Imperialism In China Essay

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The political and economic events caused by foreign imperialism in China led to drastic political, economic and social changes in the Qing Dynasty. Foreign imperialism during the 1800s caused internal struggles within the country and international struggles like the Opium Wars, which resulted in changes that deeply impacted Qing China.
Foreign imperialism during the 1800s drastically changed China’s politics and government. The two Opium Wars were both humiliating defeats for China, which resulted in the unequal treaties forming between China and foreign imperialist powers. The Treaty of Nanking ended the first Opium War and forced China to open five ports, lower taxes for the British and establish free trade with them. The second unfair treaty, …show more content…

The numerous ports opened to foreign trade by the Treaties of Nanking and Tientsin had caused the tea exports to increase by over 500% and silk exports to rise to 28 times the previous amount of bales being shipped. However, whilst the tea and silk industries flourished, other industries became less profitable, causing food farmers to switch to tea or silk consequently, causing food prices to rise severely. Another result of the opening of more ports to the West was the majority of trade shifting from Canton to Shanghai, resulting in unemployment for the boatmen who had previously transported tea and silk throughout the regions of Canton. Furthermore, many textile workers also lost their jobs as their handmade textile products could not compete with the machine-made textiles from the West China’s economy was reshaped by the Opium Wars as it gave the country an urban market economy, however, in the process, nearly destroying the economy already in place. Qing China’s economy was changed by foreign imperialism during the 1800s and this hugely impacted the Qing Dynasty by changing the system into a more westernised

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