Two 19th-century conflicts between China and Western powers
For the 1967 conflict between marooned elements of the Chinese Nationalist Party and the Kingdom of Laos, see 1967 Opium War. For other uses, see Opium Wars (disambiguation).
Opium Wars
Part of the Century of Humiliation
Naval battle in the First Opium War (left), Battle of Palikao (right)
Date
First Opium War: 4 September 1839 – 29 August 1842 (2 years, 11 months, 3 weeks and 4 days)
Second Opium War: 8 October 1856 – 24 October 1860 (4 years, 2 weeks, 2 days)
Total: 4 September 1839 – 24 October 1860 (21 years, 1 month, 2 weeks and 6 days)
Location
China
Result
First Opium War:
British victory
Treaty of Nanking
Second Opium War:
Anglo-French victory
Treaty of Tientsin
Convention of Peking
Territorial changes
First Opium War:
Hong Kong ceded to Britain.
Second Opium War:
Kowloon Peninsula and Stonecutters Island ceded to Britain as part of Hong Kong
Outer Manchuria ceded to Russian Empire
Belligerents
First Opium War:
United Kingdom
East India Company
First Opium War:
Qing China
Second Opium War:
British Empire
French Empire
Second Opium War:
Qing China
The Opium Wars (simplified Chinese: 鸦片战争; traditional Chinese: 鴉片戰爭Yāpiàn zhànzhēng) were two conflicts waged between China and Western powers during the mid-19th century.
The First Opium War was fought from 1839 to 1842 between China and Britain. It was triggered by the Chinese government's campaign to enforce its prohibition of opium, which included destroying opium stocks owned by British merchants and the British East India Company. The British government responded by sending a naval expedition to force the Chinese government to pay reparations and allow the opium trade.[1] The Second Opium War was waged by Britain and France against China from 1856 to 1860, and consequently resulted in China being forced to legalise opium.[2]
In each war, the superior military advantages enjoyed by European forces led to several easy victories over the Chinese military, with the consequence that China was compelled to sign the unequal treaties to grant favourable tariffs, trade concessions, reparations and territory to Western powers. The two conflicts, along with the various treaties imposed during the "century of humiliation", weakened the Chinese government's authority and forced China to open specified treaty ports (including Shanghai) to Western merchants.[3][4] In addition, China ceded sovereignty over Hong Kong to the British Empire, which maintained control over the region until 1997. During this period, the Chinese economy also contracted slightly as a result of the wars, though the Taiping Rebellion and Dungan Revolt had a much larger economic effect.[5]
^Chen, Song-Chuan (1 May 2017). Merchants of War and Peace. Hong Kong University Press. doi:10.5790/hongkong/9789888390564.001.0001. ISBN 978-988-8390-56-4.
^Feige1, Miron2, Chris1, Jeffrey A.2 (2008). "The opium wars, opium legalization and opium consumption in China". Applied Economics Letters. 15 (12): 911–913. doi:10.1080/13504850600972295 – via Scopus.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
^Taylor Wallbank; Bailkey; Jewsbury; Lewis; Hackett (1992). "A Short History of the Opium Wars". Civilizations Past And Present. Chapter 29: "South And East Asia, 1815–1914" – via Schaffer Library of Drug Policy.
^Kenneth Pletcher (16 April 2024). "Chinese history: Opium Wars". Encyclopædia Britannica Online.
^Desjardins, Jeff (15 September 2017). "Over 2000 years of economic history, in one chart". World Economic Forum. Retrieved 28 November 2021.
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