The first opium war: 1840 ~ 1842

The second opium war: 1856 ~ 1860

Brief introduction of the first opium war

Date: 65438+June 28th, 0840-65438+August 0842.

Location: China.

Result: Britain won.

Cause: Humen destroyed opium.

Territorial change: ceding Hong Kong Island to Britain.

1840 (twenty years of Daoguang), the British invaders launched a war of aggression against ancient feudal China.

Because this war was caused by Britain's forced dumping of opium into China, it was called the Opium War in history.

After the Opium War, China gradually changed from an independent feudal country to a semi-colonial and semi-feudal country, and the Chinese nation began a course of humiliation, suffering, exploration and struggle for more than 100 years.

From the late Qianlong period, the rule of the Qing Dynasty declined gradually.

Qing * * * also claimed to be "China", arrogant and closed to the outside world.

At the same time, European and American powers have made great progress, and China, with its vast territory and large population, is their goal of expanding overseas markets.

China has been an agricultural country since ancient times. With the self-sufficient natural economy and the conservative thought of "China is superior to the country", China people have always had little demand for foreign products.

In order to make huge profits, foreign businessmen smuggled a large amount of opium from South China into China, and the import volume of opium increased from 4,000 cases at the beginning of Daoguang's accession to the throne to 40,200 cases in the eighteenth year of Daoguang, that is, before the outbreak of the Opium War.

The spread of opium affects people's physical and mental health, corrupts the management of officials and leads to the outflow of silver and the shortage of financial income.

Daoguang continued the policy of banning smoking since Yongzheng, but opium smuggling not only failed, but became increasingly rampant.

The development of the situation has aroused the vigilance of people in the ruling and opposition parties.

Daoguang ordered the frontier defense minister to discuss the idea of banning smoking, and there were different opinions in the ruling and opposition parties. What finally touched Daoguang Emperor was the memorial of Lin Zexu, governor of Huguang at that time.

Lin Zexu hit the nail on the head and pointed out: Opium can't help but weaken the country's poor in a few decades. "There are not many soldiers who can defend the enemy in the Central Plains, and there is no silver to pay."

This situation is obviously what Daoguang Emperor did not want to see anyway. "Soldiers" and "silver" are two fatal loopholes in feudal rule.

In November of the 18th year of Daoguang (1838), Lin Zexu went to Guangdong to ban opium.

Lin Zexu/KLOC-0 arrived in Guangzhou in March, 839, and immediately banned smoking, strictly investigated cigarette dealers, reorganized the navy, and instructed foreign businessmen to hand in opium.

On June 3 of the same year, more than 20,000 boxes (more than 2 million Jin) of opium were destroyed in public in Humentan (he soaked the opium in water for 7,749 days and then burned it, so it was all destroyed, or it could still be smoked).

China's smoking ban met with strong opposition from Britain.

1June, 840 (in the summer of the 20th year of Daoguang), the British Expeditionary Force consisting of 48 ships and more than 4,000 officers and men blocked the Pearl River Estuary in Guangzhou, and the Opium War broke out.

The Qing army's military equipment was lax, the enemy's situation was unclear, the command was chaotic, and it was defeated repeatedly.

In the twenty-second year of Daoguang (1842), the British army captured Zhenjiang, cut off the north-south traffic of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, and then reached the gates of Nanjing.

Qing * * * has been unable to fight again.

1842 On July 24th, at the gunpoint of the British army, Qing * * * was forced to sign "treaty of nanking" which humiliated the country.

This was the first unequal treaty in Qing Dynasty, which seriously damaged China.

He stipulated that China ceded Hong Kong and paid 21000000 Spanish silver dollars to the five port cities of Guangzhou, Xiamen, Fuzhou, Ningbo and Shanghai for foreign trade. In addition, Britain also enjoys agreed tariffs. However, due to their long-term disguising themselves as celestial beings and being unfamiliar with international relations, Qing officials suffered further losses in the subsequent negotiations of the two supplementary documents of treaty of nanking: the Charter of Five-Port Trade and the Humen Treaty.

The result of the Opium War was that Gu Men, which was defending itself, was shut down, and it was opened by British sharp guns.

After that, we can't be together anymore. American President Taylor immediately sent a plenipotentiary ambassador to Guangzhou by warship, and Qing became a frightened bird, and hurriedly signed the Wang Xia Treaty with him.

French warships sailed for Guangzhou, claiming to attack Zhoushan Islands in the north. Daoguang Emperor quickly signed the Huangpu Treaty with him.

China people have never heard of several western countries, such as Portugal, Spain, Belgium, Prussia (Germany), Austria-Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden and so on. "Some tiny countries that China has heard of or never heard of were not eligible to pay tribute in the past, and now they are all waiting in line." (Bai Yang's History of China, Volume II) They signed treaties with China one by one and enjoyed the same privileges as the British in treaty of nanking.

In the 29th year of Daoguang, Portugal expelled China's officials in Macau, stopped paying the rent, and openly occupied Macau.

* * * immediately into a semi-colonial state.

In 5,000 years, I have never been insulted like this.