Opium Wars

The Opium Wars were two wars waged between the Qing dynasty and Western powers in the mid-19th century. The First Opium War, fought in 1839–1842 between the Qing and the United Kingdom, was triggered by the dynasty's campaign against the English Empire's cultivation and trade of opium in Indian; the Second Opium War was fought between the Qing and Britain and France, 1856–1860. In each war, the European forces used recently developed military technology to defeat the Qing forces, and compelled the government to grant favorable tariffs, trade concessions, and territory.

The wars and the subsequently-imposed treaties weakened the Qing dynasty and Chinese governments, and forced China to open specified treaty ports (especially Shanghai and Guangzhou (Canton)) that handled all trade with imperial powers. The resulting concession of Hong Kong after the wars compromised China's territorial sovereignty.

Around this time China's economy also contracted slightly, but the sizable Taiping Rebellion and Dungan Revolt had a much larger effect.

The First Opium War began in 1839 and was fought over trading rights, financial reparations, and diplomatic status. In the eighteenth century, China enjoyed a favourable trade balance with Europe, selling porcelains, silk, and tea in exchange for silver. In the late 18th century, the British East India Company expanded cultivation of opium in its Indian Bengal territories, selling it to private traders who transported it to China and passed it on to Chinese smugglers. By 1787, the Company was sending 4,000 chests of opium (each 77 kg) per year.

In earlier times, opium was taken as a relatively harmless medicine, but the new practice of smoking opium recreationally increased demand tremendously and often led to addiction. The Chinese Jiaqing Emperor issued edicts making opium illegal in 1729, 1799, 1814, and 1831, but imports grew as smugglers and colluding officials gorged on the profits. Some Americans entered the trade by smuggling opium from Turkey into China, including the grandfather of twentieth-century President Franklin D. Roosevelt and ancestors of twenty-first-century Secretary of State John Forbes Kerry; in American historiography this is sometimes referred to as the Old China Trade. By 1833, the opium traffic soared to 30,000 chests. The East India Company sent opium to their warehouses in the free-trade region of Canton (Guangzhou), and sold it to Chinese smugglers. More details