First, the change of social nature. Politically, before the Opium War, China was an independent feudal country, and the Qing government exercised full sovereignty. After the Opium War, China's territorial, territorial, judicial, tariff and trade sovereignty began to be seriously damaged by the unequal treaties. Economically, before the Opium War, China was a self-sufficient feudal economy. After the Opium War, the western capitalist countries used the privilege of aggression to dump goods and plunder raw materials in China, and gradually involved the China market in the world capitalist market, and China's self-sufficient feudal economy gradually disintegrated. China began to become a semi-colonial and semi-feudal society.
Second, changes in social contradictions. With the change of China's social nature, the main contradiction in China society has changed from the contradiction between the landlord class and the peasant class to the contradiction between foreign capitalism and the Chinese nation, feudalism and the masses of the people. The contradiction between foreign capitalism and the Chinese nation has become the most important contradiction among various social contradictions.
Third, the change of revolutionary tasks. Before the Opium War, the revolutionary task of the people of China was to oppose their own feudal rule. After the Opium War, the people of China shouldered the dual revolutionary task of opposing foreign capitalist aggression and domestic feudal rule. China has since entered the period of the old democratic revolution. The Opium War was a turning point in China's history and the beginning of China's modern history.
Treaty of Nanjing
1842 On August 29th, the Qing government and the British government signed an unequal treaty-Sino-British treaty of nanking. Every patriotic China will never forget this day, which is the first national shame day in modern history! Treaty of nanking has brought disastrous consequences to China society. Since then, three imperialist countries have invaded, plundered and carved up China. According to Article 2 of the Treaty, China has changed from an independent sovereign state to a semi-colonial and semi-feudal society.