The first chapter is the Opium War and the beginning of China's modern history.

I China and the world before the Opium War

1, the decline of Qing dynasty rule

Before the Opium War, China was an independent, unified and centralized feudal country ruled by the Qing Dynasty. Self-sufficient natural economy plays an important role in the whole social economy. Farmers not only produce the agricultural products they need, but also produce most industrial products they need. With the development of commodity economy, the seeds of capitalism bred in feudal society gradually grew. However, under the bondage of feudal relations of production, the elements of capitalist mode of production developed slowly.

/kloc-In the second half of the 0/8th century, the Qing Dynasty has embarked on the road of decline. Its bureaucracy is corrupt, its armaments are lax, its finances are exhausted, its land is highly concentrated, the contradiction between farmers and landlords is becoming increasingly acute, the life of the broad masses of people is getting worse and worse, and the whole society is in turmoil. From the end of18th century to the beginning of19th century, farmers' resistance continued. /kloc-The Anbaili Uprising broke out in 0/796, covering five provinces of Hubei, Sichuan, Henan, Shaanxi and Gansu, with hundreds of thousands of participants and lasting for nearly ten years. The Tian Li Uprising broke out in 18 13 and spread to Henan, Shandong and Hebei provinces.

2. The development and colonial expansion of western capitalism.

Just as the national strength of Qing Dynasty declined, capitalism in Europe and America developed very rapidly. 1640, the bourgeois revolution broke out in Britain. /kloc-in the 0/8th century, there was an "industrial revolution" in Britain, and industrial production developed by leaps and bounds. At that time, Britain became the most advanced and powerful capitalist industrial country in the world. After the British bourgeois revolution, bourgeois revolutions occurred in Europe and America, which opened up a broad road for the development of capitalism. By the18th century, western capitalism had developed greatly.

"Plunder is the survival principle of all bourgeoisie". With the rapid development of capitalism, the bourgeoisie began to look for new sales markets and raw material supply markets and explore a broader colony. Capitalist countries in Europe and America, led by Britain, have long had ambitions for China and eastern countries. /kloc-at the end of 0/6, the British colonial forces began to invade India. 1600 set up the East India Company to monopolize the eastern trade. 1793, Britain sent a delegation led by Ma Jiali to China, and proposed to open Ningbo, Zhoushan and Tianjin as commercial ports, cede the islands near Zhoushan and Guangzhou, and reduce the tax rate, which was rejected by the Qing government. Later, British warships invaded the southeast coast of China many times.

In addition to Britain, French, American and other European and American capitalist countries have also extended their colonial expansion to the East and stepped up their aggression and expansion in the Far East, including China. Russia is committed to the territorial expansion of China. /kloc-in the middle of the 0/7th century, armed forces invaded the Heilongjiang River Basin and the area east of Lake Baikal. 1689, China and Russia concluded the treaty of Nebuchadnezzar Chu through equal consultation, 1727, and signed the treaty of Blenski. These two treaties define the eastern and central borders between the two countries. Since the middle of18th century, Russian invaders have continuously invaded and occupied the territory of China to the east and south of Lake Balkhash, and successively annexed West Kazakhstan and North Kazakhstan.

With the rapid development of western capitalism and the crazy colonial expansion that followed, ancient China faced unprecedented challenges and crises.

Second, the war against British aggression.

1, Opium Overflow and Smoking Ban in China

By the middle of18th century, Britain ranked first in western countries' trade with China. However, facing the barriers of China's self-sufficient natural economy, it is difficult for western industrial products to find a market. In addition, the Qing government adopted a "closed door" policy in foreign relations, which seriously hindered the sales of western industrial products in China. As a result, the British bourgeoisie tried to open the door to China, and opium became a special commodity for the British bourgeoisie to open the door to China.

From/kloc-at the beginning of the 8th century, British businessmen imported opium to China. /kloc-At the beginning of the 9th century, the amount of opium imported into China was increasing. British tobacco companies ignored China's repeated bans and engaged in illegal opium smuggling trade. According to incomplete statistics, during the period from 1800 to 1840, the opium exported to China averaged 3,500 boxes per year. The evil drug trade has brought great benefits to the British bourgeoisie. Opium accounts for more than half of British exports to China. Through opium, Britain plunders millions of dollars of silver from China every year, and Britain has changed from a beginner to a super exporter. The spread of opium has brought serious disasters to China society. It not only greatly damaged the physical and mental health of the Chinese nation, but also caused serious social problems: it changed the long-term advantages of China's foreign trade, from surplus to surplus, resulting in a large outflow of silver; The massive outflow of silver, on the one hand, caused the price of silver to rise, the local tax revenue to be difficult, and the government finances to be in trouble, on the other hand, caused the silver to be expensive and the money to be cheap, which directly increased the burden on the working people; Many officials and soldiers took opium and accepted bribes from opium smuggling, which made the official management of the Qing government more corrupt and the army more ineffective. All these seriously threatened the rule of the Qing Dynasty.

