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IGCSE History Coursework Assignment 1
The Opium Wars 'Anglo- Chinese war (18-4) and 'Arrow war' (1856-60)
1. Since Canton (Guangzhou) is located at the meeting point of two rivers and a sea, it was wise of the Chinese to make it their major southern trading port and gateway to the outside world - starting rd Century AD. Trading with the west and especially with the British was practiced at Canton from 175 184, mainly exporting tea, silk, China porcelain and spices, and importing silver and opium.
The Canton trading system consisted of three parts
China exporting goods to its neighboring countries, or the 'native' trade, which has been practiced long before,
China trading with Europe, or the 'China trade' , where China mostly exported porcelain and tea, and
The 'country' trade the three-way trading system, where Britain imported Chinese goods by paying for them with Indian goods (such as opium).
The Canton trading system was abolished after Britain's victory in the first Opium war (18-184), and was instead replaced by five trading ports (Canton, Ningbo, Shanghai, Xiamen, and Fuzhou) to which any foreigners that were under Chinese rule, control, and authority had access. The merchants trading in any of the five new posts could deal with 'whomever they pleased' .
. Opium importations affected China's health, its social and economical life. Opium was first used in order to treat diarrhea, and later on, people started regularly using it for pleasure, and became addicted to it.When opium was taken in large amounts, it caused brain damage, deterioration of the nervous system, and lung destruction. On the other hand, if a user wanted to abandon the use of opium, they would fell sick, have cramps, and were therefore not willing to withdraw, since the process was so unpleasant.
Since it was illegal to traffic opium, bribing, stealing, and smuggling became a norm. The Canton officials were generously bribed in order to keep the opium traffic going, and the government closed its eyes to the fact that corruption was eating China away, and the people were dying of severe opium- caused illnesses every day.
Because lives of millions of people depended on opium, they could commit any amoral deed in order to be able to buy the drug from the merchants; prostitution was one of them. Criminal groups were formed, and crimes were committed in order to find money for opium.
If the whole country was under the pressure of a drug, the work efficiency and productivity decreased rapidly together with the workers' morale. China started working less, producing less, and therefore earning less money.
All these things led the country to corruption, which meant that the Chinese empire that was so great for a very long period of time was beginning to collapse, because the long preserved balance and stability were gone due to opium importations.
Therefore, importation of opium in the first half of the nineteenth century had a negative effect on the Chinese society.
. In 17, opium trade from Britain to China began, however back in the 18th century, opium was then used in order to cure diarrhea. Soon people started abusing it, and began to very quickly deteriorate - mentally and physically. It was illegal to import opium, and at the beginning of the 1th century, merchants started smuggling the drug into the country, which caused social and economic disorder. The British traders however, generously bribed Canton officials in order to keep the opium traffic going.
In the 180s Chinese officers wrote Queen Victoria, and asked her to end the opium trade. When there was no reply, the emperor (Tao-kuang) ordered Lin Zexu (leading Chinese scholar and official of the Quing dynasty) to put an end to it. "In 18 the Chinese government confiscated all opium warehoused at Canton by British merchants. Finally, the Quing government required all foreign merchants to surrender their stocks of opium for destruction. The British objected, and the Opium War (18-4) between the Chinese and the British followed."
The British government also tried provoking the war by refusing to turn in two accused British sailors who have killed a Chinese villager. The Chinese court protested, and "in June 1840, the British fleet arrived at the mouth of the Canton River to begin the Opium War."
The British and the Chinese fought until February, and in February, 1840, George Elliot was sent to negotiate with the Chinese, and urge them to pay the indemnities. The Chinese refused, and Canton was attacked in May, 1841.
The British wanted to squeeze as much money out of China as possible, and when Shanghai fell in August, 184, Britain forced China to sign treaties. The treaty of Nanking consisted of five elements
China had to pay an indemnity of $1,000,000
Hong-Kong was to be handed over to Britain, on a 150 year contract(it ended in 17)
five trading ports were to be opened (and Britain was to have the 'most favored nation' function, which meant that any treaty that would be in the future signed by China and any other country, would automatically apply to Britain)
tariffs and 'limitations of duties on imports exports', and
extraterritorial rights if a British national would commit a crime in China, he would be punished by British law, not Chinese.
