Lo-shu (1966). A Documentary Chronicle of Sino-Western relations, Volume 1. p. 380.
Trade Wars, Peace Deals and Imperial Occupation
East Asian Studies
Monument to the People's Heroes, Beijing - Lonely Planet Travel Guide
whoguys
Lin Zexu Memorial
Lin Zexu Memorial Museum | Ola Macau Travel Guide

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