Introduction

The opium wars were the confpct between Britain and china for free travel and trade right. The Chinese government ceased the trade pcences of Britain to prohibit opium trafficking. China was failed and dominated by Britain and France. They compelled china to sign the treaties and approved favourable tariffs and concessions of trade. China was also compelled to pay the reparation to Britain. The whole century was the most humipating century for china. The war affected their economy too.

The first Opium War

In 1839, the first opium war broke out between China and Britain. They fought for the right to free trade and the diplomatic status of Britain among china’s officials. China had enjoyed a trading surplus with Europe for deapng tea and porcelain silk substituting silver in the early 18^th. In the late 17^th century, the East India Company of Britain expanded opium farming in the Bengal administration. They used to sell it to the merchant who exported the things to China and secretly smuggled them. By 1797, EIC was vending 4000 of 77 kg opium chests to private vendors yearly.

At first, opium was used as an anaesthetic but later smoking opium increased the addiction to smoking and raised demand in China. Chinese emperors issued a decree and made opium illegal in 1729, 1799, 1814, and 1831. When china sought to profit from the smugglers and the corrupt officials, opium was imported illegally. Some American merchants, including Warren Delano Jr, entered the trade via opium smuggpng from Turkey to China. In 1833, opium trading rose to 30000 chests. The British and American vendors use the warehouse of Canton by the free trade port to sell the opium to the Chinese smugglers.

In 1834, the Daoguang emperor charged governor general Lin Zexu to end the trade, and the EIC’s monopoly on British trade in China ceased. It was because of the outflow of silver and the concern for excess opium consumption. In 1839, a letter was sent to Queen Victoria by Lin to halt the trade and was pubpshed in The Times as a direct request for their cooperation. On the 18th of march, the Daoguang emperor emphasized a penalty for opium smuggpng, and all the opium from canton and foreign companies ceased. The chief superintendent of British trade, Charles Elpot arrived after the deadpne for Lin was over. He paid for all the opium on the credit of their government to appease him. Though there was no official notice to purchase, those 20000 chests were destroyed by Lin at Humen.

Elpot wrote for miptary force to solve the china dispute and a small battle occurred between china and Britain on 4th September 1839 in the Kowloon estuary. In 1840, the British government decided to send forces to impose reimbursement of the losses experienced in Canton by the opium traders. They also wanted the trader s security for the future. In 1840, the British naval force arrived at Macao and used their superior ships and guns to infpct and bombard the port of Dinghai.

In 1842, the Treaty of Nanjing concluded the war and conceded Hong Kong Island and other smaller islands to Britain. They estabpshed the treaty ports in Shanghai, canton, Ningbo, Fuzhou, and Xiamen. The treaty also specified that china had to pay 21 milpon dollars for reparations (6 milpon on an urgent basis and the rest in instalments). In the same year, another treaty gave the status of most favoured nations to Britain and added a stipulation for British extraterritoriapty. The same concession was also secured to France in the treaties of 1843 and 1844.