Events
Opium Wars
Also Known As Anglo-Chinese War Applies specifically to the First Opium War (1839-1842); the Second Opium War is sometimes separately called the Second Anglo-Chinese War or the Arrow War.
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Britain fought two wars with Qing China, in 1839-1842 and 1856-1860, after the Qing government moved to suppress the British-run opium trade that the East India Company had built to offset its silver trade deficit for tea. Chinese defeat in the First Opium War produced the Treaty of Nanjing (1842), which ceded Hong Kong Island to Britain, opened five treaty ports to foreign trade, and imposed a punitive indemnity, the first of the unequal treaties that opened China's economy to foreign commerce on foreign terms for the following century.
Facts
Event DateDated to the First Opium War''s formal outbreak (the Battle of Kowloon, per the cited infobox). This entity covers both Opium Wars, so the date marks the onset of hostilities rather than the full two-war span. LocationChina and British Empire 1 Cross-Tradition Connections
Associated With
The East India Company held the Bengal opium monopoly that supplied the trade Britain went to war to protect.
In the Other Atlases
- Also in History Atlas: Opium Wars, the same subject.
Sources
1. Encyclopaedia Britannica
Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.Opium Wars
1. Encyclopaedia Britannica
Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.Associated With: East India Company
2. Wikipedia
Wikimedia FoundationFirst Opium War, lead sectionQuote, First Opium War, lead section
The First Opium War, also known as the Anglo-Chinese War, was a series of military engagements fought between the British Empire and Qing China between 1839 and 1842.
2. Wikipedia
Wikimedia FoundationFirst Opium War, infoboxQuote, First Opium War, infobox
4 September 1839 - 29 August 1842 (2 years, 11 months, 3 weeks and 4 days)
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