by Rodney Crutchfield

Created on: April 17, 2009   Last Updated: September 17, 2009

There were two Opium Wars, fought between China and Great Britain, between 1839- 1842 and 1856-1860. These wars were the greatest defeats for Imperial China and great victories for Great Britain, but mark the darkest period of history for Great Britain. The British during this time and for 30 years after became the world's largest drug runners, certainly rivaling any drug cartel of today.

The war broke out due to trade disagreements in November of 1839. The British were trading opium for Chinese goods. The imperial government, seeing a nation becoming drug addicts, declared opium illegal in 1836, and began shutting down opium dens. Nevertheless, Britain continued the opium trade.

The November 1839 battle was trivial, but gave Great Britain the opening she needed. Several warships were sent to the China Sea, and they went up and down the coast of China, shelling forts and castles. The Chinese were unprepared to go up against British technology. Great Britain also had its way in land battles, with Chinese technology lagging far behind the British.

The result was The Treaty of Nanking, ending the First Opium War. This is also called one of the Unequal Treaties along with the treaty that ended the Second Opium War. The reason the Chinese called the treaties unequal was the concessions made to Great Britain by China. Additional ports were opened to British trade. Hong Kong was ceded to Great Britain, and the British gained extraterritorial rights. Any British citizen who was accused of a crime would henceforth be tried by British courts rather than in Chinese courts. Several countries followed Britain and sought similar agreements with China. The Chinese found these terms humiliating, and this would later lead to the Taiping Rebellion and the Boxer Rebellion as the Chinese tried to throw off the yolk of imperialism.

The man who had led China's fight against the opium trade, Lin Zexu, Governor-General of Hunan and Hubei, was forced to resign in disgrace. He was made a scapegoat by the emperor who was under heavy pressure from the Western powers.

The British over the next thirty years increased the amount of opium brought into China. They began to feel in the mid 1850's that Chinawas not living up to their bargain from the Treaty of Nanking, and fighting again broke out in 1856. The British Navy took almost the entire coast of China, and continued to push further along the China coast until reaching Peking. Faced with British forces on the doorsteps of the imperial capital, the Qing Dynasty was forced to sign a new treaty. This treaty contained the most-favored-nation clause which said that all British benefits gained through the war would be communal among all major foreign powers. It also placed stern stipulations on the Chinese state and forced the creation of a British embassy within Peking.

China ratified the Treaty of Tianjin at the Convention of Peking in 1860, ending the war. The treaty provided for the creation of ten more port cities, permission for foreigners to travel throughout the country, and an indemnity of three million ounces of silver to Great Britain.

From that point on, China was open to the world, and the Western powers and Japan did as they wanted, much to the detriment of China.

Learn more about this author, Rodney Crutchfield.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.