Traditionalist versus Reformist among Colonial Powers

China has 5000 years of history which experienced wars, collapses, failures and successes. The Opium War in the year 1839 and 1856 marked the changing point of China’s trade policy with foreigners, especially with British in opium and tea. China changed from getting tributes to being forced to sign the Nanjing Treaty and Tianjing Treaty with British and French. Due to China’s over confidence and unwelcome attitude toward foreigners and opium, it caused the British to declare the Opium War to China which made Chinese suffered for many years, but at the same time it also forced China to open its door to the foreigners. Opium is dangerous, and it will ruin people’s life once people get addicted to it.

This was an excuse for the powerful countries of Europe, American and Japan to interfere with and take partial control over China. The Qing dynasty was humiliated and lost its control. The mandate was slowly slipping away as European influence increased in regions of Canton and Kiakhta. Throughout the nineteenth century, foreigners took control of China and forced the people to make humiliating concessions. Italy, Japan, and Russia all claimed exclusive trading rights to certain parts of China.

By the end of the First Opium War China had begun to lose its sense of identity through the use of treaties and encroachment of foreign countries, starting with the British and their Treaty of Nanking. Throughout the years Britain had always tried to use the Chinese markets to their advantage. This is what was seen as the biggest and only cause towards starting the First Opium War. Although the British were gaining a profit from selling their own goods to Chinese consumers, they were not making enough to counter the massive amount of spending they were doing on Chines... ... middle of paper ... ... to the Treaty of Nanking creating new ports for foreigners and allowing them to live lives contrary to what was expected of the people of China. The Chinese man had become addicted and it was just getting easier for him to get the opium he needed to satisfy his need, but in order to attain the opium he was leaving behind everything that his country had taught him about his sense of self.

Therefore, due to these and other severe actions during their domination of the world, Europeans should be condemned for their abuses of power. The first nation which will be discussed is China, from the continent of Asia. The British had their eyes on China, ever since the restricted population of merchants in Gwangzhou traded with the local monopoly of businesses. England had two major reasons for their interest: first, Chinese silver was desired by the empire because of its high value. Second, Britain had a surplus of Opium, a drug grown in India, and it needed vast numbers of people to purchase it.

A main imperialistic power, Great Britain, began trading China opium, a heavily addictive drug, in exchange for tea and silk. At first, it seemed like a positive idea – the Chinese previously used opium for medicinal purposes. With little time, the government began to realize to the greatest extent the deterioration opium caused and how they must be wary of Great Britain. In an attempt to delete Great Britain’s influence, the Chinese began attacking British cargo ships. Thus began the Opium War and Great Britain’s evident influences in China.

Initially, people took the substance to fulfill medical needs, but over the years society began to smoke opium casually (Gibson, Anne). It spread around the world through trade as Britain utilized the drug to initiate the Opium Wars. Consequently, the First Opium War portrayed Britain using brutal force to manipulate a weaker country into their control despite China’s economic needs. After the first war, a twenty-year gap caused tensions to bubble up again and the second war began, which continued the problems of the first war (Goldfinger, Shandra). Horrific battles destroyed China, yielding adversities to haunt both countries perpetually.

The Emperor of China was thought to be the elder brother to all other surrounding kings and emperors. China rarely had any contact with the West until the West turned to China for spices. This type of arrogance embodied by the Chinese proved to eventually hurt them as a society, both internally and externally. In t... ... middle of paper ... ...s”, this began a new stage of imperialism in China. The Opium War not only embarrassed China, but as a consequence, it also had a lot of dramatic social and economic effects as well.

American colonists questioned many of Britain's laws and beliefs after the French and Indian War. The war brought Britain into a deep debt. As recalled in the articles I read, the Stamp Act was enforced by the British, and was supposed to show that Britain and the Colonies would be unified. Using a little of my own knowledge I found that the British wanted to decrease their debt, and the Americans felt it was irrational. I found it to be quite ironic how the British helped train George Washington in the Military Profession during the French and Indian War because in later years he was one of the many significant people who helpe... ... middle of paper ... ... French and Indian War shaped the political society between the American colonists and Great Britain.

The two battles fought and won by European powers were known as the Opium Wars. China’s politics, economy, and intellects were both positively and negatively impacted by allowing more religious freedom but having less control over its own politics, increasing foreign trade but destroying domestic industries, and having increasing nationalistic feelings while adapting Western values. European powers exerted more control over Chinese land, laws, and foreign policies because of the Opium Wars. After the First Opium War, China was forced to sign the unequal Treaty of Nanking in 1842. The terms stated that besides the port in Canton, four additional ports in Amoy, Foochow, Shanghai, and Ningbo were to be opened to foreign trade.

The First Anglo-Chinese War as an Opium War The Chinese customarily calls the Anglo-Chinese War 1839-1842 the Opium War because from their point of view, the opium trade was the main cause of the war. From the British standpoint, the motive for the war was not opium prohibition but rather the repeated insults and humiliation; the British had received from the Chinese government. They claimed that the conflict between China and Britain had been brewing for many decades. Even without opium, it would still have been erupted as a result of their differing conceptions of international relations, trade and jurisdiction. According to their view, the opium prohibition was merely its precipitating, immediate cause, but not the importance of opium in contributing to the war.