Opium Wars (jan 1, 1839 – jan 1, 1842)

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Britain's trade of Opium to China led to mass addiction across the country. As a result, China forbade the trade of Opium, and any that they found would be destroyed. The British saw this as an attack on free trade, so they went to war.
In 1842, the Treaty of Nanking was signed, ending the Opium Wars, and ceding Hong Kong to the British.

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