The Opium Wars were two wars fought between China and Great Britain between 1839 and 1860. They were fought over the control of opium trade. The opium trade, which had been going on since the 17th century, was highly profitable to the British East India Company and other European traders, who exchanged manufactured goods from Europe for Chinese tea, silk, and porcelain. In the mid-18th century, the company had begun to dominate the opium trade and smuggled large amounts of the drug into China, despite laws forbidding its sale.
The First Opium War began in 1839 when the Chinese, under Emperor Daoguang, decided to take a hard line on smugglers and seized and destroyed 1,400 chests of opium that had been brought into the country. This infuriated Great Britain, which viewed China as a valuable source of imports and a market for exported goods and the opium trade as an important source of income. In response, the British government ordered its representatives in China to demand the restoration of the confiscated opium and compensation for the opium destroyed by the Chinese.
When the Chinese refused, the British sent a fleet of warships to blockade Chinese ports. The Chinese responded with their own warships and battle ensued. After a year of fighting, the Chinese signed the Treaty of Nanking, ceding the island of Hong Kong to Britain and opening five ports to foreign trade – Canton, Amoy, Foochow, Ningpo, and Shanghai. The treaty also established extraterritoriality for foreign citizens in China, meaning that foreign nationals would be subject to their own countries’ laws on Chinese soil.
The Second Opium War began in 1856 when the Chinese attempted to restrict foreign trade and the importation of opium. In response, British and French forces attacked the Chinese and forced them to sign the Treaty of Tientsin in 1858, which ratified the Treaty of Nanjing and increased the number of open ports to eleven. The treaty also required the Chinese to pay large indemnities and granted more commercial privileges to foreign traders in China.
In 1860, during the second war, the British and French allied with the Qing Dynasty to defeat the Taiping rebels who controlled much of south China at the time. Upon their victory, the allies demanded even greater rights and privileges for foreign merchants in China. These included the right to travel freely throughout the country, to erect churches, schools, and hospitals, and to establish legations in Beijing.
In the end, the Opium Wars resulted in a dramatic increase in foreign influence and control in China, as well as a weakening of the Chinese central government, which had been unable to effectively respond to the foreign aggression. It also led to the creation of a number of semi-independent port cities, such as Shanghai, which eventually became part of the Western sphere of influence in Asia. Furthermore, the loss of the wars resulted in a decline in the economic and social status of the Chinese people, which would not be reversed until the 20th century.