British Colonization of Hong Kong

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The first Opium War took place between the British and the Qing Empire in 1839 until 1842. The British viewed the war to be caused by the Qing emperor and its officials’ refusal to permit the importation of opium into its territory. In the war, Britain defeated the Qing. (The Earth and Its People 540-543) Now, you might wonder what does the Opium War have anything to do with Hong Kong; however, it was during the war, that Britain first occupied Hong Kong, on January 25th of 1841, for a purpose of military staging point use. (Szczepanski) This gave a start to the journey of the British Colonization of Hong Kong. The British officially colonized Hong Kong in 1841 and decolonized the peninsula in 1997, the British colonization benefitted Hong Kong by helping them escape from the two biggest disasters China experienced during that time.
The Opium War was what really gave a start to British Hong Kong, and furthermore, the treaty of Nanking implemented the British colonization. The British could be considered as one of the firsts to discover the opium as such a profitable trade. Chinese merchants later started profiting from distributing the drug as well. Therefore, the addiction of opium quickly spread to everyone in the Qing society not long later, even high-ranking officials were involved with the addiction. Ironically, the first Qing law that was set in 1729 happens to be banning all opium imports. However, as the Qing emperor and officials start coming to realize the addiction of opium, they debated whether to continue the banning and make it stricter or to legalize and tax the drug. They soon came to a conclusion of continuing the banning of opium and making the law stricter. This decision immediately alarmed the British, as the...

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...ng's Missing History." Http://www.historytoday.com/. N.p., Dec. 1991. Web. 13 May 2014. .
"Sino-British Joint Declaration." Http://worldgeography.abc-clio.com/. Abc-clio, n.d. Web. 13 May 2014. .
Szczepanski, Kallie. "Why Did China Lease Hong Kong to Britain." About.com Asian History. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 May 2014. .
"The Great Leap Forward." The Great Leap Forward. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 May 2014. .
"Treaty of Nanjing - First of the Unequal Treaties." Www.history.cultural-china.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 May 2014. .

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