There are many ways to see "The Opium War," one way is from a Chinese person or from a British person. Due to the fact that each have their own in counters on what happened with the war. But for me it seems oh so clear, the British wanted control.
In 1839, Britain was introduced to their new satisfing drink and money maker, tea, from China. Tea became very popular in Great Britian, so China let the British trade with them. Only one condition, they were only allowed to use one port, in Canton. Due to the fact that China was very old and wanted to keep to themselves, they were willing to trade but were not allowing western ideas in their society. That is why they didn't want to buy any products from the British. They didn't want to damage the culture or have someone else take over their land. Suddenly the British came to a conclusion that thy needed to "Balance their trade" in which they sold to China opium. Opium is a drug, grown in India. Used to relieve pain or for sleep but can be very dangerous. China took immediate action to this trade and importation of the drug, due to debilitating effects. In 1838, anyone dealing with Opium was put to death.
Then it started the war, it lasted from 1839 to 1942. The British advance technology was too much for China, they were defeated. They signed a peace treaty, in which in abled The British to 5 ports instead of one. An unhappy ending came about when the chinese lost control of Hong Kong, they too legalized to sell opium.
This war was one of first "unequal treaties" with the west. This was th start of many victorious invasions and humiliations.
1 comment:
Your history is accurate, but it's nuance which allows us to continue along the neo-colonial path. After all our paternalistic leaders cannot actually say why we don't trust the Middle Eastern countries to find their own way without our imposition of "democracy."
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