OPIUM WARS in Asia

One of the greatest causes of war in the history of mankind is trade, causing a commercial product to have enormous relevance and cause a huge war conflict. In the case of Asia opium was one of the products that the conflicts focused on and, to talk about this topic, in this lesson from a teacher we will offer you a summary of the opium wars.

Index

1. What was the reason for the opium war?
2. What happened in the first opium war?
3. What happened in the second opium war?
4. Consequences of the Opium Wars

To begin this summary of the Opium Wars, we must speak, albeit briefly, about opium in China and understand why this simple product was so important to China and why it had become so important to the region.

It is thought that opium arises from the Arab regions, arriving in China around the 7th century as part of the first trade agreements between the two regions. Over the years, its use became more and more common and people began to talk about its importance as a herb. medicinal, being widely used by traditional Chinese medicine, especially to maintain what was called the chi.

Opium remained an economic and leisure element key to Chinese society until well into the 16th century, when European nations realized how important it could be for the economy and began to trade with this product in the small areas they owned in China or from small bases on the outskirts of the region. This situation greatly increased the production and consumption of opium in China, causing the Yongzheng Emperor to prohibit the consumption of opium as leisure, so that it can only be used as medicine.

The situation of the opium trade in the Asian area had a huge change after the wins in the Asian zone of the British East India CompanyI feel this is a kind of British trading company based in India that was in charge of trade with products from Asia for all of Europe and America, thus achieving huge amounts of Benefits.

The war in india he made the Company need to increase its profits by entering the opium market that did not ceased to be one of the products with the largest market, and therefore the black market began to China.

In the following decades, the illegal opium trade became increasingly common, until the emperor of China banned the use of opium in all branches of life, since the addition of opium was so enormous that it was no longer worth using as medicine.

The First Opium War it was a warlike conflict that took place between the years 1839 and 1842 between British Empire and the Chinese Qing Dynasty due to the tense commercial and political relations between the two great nations.

It is considered as one of the great wars in the history of China, being one of the few in which it faced a European nation, and being considered one of the biggest mistakes in its history due to the serious consequences it had.

During the century XVIII, China enjoyed a huge commercial power on the main European nations, since by having products such as tea or porcelain, which in Europe were very strange, but very common in China, they could increase the price without worrying about any competitor, receiving huge economic amounts from Europe and becoming one of the richest countries in the world. planet.

Trying to take advantage of this shortly before the war, the English created the East India Company, a commercial company between India and the rest of the planet, but with British capital, one of its biggest clients being the Chinese smugglers to whom they sold opium. It could be considered that the Company was one of the more solvent companies of British history and especially thanks to the market in Asia.

Opium had been a very important product for the population of China, serving tasks such as medicine or leisure, but the addiction provoked Due to its constant consumption, it had led the emperor to ban opium, causing the English to sell the product illegally.

The Emperor of China banned the trade between his nation and the East Indies, feeling betrayed by the constant illegal trade. Instead of banning the sale of opium in China, the United Kingdom attacked the Asian nation, bombarding many of the main ports of China, only stopping when the Asian nation returned to legalize trade between the two regions.

Destruction of opium in Humen

The point of greatest tension was the well-known event of "Destruction of opium in Humen", when the Chinese destroyed about a hundred tons of opium, although according to some sources the figure was even higher. The destruction of this cargo was something very serious for the situation, because the problem was no longer about a commercial cargo or a simple blockade, but was could consider as a direct attack on the English population and therefore an attack on the United Kingdom as a nation, being for Queen Victoria a declaration of war.

For months, bombings against China they were commonplace, while the Chinese population could only hold on. In all this time Emperor Qing searched for solutions to the problem, but none of them seemed to be helpful in stopping the slaughter.

In 1842 China was forced to sign the Treaty of Nanking, in which it had to cede important ports to the English, among which was Hong Kong, and It also had to pay compensation for the destruction of British merchandise, which was the great opium majority.

This situation led to one of the biggest crises in the history of China, causing huge losses that led to great revolts, so we can say that the defeat was very serious for the nation, causing them to face the British again in a short time.

We continue with this summary of the opium wars in China speaking, now, of the second confrontation. After the painful and humiliating defeat caused by the English, the chinese government he knew better than to sit idly by while Europeans took over his ports and expanded illegal trade in his area. So, shortly after the First Opium War, the Second Opium War took place, happening between the years 1856 and 1860.

Shortly after the defeat in the war, a part of the population took up arms against the Chinese government, in the taiping rebellion, provoking a civil war between the so-called Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and those in favor of maintaining the Qing rule.

Although seen from the outside it looked like a simple religious confrontation between two groups with ideologies very different, in fact the First Opium War had occupied a very important part, since the weakness displayed by the emperor it had made a large part of the population think of a change, and that this was simple because of the weakness of the Chinese troops.

Linked to this was the situation of the illegal commerce, caused by the opium problems and by the Treaty of Nanking, which gave a enormous freedom to the English, causing death from opium to be increasing on Asian soil. The situation of the Chinese government was weaker than ever, and the population of the Asian giant was at a critical point due to both the Civil War and the English influence in the region.

Even with trade agreements, the Chinese government did not stop harassing the English and in 1856 he stopped a British ship known as Arrow, since it was thought that it could be a pirate ship that trafficked in opium and other prohibited elements on Chinese soil. The English government asked the Chinese to let the Arrow continue its journey, but the Chinese refused, causing the English to bombard Chinese ports again under threat of only stopping if they left any English ship free.

China's problems did not stop and, after assassinating a French missionary, since China was a country where it was common to attack and assassinate believers of Western religions, France joined UK against China. As if the European Union were not enough, the United States too they joined the war, wanting to totally stop the power of China for decades.

After numerous wars, China had no choice but to surrender, giving an enormous amount of privileges to the United Kingdom and France, totally losing their hegemony of maritime and commercial power.

Among the main points of the agreements of the pact between China and the European powers, were the following:

• China would pay huge sums to France and the United Kingdom for war damage, although the reality is that the vast majority of damage had occurred on Chinese soil.
• China gave more ports to the United Kingdom and France, these occupying the main locations throughout the region and leaving few free ports in the Asian country.
• Opium was once again legalized, causing thousands of deaths in China and a major problem on this product would keep for years, being something that many governments in China would try sort out.
• Merchants and missionaries could enter Chinese soil without fear of being attacked or killed, being especially important for all those Christians who wanted to take their beliefs to China and were killed thus.
• China was losing regions such as Manchuria or islands near Hong Kong, although the vast majority of them would return to China more or less soon.

If you want to read more articles similar to Opium Wars - summary, we recommend that you enter our category of History.

• Sánchez, A. F. (2011). GREAT BRITAIN AND THE FIRST OPIUM WAR WITH CHINA.
• Barrett, R. (2011). China and opium. Current Moralities, 1, 19-21.
• Damascus, L. TO. INTERNATIONAL CONFLICTS FOR TRADE: OPIUM WARS AND THE FRENCH ANGLO BLOCKADE.