Causes Of The Opium Wars - 1048 Words

The Opium Wars were a series of conflicts that eventually led to China’s decline through the trade and abuse of the drug opium. The first of the Opium Wars (1839-42) was fought between China and Britain, and the second war (1856-1860) involved France as well. In both wars, the foreign powers triumphed over China, causing havoc, causing the fall of the Qing dynasty. Prior to the Opium Wars, China was full of rich culture, remarkable goods, and useful inventions. They had invented gunpowder, kites, and porcelain, all of which were in demand. The Qing dynasty had believed that they were superior to other countries, and refused to let any foreigners access any Chinese territory. There was only one area where trade was permitted, and it was†¦show more content†¦The amount of people using the drug soon increased as well due to the large amount of opium that soon became available throughout the country. The addictive nature also began to cause people to want, or even need, more and more of the drug, ensuring that it would be a continuous market for Britain. The amount of addicts skyrocketed to 12 million at one point, which soon led to a ban on the drug by Lin Zexu, commissioner of China. Zexu arrested dealers, seized crates of the drug, and then dumped 2.6 million pounds of it into the ocean. This was another cause for the opium war, as his actions angered British traders who were not able to get compensation from the British government. Overall, China’s strict trading techniques, in addition to the way they responded to the problem was one of the main causes of the opium wars. Another main cause for the opium wars was China’s unfair trade superiority. Prior to the opium wars, China was the leading trade nation for the world, with its long distance trade reaching many different area of the world, such as Southern Asia, the Middle East, and even Europe. China had the most commercial ships out of anybody in the world up to the 19th centur y, which helped expand its already large economy. China’s goods were in high demand, as they had paper, firearms, tool, silk, tea, porcelain, and much more, making them the world’s superpower for trade. By only accepting silver for these items, China began to haveShow MoreRelatedAnti Opium Movement, Opium War And Their Causes2510 Words   |  11 PagesJoel Palhegyi Final Paper Anti-Opium Movement, Opium War and Their Causes The main theme of 19th century was the imperialism expansion of western capitalistic industrial nations throughout the whole world. During this process, the conflicts between occidental imperialism powers and oriental countries never stopped. The First Opium War, well known as the Opium War, was the war that happened during September, 1839 to Autumn, 1842, between China and Britain. The war was initiated by the conflictsRead MoreIb Internal Assessment - the Causes of the Opium War2359 Words   |  10 PagesA: Plan of Investigation What are the causes of the Opium War which occurred in 1839-1842? When the Chinese decided to ban the opium trade, wars broke out due to conflicts between China and Britain. The aim of this investigation is to analyze the causes of the first Opium War, as it will cover the circumstances of China through that period, and the condition of China with Britain during the war. The analysis will specify what triggered the Opium War and briefly on the impact behind this importantRead MoreEssay On Favorable Trade764 Words   |  4 Pages China and Britain go head to head in all out battle for the use of drugs, and a favorable balance of trade. This certain drug is called Opium. Opium has a very addictive ingredient in it that China was very observant about at their time. China was so observant that their emperor decided to expose the Western Countries, and China decided to ban all use of Opium in their country. Although a problem arose, Britain needed a favorable amount of trade, and China at the time had most of Britains silverRead MoreDBQ: Opium in Chin a Essay examples1745 Words   |  7 Pagesï » ¿ DBQ: Opium in China While most of the Western Hemisphere was undergoing drastic advancements, such as former colonies gaining their independence and transforming into more modernized nations, a lot of mishaps were occurring in the Eastern Hemisphere—China, specifically—a nation that was notorious for its isolation from foreign influences. European nations began to greedily eye China’s abundance of desirable resources, such as tea, porcelain, and silk. However, China had very little need orRead MoreTrade Imbalance Between China And China1365 Words   |  6 Pagesthe trade imbalance between the two nations, Britain started to smuggle opium into China. The reason behind this was because the Chinese had no need for Britain s goods but they did want silver, so the British demanded silver in exchange for opium. With all of the opium flooding into Britain s economy, they then had enough money to purchase fine Chinese goods. Opium proved to be dreadful to China s population and the Opium w ars arose from all of the disputes. The market for Western goods in ChinaRead MoreProhibition and the War on Drugs904 Words   |  4 Pagescertain parts of life are frequently argued upon. Wars are in a state of flux, but a constant in Americas policies is the Drug War. The government attempts to prevent the consumption of illicit and harmful substances, even shown in modern domestic policies. Yet with much effort, positive results was not usually yielded. Apart from the outcomes, prohibition has made a large impact on daily life. In the United States, prohibition of alcohol and opium was a visible and controversial debate. The prohibitionRead MoreOpium Wars: The Trade Disputes over Opium between China and Britain 1804 Words   |  7 PagesIntroduction â€Å"Opium entered China on the back of a camel, and ended up breaking the back of an entire nation† -Unknown This paper studies the trade disputes over opium between China and Britain and the two wars that resulted from these disputes in the 19th century. The focus of this paper will primarily be British actions in the years leading up to the Wars, the Wars themselves, and the aftermath of the Wars. The first war was fought between 1839 and 1842, while the second was fought fromRead MoreThe Domestic Price Of Silver956 Words   |  4 Pagesby the Manchus, they lost in the Opium Wars. As the wars led China into financial crisis, corruption led to various forms of protests and reform movements and eventually to the rise of the nationalism, which put an end to the last dynasty. One of the causes of the corruption was the opium trade. There were two most important official concerns about the trade. According to Harry, â€Å"one was the damage done to the health and capacity for work of the people using opium, especially the addicts. The otherRead MoreHistory Is Not A Series Of Events1134 Words   |  5 Pagesrather the description of mankind and its relation to itself. It as a meta-psychology for all of humanity. In that viewpoint, questions of humanity’s past self, today’s self, the future’s self, and their relationship arise. Such as this one: How is the opium trade of the 1800s similar to modern day American-Chinese trade? So far, the answer is that the two trades created demonstrable conditions for the Chinese and were motivated by westerners’ desire for cheap goods. This is an important question toRead MoreCorruption in the Qing Government and the Taiping Rebellion Essay945 Words   |  4 Pagesin the Qing bureaucracy, the incompetent leadership, the closed mentality of the Qing Government, shortage of land and impact of an alien Manchu regime highlighted the Qing Government as the main cause of the rebellion. The essay would also include the other causes of the rebellion, such as the opium war and natural disasters. Firstly, there was obvious corruption in the bureaucracy. When the lowly-paid officials were taxed, the consequence was that the officials taxed the peasants even more in