The Opium Wars

The Opium Wars were a series of wars fought between China and Great Britain in the 19th century. It was started because the British would not stop giving opium to Chinese citizens. Opium was a drug made from the juice of poppy seeds. Chinese tea, porcelain, and silk were very popular in Western countries. However, British merchants wanted to balance out the trade with the Chinese because the Chinese were self-sufficient and required no goods from the British so the British had to use gold and silver to pay for Chinese trade. The British decided to give the Chinese opium mixed with tobacco to promote opium smoking. This weakened a large amount of the Chinese population. Also a large amount of resources were flowing out of China to pay for the opium. When the Chinese discovered opium smoking in 1729, they tried to prohibit the sale of opium and tried to shut down opium smoking houses. However the British merchants were still able to sell opium because they bribed Chinese officials. After numerous threats from China to stop trade, the British decided to attack numerous Chinese ports in 1840. This started the First Opium War which resulted in a British victory and the signing of the Treaty of Nanjing in 1842 which opened numerous Chinese ports and gave Hong Kong to Britain. In 1856, the Second Opium War began because of disputes over former treaties and ended with another British victory.