The British government was interested in supporting the continuation of the Opium war, because it knew that by defeating China, they could increase the indemnity, and sign very favorable treaties, that would greatly benefit the British empire. They knew that China was on its way down, not only politically, but also militarily, and therefore it was their goal to defeat it, and gain as much as possible from victory. Britain knew that if it would be satisfied with the $6,000,000 indemnity that was discussed when G. Elliot went to negotiate in 1840, then they would not be able to reach their goal, and since it was possible to achieve more, they continued the Opium War in 1840.
4. The Chinese empire was not only politically, but also militarily weak by the beginning of the 1th century, however the rest of the world was unaware of that.
When in 17, Lord George McCartney traveled from Shanghai to Hong Kong, he noticed that China was a lot weaker than it seemed in the eyes of the west.
When Britain attacked in 18, it easily defeated the Chinese 'junks', not only because the British skills and vessels were extremely superior to the Chinese, but also because the Quing 'had no effective tactics against the powerful British Navy. They retaliated merely by setting burning rafts on the enemys fleet; and they encouraged people to take the heads of the enemies, for which they offered a prize. The Imperial banner troops, although they sometimes fought fiercely, were ill-equipped and lacked training for warfare against the more modern British forces. The Green Standard battalions were similarly in decay and without much motivation or good leadership. To make up the weakness, local militias were urgently recruited, but they were useless. The British proclaimed that their aim was to fight the government officials and soldiers who abused the people, not to make war against the Chinese population. And indeed there was a deep rift between the government and people, of which the British could easily take advantage, a weakness in Ching society that became apparent in the crisis of the war'
Unprepared for war and grossly underestimating the capabilities of the enemy, the Chinese were disastrously defeated, and their image of their own imperial power was tarnished beyond repair.
5. Before the Opium wars, China had a stable Feudal system, which followed the Confucius teachings. The people obeyed the teachings, and knew that the emperor is 'the son of heaven' and therefore should be carefully obeyed and worshiped. Such beliefs made the people happier, not worrying about anything except for farming, natural disasters and how to grow their children, which meant that the country was in great balance, and no troubles could weaken it.
Trade with the west was flourishing, and that helped China's economy, keeping the people satisfied, and that way preventing rebellions. The peasants lived by subsistence farming, which meant that whatever extra they grew that had to be exported, they could eat themselves when natural disasters, such as famine came along.
On the other hand, China had problems with the way they ran their government. Even though the Feudal system was stable and the people were used to it, there was too much of a gap between the peasant class and the higher classes. When in the beginning of the 1th century, China's population started growing rapidly, subsistence farming could not be applied any more, because whatever surplus was grown, was immediately either sold, or eaten. Starvation drove peasants out of their homes, and disasters such as rebellions and massacres started happening. Rebellions made the country weaker, and that meant that China was on its way down, because a weak empire cannot be counted as a great world power.
Another factor was modernization and industrialization. Chinese technology was far less superior to that of the west, and that made it very difficult for China to successfully continue developing, since the old methods of for example farming, slowed down the process, finally making China produce less, and therefore make less money.
The Chinese weaponry was not as advanced as that of the British, and defeat in wars weakened the country, not only physically, but that also weakened the country's morale lowering its status in the eyes of the rest of the world.
Another factor that made China's morale drop rapidly were the unequal treaties, which were signed with the British, and French. Too many parts of China were taken away, and too much trouble was caused with the partitioning of the country. The peasants rebelled, the government tried putting the rebellions down, some unsuccessfully, in the end causing the Chinese empire to deteriorate, and become so weak that even Japan could defeat it in the Sino- Japanese war.
I believe that even if China would not have had the opium wars with the west, and would be miserably defeated by it, it would still sooner rather than later collapse, because of the slow development, not being able to catch up with the west.
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