1839, Daoguang ordered all provinces to ban opium. In February, 65438, Lin Zexu was appointed as an imperial envoy, in charge of the Guangdong Navy, and went to Guangzhou to ban opium. 1March, 839, after Lin Zexu arrived in Guangzhou, with the strong support of the general public, he cooperated with Deng Tingzhen, Governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, and Guan Tianpei, Governor of Guangdong Navy, to actively rectify coastal defense and defend against foreign invasion. Strictly take tobacco dealers and severely punish illegal officials; China people are strictly prohibited from selling and smoking opium; And told foreign tobacco companies to hand over all opium within a time limit and issue a statement to ensure that "future ships will never dare to transport opium again." From late April to mid-May, British and American tobacco merchants were forced to hand over opium 19 187 boxes (including American tobacco merchants 1540 boxes) and sacks (2 1 19 sacks), with a total weight of 2.37 million kilograms. Under the auspices of Lin Zexu, 1839 destroyed the seized opium in Humen from June 3 to June 25. Smoking ban in Humen is a great victory of China's anti-smoking campaign. It has dealt a blow to the arrogance of foreign invaders, inspired the fighting spirit of the people of China, and demonstrated the strong determination of the people of China to resist foreign aggression and safeguard national dignity.

Britain launched a war of aggression against China.

1At the beginning of August, 839, the news that Lin Zexu collected and destroyed opium in Guangdong reached Britain, and the British industrial and commercial bourgeoisie and opium trading groups immediately made a heated discussion. They have written to the British government, advocating an immediate war of aggression against China. Launching a war of aggression against China is not only an objective requirement for the expansion and development of British capitalism, but also a long-planned policy of the British government. Before the Opium War 1837 to 1838, Britain was in the second economic crisis. In order to get rid of the predicament and pass on the crisis, the British bourgeoisie stepped up its external expansion. 1 83910 June1day, the British held a cabinet meeting to discuss and decide on an armed invasion of China.

1840 In June, George Elliott led an "Oriental Expeditionary Force" consisting of 16 warships, 4 armed steamboats, 28 transport ships, more than 4,000 soldiers (later increased to15,000) and 540 cannons, and arrived in Guangdong, China, from Indian and Cape Town for the first time.

3. Three stages of war

The first opium war lasted more than two years and went through three stages.

The first stage of the war, from the British blockade of the Pearl River Estuary in late June of 184 1 year to the Qing government's declaration of war on Britain in late June of 1 year, lasted about seven months. At this stage, the British army implemented an invasion plan with the main contents of blocking the Pearl River Estuary, occupying Dinghai and going north to Tianjin, so as to force the Qing government to submit. Except for Guangdong's active preparations for war, China generally holds a passive resistance attitude. As a result of Daoguang's "imprisonment" policy, Lin Zexu, Deng Tingzhen and other resistance factions were attacked and excluded. The compromise factions Qishan and Li Yibu gradually gained the right to negotiate with Britain, and Yifa proposed to Qishan the so-called "wearing a grass contract", ceding land and losing power.

The second stage of the war lasted for four months from184165438+10 to the conclusion of the Guangzhou Peace Treaty on May 27th. At this stage, although the Qing government declared war, it had no real determination to resist the war. Officials such as Yishan and Yang Fang, who were sent to Guangzhou by Daoguang to take charge of the military, were so incompetent that they collapsed in the battle against Britain, and finally signed the humiliating Guangzhou Peace Treaty. The broad masses of people in Guangzhou were extremely angry at Yishan's peace with the British army, rose up against the British army, and broke out the Sanyuanli anti-British struggle, which showed the heroic spirit of the China people who were indomitable and dared to fight.

In the third stage of the war, from 184 1, the British army attacked Xiamen again and signed the treaty of nanking on August 29th, which lasted for one year. At this stage, the British army focused on attacking Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces and forced the Qing government to submit completely by force. Although the Qing government mobilized heavy troops to go to Zhejiang, after the defeat of the front line, it was bent on peace and was finally forced to form an alliance at the gates in Nanjing.

The Opium War ended in the failure of the Qing government. China's war against British aggression was a just self-defense war, which was supported by the broad masses of the people and patriotic officers and soldiers. The root cause of China's failure lies in the decay of feudal social system and the backwardness of economy, science and technology in China, and in the fatuity of the Qing government. The failure of the war made the people of China suffer greatly, and also made the people of China wake up.

Third, the conclusion of the first batch of unequal treaties and the social changes in postwar China.

