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Lord Palmerston's Declaration Of War: The First Opium War

Decent Essays

In “Lord Palmerston’s Declaration of War,” Britain stated its reasons and demands for declaring war on China, later known as the First Opium War. The response discussed the causes and demands of the war, including reparation for mistreatment of British citizens and protection of its trade interests in China; additionally, possible methods to resist the invasion were also discussed.
Great Britain declared war on China for several reasons. First of all, the British government sought reparation from the Qing government for the unjust treatment British residents in China received. For instance, Britain claimed that certain laws were only enforced upon the British residents, which was unfair because the officials weren’t treating them equally compared to the local residents. In addition, Britain stated that the Qing officials in Canton have committed violent acts to the British residents so that …show more content…

After the industrial revolution, Britain’s production increased significantly. Therefore, Britain was in need of raw materials and outlets for their products around the world. Before declaring war on China, Britain had already controlled India as a colony, which provided them a base in Asia. Subsequently, China became one of Britain’s targets. However, when Britain attempted to make profits by trading with China, Britain found itself in a trade deficit because Chinese goods were much more popular in Britain than British goods in China. Britain’s inability to reverse the trade deficit led to its export of opium to China. Opium was addictive and brought profits for Britain. However, because opium was highly addictive and was causing sickness both physically and mentally, the Qing government banned the use of opium in China. In my view, the ban on opium was the major cause that irritated the British government, which gave rise to Britain’s decision on declaring war on

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