Opium Wars
The Opium War, also called the Anglo-Chinese War, was the most humiliating defeat China ever suffered. In European history, it is perhaps the most sordid, base, and vicious event in European history, possibly, just possibly, overshadowed by the excesses of the Third Reich in the twentieth century.
By the 1830's, the English had become the major drug-trafficking criminal organization in the world; very few drug cartels of the twentieth century can even touch the England of the early nineteenth century in sheer size of criminality. Growing opium in India, the East India Company shipped tons of opium into Canton which it traded for Chinese manufactured goods and for tea. This trade had ...
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and tragedy. In an effort to stem the tragedy, the imperial government made opium illegal in 1836 and began to aggressively close down the opium dens.
Lin Tse-hs�
The key player in the prelude to war was a brilliant and highly moral official named Lin Tse-hs�. Deeply concerned about the opium menace, he maneuverd himself into being appointed Imperial Commissioner at Canton. His express purpose was to cut off the opium trade at its source by rooting out corrupt officials and cracking down on British trade in the drug.
He took over in March of 1839 and within two months, absolutely invulnerable to bribery and corruption, he had taken action against Chinese merchants and Western traders and shut down all the traffic in opium. He destroyed all the existing stores of opium and, victorious in his war against opium, he composed a letter to Queen Victoria of England requesting that the British cease all opium trade. His letter included the argument that, since Britain had made opium ...
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of crimes.
The English, despite Lin's eloquent letter, refused to back down from the opium trade. In response, Lin threatened to cut off all trade with England and expel all English from China. Thus began the Opium War.
The War
War broke out when Chinese junks attempted to turn back English merchant vessels in November of 1839; although this was a low-level conflict, it inspired the English to send warships in June of 1840. The Chinese, with old-style weapons and artillery, were no match for the British gunships, which ranged up and down the coast shooting at forts and fighting on land. The Chinese were equally unprepared for the technological superiority of the British ...
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Opium Wars. (2006, August 29). Retrieved November 28, 2024, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Opium-Wars/51507
"Opium Wars." Essayworld.com. Essayworld.com, 29 Aug. 2006. Web. 28 Nov. 2024. <http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Opium-Wars/51507>
"Opium Wars." Essayworld.com. August 29, 2006. Accessed November 28, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Opium-Wars/51507.
"Opium Wars." Essayworld.com. August 29, 2006. Accessed November 28, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Opium-Wars/51507.
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