1, the signing of the first batch of unequal treaties

1842 On August 29th, the old citizen, Ileb and Pu Dingcha signed the Sino-British Jiangning Treaty, namely the treaty of nanking.

Treaty of nanking is the first unequal treaty in modern history of China. Its main contents are as follows:

(1) China has opened five trading ports, namely, Guangzhou, Fuzhou, Xiamen, Ningbo and Shanghai.

China ceded Hong Kong to Britain.

(3) The compensation is 2 1 ten thousand yuan.

(4) British businessmen "should pay taxes and fees on import and export goods and negotiate rules fairly".

(5) Cancel the "free travel" system.

After the treaty of nanking was signed, on July 22nd, 1843, Britain forced the Qing government to formulate the "Five-entry and Sticking Clauses", that is, the Humen Treaty. Through the Humen Treaty, Britain gained some important privileges:

(1) Consular jurisdiction. According to the treaty, when the British commit a crime at a trading port, "the articles of association and laws must be approved by the British and sent to the steward for compliance", and the China government has no right to deal with it.

(2) Unilateral MFN treatment. According to the treaty, when China grants any rights to other countries in the future, it "also allows the British to share".

(3) the right of residence and land lease. The treaty stipulates that the British can rent land to build houses in Hong Kong. Later, foreign invaders used this privilege to establish concessions in trading ports.

In addition, the Humen Treaty is accompanied by customs duties. The tax rate of import and export goods stipulated in it is much lower than that before the Opium War, and it is also stipulated that all import and export goods not included in this tariff are "worth 150".

After the signing of treaty of nanking and Humen Treaty, western capitalism and China were very jealous of Britain's aggressive interests, and they followed suit, fishing in troubled waters and forcing the Qing government to sign unequal treaties.

1844 On July 3rd, China and the United States signed the Wang Xia Treaty. In this treaty, the United States not only enjoyed the privileges that Britain obtained in treaty of nanking, but also added the following important aggressive rights and interests: (1) Expanding the scope of consular jurisdiction. According to the treaty, all lawsuits between Americans and people from China or other countries in China shall be tried by American consuls, and the China government shall not ask. (two) to further strengthen the agreement tariff rights. (3) US warships can "inspect trade" at various ports in China. (4) The United States can establish churches, hospitals, etc. At the treaty port.

1844, 10 year1October 24th, China and France signed the Huangpu Treaty. Through this treaty, France also obtained all the privileges stipulated in the Sino-British and Sino-American treaties, and at the same time obtained the right to preach freely at various trading ports. Since then, missionary work has become an important means of political, economic and cultural infiltration of China by western aggression forces.

After the Opium War, Russia stepped up its activities of aggression and expansion to the northeast and northwest frontiers of China, which centered on plundering territory. 185 1 On August 6, 2000, the Sino-Russian Trade Charter of Ili Talbahatai was signed, and Russia seized various political and economic aggression privileges such as establishing consuls, consular jurisdiction, trade tax exemption and establishing trade circles in Xinjiang.

Belgium, Sweden, Norway and other western countries followed suit, demanding to contract "aid cases". According to the so-called "equal treatment" principle, the Qing government allowed it. At the same time, Portugal also seized the opportunity to usurp China's jurisdiction over Macao.

The signing of a series of unequal treaties, such as the treaty of nanking, is a chain imposed on the people of China by the European and American bourgeoisie. Since then, under the impetus of western capitalism, China has been involved in the whirlpool of world capitalism.

2. Social changes in postwar China.

1840 The Opium War was a historical turning point in China's gradual transition from a feudal society to a semi-colonial and semi-feudal society, which fundamentally changed the social nature of China.

Before the Opium War, China was an independent and unified country politically. After the war, China's territory began to be divided, and national sovereignty (territorial sovereignty, customs sovereignty, judicial sovereignty, etc.). ) it was destroyed. China has lost its independent status. Before the war, China was a self-sufficient country with a dominant natural economy. After the war, the capitalist countries dumped goods and plundered raw materials in China, which gradually destroyed the natural economic base of China's self-sufficiency. China was gradually incorporated into the world colonial system and became a vassal of world capitalism. China began to become a semi-colonial and semi-feudal society.

After the war, the earliest colonial and semi-colonial cities appeared in the southeast coast. Among them, Shanghai has the fastest development. Since 1950s, Shanghai's export trade has accounted for more than half of China's exports, replacing Guangzhou as the center of China's foreign trade. 1845, 1 1 year1October, the British consul in Shanghai forced the local officials of the Qing government to agree to the land regulations and demarcate an area in Shanghai as a British concession, which was the beginning of foreign invaders' establishment of a concession in China. In the concession, foreign invaders refused China's sovereignty and implemented an administrative system and a legal system independent of China, making the concession a "country within a country" and a base for their political and economic aggression.