THE FIRST OPIUM WAR
The thirst for Chinese luxury products led to a trade imbalance between China
and Britain in the 18th century. The Canton System, which limited inbound
foreign commerce to Canton, China's southern port city, permitted European
silver into China. To level the playing field, the British East India Company began
cultivating opium in Bengal, and individual British merchants were permitted to
sell opium to Chinese smugglers for illegal sale in China. China's trade surplus
was reversed, the economy was drained of silver, and the number of opium
addicts in the country surged, causing social and economic disruption.
After months of discussions, the British navy sailed up the Pearl River estuary to
Canton, where they assaulted and seized the city in May 1841. The Chinese were no
match for the British, whose technologically superior ships and armaments
demolished their junks (wooden boats). Despite a concerted counterattack by
Chinese troops in the spring of 1842, further British assaults over the next year were
also successful against the weaker Qing forces. The British, on the other hand, resisted
the attack and took Nanjing in late August, putting an end to the conflict. This resulted
in the Treaty of Nanjing, which had numerous negative consequences for the Chinese.
After Opium was banned, British opium dealers were ordered to
hand up 20,000 chests of opium in 1839, roughly 1,400 tons of
drugs that were held in a warehouse in Canton. Lin ordered the
opium to be destroyed in public on Humen Beach on June 3 to
emphasize the government's determination to end smoking. As
a result, they will have to pay $6 million in future compensation.
The Chinese did not want to give the British ports to
trade, which resulted in the Qing government being
forced to make Hong Kong Island a crown colony in 1841
and give it to Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom so
that British traders could maintain and repair ships and
store goods, as the 2nd article of the treaty of Nanjing
When a drunken British sailor murdered a Chinese peasant in July. The
British government refused to hand over the accused individuals to
Chinese courts because it did not want its people to be prosecuted in the
Chinese judicial system. The Chinese subsequently cut off all food and
water to the British, forcing them to flee to Hong Kong. After a group of
merchants attempted to trade for supplies in Hong Kong, their ship was
attacked, and the war began.
The third article of the treaty of Nanjing permits British
citizens to reside in Canton, Xiamen, Fuchov, Ninpo, and
other Shanghai cities and towns with their family and
amenities. This is very humiliating for the Chineseand
caused them too lose dignity.
THE FIRST OPIUM WAR
Following the signing of the Treaty of Nanking in 1843, the Treaty of the
Bogue was established, which governs the Treaty of Nanking's
execution and grants the United Kingdom extraterritorial powers. That
is, the right to have a British subject tried by a British court on Chinese
soil. The Treaty of the Bogue also stated that Britain would be
accorded the most favoured country treatment stipulations, as well as
concessions offered to other foreign countries.
The Century of Humiliation, also known as the Humiliation Century, is a term used in China to characterize
the era from 1839 to 1949 when the Qing dynasty and the Western governments of the Republic of China
and Japan intervened and conquered the Republic of China and Japan. In a century of humiliation, China
has been regarded as having suffered three categories of losses. Control over one's internal and external
environment is lost. And there's the loss of international renown and respect. During the Humiliation
Century, the country lost land, control over its internal and external surroundings, and international
stature and dignity. China suffered considerable internal disintegration during this time, lost virtually all of
its wars, and was frequently compelled to make large concessions to the big powers in unequal treaties.
After military setbacks, China was often obliged to pay enormous sums of money in reparations, open
ports for commerce, lease or cede regions, and make a variety of other concessions of sovereignty to
foreign "spheres of influence.".