The Opium Wars

1
The Opium Wars

• Dispute between Great Britain and China

2
Growth of Opium Trade

• Europeans bought silk, tea, porcelain, and spices
  from China
• Chinese would only trade goods for silver
• Drain on European finances

3
Opium Trade

• Opium manufactured in China since 15th century
  for medical purposes
• Opium then mixed with tobacco so it could be
  smoked
• Dutch were first to begin trade of opium
• English soon followed
• Chinese government banned smoking and trade of
  opium in 1729 due to health and social issues

4
English East India Company

• Held monopoly on production and export of opium
  in India
• Peasant cultivators often coerced and paid in
  advance for cultivation of poppies
• Sold in Calcutta for a profit of 400

5
East India Company

• Buy tea on credit in Canton
• Sell opium at auctions in Calcutta, India
• Then it was smuggled into China through India and
  Bengal
• 1797 began direct trade of opium into China
• Chinese government had hard time controlling
  trade in South

6
Napier Affair

• Lord Napier tried to circumvent the Canton Trade
  laws to reinstitute East Indias monopoly
• Governor of Macao closed trade with Britain
  September 2, 1834
• British resumed trade under old restrictions

7
First Opium War 1834 - 1843

• 1838 Chinese instituted death penalty for native
  traffickers of opium
• March 1839 new commissioner to control opium
  trade Lin Zexu
• Lin imposed embargo on Britain unless they
  permanently ended the trade trade

8
First Opium War

• March 27, 1839 British Superintendent of Trade
  Charles Elliot demanded all British subjects
  turn over opium to him
• Opium amounting to a years worth of trade was
  given to Commissioner Lin
• Trade resumed with Britain and no drugs were
  smuggled

9
First Opium War

• Lin demanded British merchants to sign a bond
  promising not to deal opium under penalty of
  death
• Lin disposed of the opium dissolving it in the
  ocean
• Did not realize the impact of this action!

10
First Opium War

• British merchants and government regarded this as
  destruction of private property
• Responded by sending warships, soldiers, and the
  British India Army into China June 1840
• Had superior military force attacked coastal
  cities, defeated Qing forces easily

11
End of the War

• British took Canton and sailed up the Yangtze
  River
• Took Tax Barges, cut revenue of imperial court of
  Beijing
• 1842 Qing sued for peace
• Ended with Treaty of Nanjing

12
Treaty of Nanjing

• Referred to as the Unequal Treaties accepted
  1843
• China
• Ceded Hong Kong to the British
• Opened ports to British Canton, Amoy, Fuzhou,
  Ningbo, Shanghai

13
Treaty of Nanjing

• Great Britain received
• 21 million ounces of silver
• Fixed tariffs
• Extraterritoriality for British citizens on
  Chinese soil
• Most favored nation status
• Allowed missionaries into interior of China
• Allowed British merchants sphere of influence in
  and around British ports

14
Treaty of Nanjing

• Unresolved Issues
• Status of opium trade with China
• Equivalent American treaty forbade opium trade
  with China
• However, both Americans and British were subject
  only to the legal trade of their consuls

15
Second Opium War 1856 - 1860

• Also known as Arrow War
• Followed incident when Chinese bordered British
  registered, Chinese owned ship the Arrow
• Crew was accused of piracy and smuggling
• Were arrested

16
Second Opium War

• British claimed ship was flying British flag and
  was protected under the Treaty of Nanjing
• War delayed by Taiping Rebellion and Indian
  Mutiny
• British attacked Guangzhou one year later
• Aided by allies of United States, Russia, and
  France

17
Second Opium War

• Treaty of Tientsin was created in July 1858 was
  not ratified by China until 2 years later
• Hostilities broke out in 1859 when China refused
  the establishment of British Embassy in Beijing
• Fighting erupted in Hong Kong and Beijing
• British burned the Summer and Old Summer Palace
  and looted the city

18
Treaty of Tientsin

• 1860 ratified the treaty at the Convention of
  Peking
• Britain, France, Russia and the United States
  would have the right to station delegations in
  Beijing (a closed city at the time)
• Ten more Chinese ports would be opened for
  foreign trade, including Niuzhuang, Danshui,
  Hankou and Nanjing
• The right of foreign vessels including warships
  to navigate freely on the Yangtze River

19
Treaty of Tientsin

• The right of foreigners to travel in the internal
  regions of China for the purpose of travel, trade
  or missionary activities
• China was to pay an indemnity to Britain and
  France in 2 million taels of silver respectively,
  and compensation to British merchants in 2
  million taels of silver.
• The Chinese are to be banned from referring to
  Westerners by the character "yi" (barbarian).
• Legalized the import of Opium