Opium Wars In China Research Paper

1494 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: 10 Causes Of The First Opium War In China

Opium Wars in China
It is widely acknowledged and respected that China is one of the most modernized and advanced countries in the world. However, this has not always been the case for this great nation. Nowadays referred to as the People’s Republic of China, it is booming economically, technologically, et cetera. Yet, prior to the Opium Wars that began in 1839, China could not compare to the prominent countries at that time that were primarily European. China is located in East Asia and did not have the same culture, traditions, or technology that the majority of Europeans possessed and used in everyday life. The Europeans and Americans on the western hemisphere were leading the world in terms of all areas of innovation. Preceding the Wars, …show more content…

This question can be analyzed and answered through exploring and understanding a series of criterion. The first step is to comprehend the causes and effects of the Wars, and to see how treaties demonstrated what certain countries stood for politically and economically, as well as how the Chinese reacted to interacting with hostility to and from the European nations. Once the historical events that occurred during the Opium Wars are laid out, it is clear to see how these instances caused a significant jumpstart in the industrialization of China. In addition, the incidences of the Wars were an enzyme in the formation of China’s foreign policy and relation with the European nations. Much can be said about the way the Opium Wars affect how the Chinese people viewed the Europeans, especially the English. The scars left on the Chinese due to the issues of the Wars are irreparable damage to the pride and culture of the country, and severely tarnished the image of the westerners following God’s will and helping other countries hasten their rate of increasing civilization. Even though the Opium Wars took a toll on China and the Chinese people as a whole, they have come back with a storm in all manners of …show more content…

The Chinese “decried the Westerners for the villainy of flouting local laws and bringing a dangerous substance into the country.”

Show More
Related

  • The Political Turmoil of China From 1911 to 1927

    368 Words  | 1 Pages

    Consequently, no particular warlord was able to unify and stabilize China. A third reason was continued intervention of the foreign powers. Since the 19th century, the West had intervened in the affairs of China, forcing China to open up its ports and trade with them. Their exploitation caused many people to think lowly of the central government. Their continued presence after 1911 revolution caused a lot of resentment amongst the people.

    Read More

  • British Imperialism in China and Africa

    840 Words  | 2 Pages

    One of the most important aspects of imperialism is the take over of government. The English accomplished this in several ways. Some of the “Unfair Treaties” forced the Chinese to allow the English ships into their ports and to allow them to have a major role in the trade market. The English wanted tea, porcelain, and silk from china. The Chinese however didn’t want to gods the English offered in return. The English began trading opium in return for the goods. Although it was illegal, many of the money hungry merchants excepted the opium in return for the things that were valuable to the English. Because of this, the first Anglo-Chinese war erupted. China underestimated the power of England and was defeated. At the end of the war, they were forced to sign the Treaty of Nanjing (1842). The treaty was one of the first treaties known as the “Unfair Treaties.” Under this treaty, china gave up the island of Hong Kong, abolished the licensed monopoly system of trade, granted English nationals exemption from Chinese laws, and agreed to give England whatever trading concessions that were granted to other countries then and later.

    Read More

  • European Imperialism of China and Japan

    402 Words  | 1 Pages

    At the end of the eighteenth century, China’s goods were much desired by Britain. However, the Chinese saw Europeans as savages and did not want to trade with them. During trade, there was an imbalance in China’s favor, because the Europeans were forced to buy Chinese goods using silver. The Western Imperialists began to grow opium poppies from in India, and then smuggle them into China. China soon became addicted to the drug and spent most of it’s money on the purchase of it from the Europeans and Americans. This shifted the balance of power to be in Europe’s favor.

    Read More

  • Why Europe and Not China in World Colonization?

    459 Words  | 1 Pages

    For several centuries the Europeans were always trying to have the best of the best in their country. Because they were so greedy they went of on several voyages to trade and gain those products they desired like silk, porcelain, tea, and lacquer-ware. With this the Europeans were always trying to out due and impress the Chinese with their clocks and their scientific gadgets. But they were never impressed, the Chinese always believed they were better and never wanted much to do with the Europeans. The Chinese were always very advanced in every skill; they believed that they had all that they needed to be a strong nation.

    Read More

  • Westernization in China and Japan

    1311 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Chinese empire had once been one of the greatest and most powerful empires in the world. Before the 19th century, China had a large population and was ruled by families or dynasties. It was considered technologically advanced as China had a history of many miraculous inventions, such as: writing, magnetic compasses, movable sails, porcelain, abacus and paper money. Although China was isolated from the rest of the world, it coped well on its own, and saw no need to begin trading with the west, (as Lord McCartney proposed in 1793), since it was a self-sufficient nation. At that particular time, the Chinese empire was still able to exclude the ‘barbarians’, thus forcing them to only trade at one port. However, China soon took a turn for the worst as important ...

