The First Opium War was fought over China’s attempt to end the opium trade within its borders. The British victory in the war forced the Chinese Qing government to grant foreign governments diplomatic equality with China and to give British merchants the right to trade and reside in China.
During the eighteenth century, China was the supreme power in East Asia. Westerners first arrived in China during the early sixteenth century, with the Portuguese followed by the Dutch, the British, and others eager to benefit from the riches to be gained from trade for exotic goods such as tea and silks. China was traditionally wary of outsiders, or “barbarians,” as exemplified in 1793, when the Qing emperor Qianlong
Great Britain’s power was growing in the late eighteenth century, and it continued to grow during the early nineteenth century. China’s power, however, was more apparent than real. A population explosion during the eighteenth century strained China’s resources, and peasants, inspired by religion compounded with poverty, threatened the government’s stability. The ruling bureaucracy was often corrupt. In addition, while the West was experiencing the Scientific and the Industrial Revolutions, China was not modernizing but holding fast to its conservative Confucian values and institutions. Merchants and businessmen were ranked even lower than peasants, a contrast to the transformation of society that was occurring in the West.
Great Britain’s control of India, through the British East India Company
British troops taking formal possession of Hong Kong at the conclusion of the First Opium War.
China had first attempted to prohibit the use of opium during the 1720’s, but with little success. In 1834, the British East India Company lost its monopoly on trade with China, opening the lucrative market to other merchants and shippers. Opium imports had been increasing and now increased even further. Consumption, usually performed by smoking the opium in long pipes, spread inland from the southeast coast around Guangzhou (Canton) even to the capital of Beijing.
Pointing out opium’s deleterious impact on health and arguing in favor of Confucian morality, Lin also resorted to coercion. By May, more than sixteen hundred Chinese had been arrested, and by July, more than fifty thousand pounds of opium had been seized. Not desiring an armed confrontation with foreigners, Lin ordered Chinese merchants to pressure the British and others to end the trade. Lin even wrote to Britain’s Queen Victoria, appealing to her sense of morality and justice, but opium, in the form of laudanum, was used in Britain, and Lin’s letter never reached Victoria in any event.
Lin demanded that all foreign opium be turned over to the government. The foreign merchants made only a token submission, however. To teach them a lesson, several hundred merchants including Sir Charles Elliot
Lin’s destruction of the opium was the final catalyst for war between Britain and China. China’s traditional antipathy toward foreign “barbarians” was fueled by the spread of addiction among the Chinese population. Increased opium production in India, in part the result of the assumption that opium use would be legalized in China, raised economic expectations that led to an oversupply in the country just when the Chinese government prohibited consumption. Elliot
Initially, the British government was not particularly sympathetic to the plight of the merchants. However, the destruction of the opium and the confining of Commissioner Elliot along with the merchants resulted in a letter of protest from Foreign Secretary Lord Palmerston
Lin continued seizing opium, and the resulting shortage quickly increased the price from $500 to $3,000 per chest. British merchants were driven from Macao as well as Guangzhou, and Charles Elliot
Admiral Elliot arrived in June, 1840, but instead of attacking Guangzhou, Elliot blockaded the harbor with four ships and sailed north to Ningbo, blockading that port with two ships. The British then seized the major town on the island of Zhoushan, reducing shipping from the Yangtze River. From there, the fleet sailed to the Bei He, or North River, threatening the city of Tianjin. Given the British successes, the Chinese regional governor, Qishan,
Under Qishan’s urging, the British returned to Guangzhou for further discussions. Qishan replaced the disgraced Lin Zexu,
Violence began again. Local Chinese militia assaulted British troops, who in turn occupied much of Guangzhou. In August, 1841, Pottinger and the British fleet sailed north, capturing Xiamen, Ningbo, and Zhoushan again. With additional troops from India, in the spring of 1842 the British blockaded China’s Grand Canal and Yangtze River. Shanghai was captured in June and Zhenjiang in July. The Chinese fought bravely, and when defeat became imminent, many Qing officers and officials committed suicide. By August, the British troops had reached the outskirts of Nanjing. The Qing capitulated, and the Treaty of Nanjing
The Treaty of Nanjing illustrated the weakness of Imperial China and forcibly opened China to the outside world. British merchants were authorized to reside and trade in the cities of Guangzhou, Fuzhou, Xiamen, Ningbo, and Shanghai. An indemnity of $21 million was to be paid by China for the destroyed opium and for British military expenses in the war. The island of Hong Kong
The First Opium War also advanced military technology, with the use of steamships in combat, such as the British Nemesis, an iron-covered paddle wheel boat. Its immediate economic consequences were minimal. Except for payment for the destruction of opium by Lin, the narcotic was not mentioned in the treaty, nor was it legalized in China. In 1844, following the precedent of the Treaty of Nanjing, the United States signed the Treaty of Wanghia with the Qing government, giving Americans the same rights in China as the British, but including the right of Americans to learn Chinese, a boon to Christian missionaries
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Fay, Peter War. The Opium War, 1840-1842. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1975. The best narrative covering all aspects of the war from causes to consequences. -
Gelber, Harry Gregor. Opium, Soldiers, and Evangelicals. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2004. Excellent on the religious influence on the First Opium War and its aftermath. -
Melancon, Glenn. Britain’s China Policy and the Opium Crisis. Burlington, Vt.: Ashgate, 2003. A discussion of Britain’s attempt to balance drugs and national honor in dealing with China.
China’s Taiping Rebellion
Qing Dynasty Confronts the Nian Rebellion
Perry Opens Japan to Western Trade
Second Opium War
France and Spain Invade Vietnam
China’s Self-Strengthening Movement Arises
Cixi’s Coup Preserves Qing Dynasty Power
Scramble for Chinese Concessions Begins
Boxer Rebellion
Lin Zexu; Lord Palmerston; Queen Victoria.