Opium Wars (1 gen 1838 anni – 1 gen 1858 anni)

Descrizione:

The Opium Wars in China were two separate wars for the same reason- to stop Britain from fueling the opioid epidemic in China. For a little more context, the first thing to think about is the industrialization of Britain. Around the eighteenth century, Britain underwent a period of massive change in the way goods were manufactured, switching to a mostly factory-centered system. Due to this, the country began to look outside of its boundaries for materials to fuel the industrialism back at home. Eventually, they (along with many other European countries) realized that China was a resource-rich land with virtually no protection. The countries of Europe seized materials from the Asian country, but the Chinese refused to accept imported payments, and they could only be paid in precious metals such as gold and silver. When this was no longer viable, Britain demanded that they be paid with opium, which was easy to acquire. This is when the First Opium War began in 1838, with China fighting for their right to refuse the opium. However, they lost in 1842 due to their comparatively weak military, and Britain began to pay them through the drug opium. This led to a widespread addiction of the drug in the citizens of China, and they did not want this to continue. Additionally, the terms that the two countries had settled on were extremely unfair towards the Chinese. So was the start of the Second Opium War in 1856, which was once again lost by the Chinese in 1858. Overall, these wars were an opportunity to spread western thoughts and ideas in China. Due to the British presence in China during these wars, many of the thoughts and ideas built during the Renaissance and the Enlightenment were spread in China like seeds in the British wind.

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