    Read More

  • Cultural Impact Of The May Fourth Movement

    1258 Words  | 3 Pages

    The technological modernization for China occurred on May 4th, 1919 known as the May Fourth Movement. During this uprising, a group of Chinese students protested the Chinese government for their weak response to the Treaty of Versailles. At the same time the citizens were arguing to the government on how the Japanese are annexing parts of northern China. According to the Asian Literature Article, “China had a weak and unstable government, torn by internal dissent. There was much chaos and uncertainty about the country’s future. Chinas reputation was declining on the international scene.” (The Cultural Impact of the May Fourth Movement 2014) What the article is trying to say is that throughout the years after the movement the government was

    Read More

  • Chinese Literati In China

    1694 Words  | 4 Pages

    In conclusion, the Chinese literati have gone through many changes in the history of China. Changes include economic, political and social which mostly involved Chinese officials of the Qing and Ming court. The officials were effected by rebellions and foreign involvement throughout the years. This shows that even lower societies such as peasants can make a difference in the world with the right type of leader. Confucianism, which was followed for hundreds of years, vanished very quickly. It is amazing how a society of high stature and power early in the 1500’s could disappear so quickly to modern times.

    Read More

  • The Treaty of Nanjing

    2058 Words  | 5 Pages

    Zhou, Yongming. Anti-drug Crusades in Twentieth-century China: Nationalism, History, and State Building. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 1999. Print.

    Read More

  • Ottoman vs. Qing

    875 Words  | 2 Pages

    Allingham,, Philip V. "England and China: The Opium Wars, 1839-60." The Victorian Web: An Overview. 24 June 2006. Web. 06 Apr. 2011.

    Read More

  • What Are The Effects Of The Europeans To The Asian Sea Trading System

    638 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...e, Europeans were finding themselves short of land and room for expansion due to numerous empires in a relatively small area. This led to the search for land. The political powers sought wealth and hoped to achieve this by conquering Asians markets as had been done in the west. Much like the political powers, the Christian church greedily sought mass expansion and conversion, pushing for missions in the foreign lands. In contrast to the Europeans motives, the reasons for Chinese commercial expansion were desires and curiosity of a single emperor in the Ming dynasty that was not pushed for by the aristocrats, church, or scholar-gentry. Whereas the general consensus of Europe pushed for expansion for economic, political, and religious reasons, the expansion was the doing of one emperor who looked for wealth for defense against the threat of the Mongols from the north.

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast China And Zheng He

    846 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the 15th century it is clear that China was one of the world’s leading powers, if not the top dog of countries. Their technology was by far superior to anything that Europe had. They had all the resources, and did not need much in trade. They were in fact one of the most advanced countries in the world, only rivaled by similar nations such as Japan, Mongolia, and Manchuria. Nope of the nations in the west could not hold a candle to what the Chinese had.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Shut Down The Opium Factory By Esperanza

    259 Words  | 1 Pages

    Matt, the new leader of opium, wants to make the country of Opium great again. He wants the doctors to find a way to free the eejit. He also wants to dig up the poppy fields and plant normal crops in them. Another thing that Matt wants to do is he want to shut down the Opium factory.

    Read More

  • The Cause of the Opium War

    894 Words  | 2 Pages

    The geography of China was something like a fence. This isolation made the people of China feel like their country was prestigious and secluded from the rest of the world. With deserts and the Himalayas running along most of the border, it was extremely difficult to cross over one of the most dangerous mountain ranges in the world and a few other scorching deserts with the little transport they had during that time. The only way merchants could come into the country was the southeastern coast of China where most of the prosper cities resided. What led China to become conceited was because they had an abundant of goods that most of the world wanted. In 1760-1830s, China was famous for its porcelain (rich Europeans loved it), silk, and of course, tea. Since this Eastern Powerhouse’s goods were so popular, therefore, there were only a few things that interested them to trade with. It seemed as if tea was a drug for the Europeans because for them it was just so addicting, to the point they would do anything just to get more and more. The only things that were worthy for trading with the Chinese were gingko (type of plant), shark fin, a soft type of wood (used for incense) and silver. As the demand for tea rose, Britain gradually ran out of silver to trade with, and was desperate to find what China wanted. Then, the British resorted to trading opium. China was very picky of their opium. There was a certain kind of make they wanted, it was a compact ball wr...

    Read More

  • The Achievements of the Tang and Song Dynasties

    1139 Words  | 3 Pages

    Today we can look around ourselves and see thousands of technical innovations that make life easier; But if we take a step back and ask ourselves “How?” we will soon realize that most often, these technological advancements did not just “poof” into existence, but are usually the outcome of building upon yesterday’s technology. If we follow this cycle back into time, we can attribute almost any modern day invention to an ancient civilization during its golden age. China was no exception. China’s Song and Tang dynasties fostered scientific advances comparable to Rome’s during its Pax Romana. The most significant and impacting of these were the development of primitive gunpowder and porcelain of the Tang and paper money, and the magnetic compass of the Song Dynasties. Although these may seem very far off, if you look hard enough, you can see traces of their impacts in society today because most of the advancements today we owe to them.

    Read More

  • Essay On The First Opium War

    1407 Words  | 3 Pages

    ... to the Treaty of Nanking creating new ports for foreigners and allowing them to live lives contrary to what was expected of the people of China. The Chinese man had become addicted and it was just getting easier for him to get the opium he needed to satisfy his need, but in order to attain the opium he was leaving behind everything that his country had taught him about his sense of self. The man was no longer the one that would be instilling the traditional Chinese values into the youth of his country; it would be the new foreigners like the British traders who had come to China to profit from the trade. The same traders who were selling the opium, that would have a greater influence on shaping China from a traditionally isolated country from foreign influence, to a country that would later become a major power in foreign trade and open to most foreign influence.

    Read More

More about Opium Wars In China Research Paper

Open Document