Opium Wars and They Changed China In the early eighteen hundreds, Britain and other European countries demanded more and more Chinese commodities, especially tea and silk. However, only the port in Canton was opened to foreign countries, and Chinese would not take any other form of payments besides silver. The desire to make China into a free market that foreigners have more access to and the increasing, though illegal, European opium import to China eventually created tension between the European
Script for radio documentary on the Opium Wars Presenter: It really is no wonder why the Opium Wars are rarely discussed or spoken of in mainstream media. After all, why would anyone want to look back at the disgraceful and quite frankly hideous history of how the British procured their favourite national drink? A drink they are now well known for around the world. A drink that has become synonymous with Britishness. I am of course referring to glorious tea. (Song or something can go here) Presenter:
Opium War There were two Opium Wars. The first one was from 1839-1842. This war was fought between China and Britain. This war was fought over the two not seeing eye to eye on a lot of things. The second Opium War was from 1856-1860. In this war the British forces fought toward the legalization of the Opium trade. The reason they did this was to be able to expand coolie trace, to be able to open all of China to British merchants, and also to be able to expand foreign imports from internat transit
The Opium War from 1839 to 1842 was the beginning of Modern Chinese history. The Opium War was not about opium because the Treaty of Nanjing does not state a single thing about opium. The treaty was between China and England in 1842, stating in the first Article that there should be peace between the two countries. The Treaty of Nanjing does not include any articles about opium being a reason for the war but it includes agreements of both countries to continue trade. Opium was part of the reasons
Opium Wars The Opium Wars lasted from 1839-1860 and had a major effect on world affairs. The dispute between Britain and China escalated throughout the years. In the mid 19th centuries, the first Opium War was fought between the forces of Britain and the Qing Dynasty. The first war began because of what China and Britain did to each other to cause this war. The Chinese officials had shut down the drug trafficking to China because it was becoming very addictive to the Chinese population. There
Before the Opium Wars, China’s cohesive civilization was seen to be the “oldest in the world” for they had a number of governmental rules keeping them in power. The united country was geographically isolated, had an immense population, and a single written language, allowing trade and communication throughout China. Their unifying code, Confucianism, was a system of philosophical teachings, emphasizing the value of education and morality. In Europe, the merchants seeked Chinese goods, such as tea
Opium was the first drug discovered by humans that is highly addictive and deadly; it has demolished the lives of millions of people being addicted in the 20th century (Phillip, Y.B. 1998). As indicated by Merriam-Webster (2015), opium is “a bitter brownish addictive narcotic drug that consists of the dried latex obtained from immature seed capsules of the opium poppy”. In 1942, Columbus was sent to discover a root to India and bring back opium the supply that was introduced by Arab traders, but
The Opium Wars The two Opium Wars, which took place from 1839-1860, were the starting point of modern Chinese history. To start off, the First Opium War was a major turning point for modern chinese history. Secondly, during the wars many treaties were signed to try and create peace. Finally, without these events, China would not be the major world power that it is today. Therefore, the Opium Wars were the most important part of modern world history because they changed and created the foundation
The first opium war which began in 1839 is a story of how China a rich, prosperous and stable power, “”” albiet a closed, confucian society” ruled by the Emperor Daoguang (r. 1820 to 1850) turned into a weakened and compromised state brought about by the exploitation and humiliation by the British and other Western powers throughout the 19th century. The war stemmed from an extremely strained Sino-British relation through the early 1800s, the inherent cultural differences between the Chinese and
dangerous drug of Opium. When opium was first introduce in China it was like any other drug, addictive and harmful to the human body but the Chinese weren’t aware of the opium negative effects. Opium the narcotic drug is derived of from immature seed pods of poppy plants. Opium was used for pain relieving, it was one of the first drugs able to relieve pain before morphine was invented, and morphine is safer drug then opium and they both came from the same plant. Before the opium war, foreign trade to