The Opium Wars The Opium Wars were a series of wars between the English and Chinese over the English's imperialist desires. England demanded China accepted opium for their goods, something they didn't need and could get cheaply from India. This struck war, which the Chinese lost. In the second war, Chinese detested this, and France got involved. China lost, and accepted opium for their products. This would lead to opium addictions in China as well as many economic issues, however Europe would benef (jan 1, 1836