Opium Wars Of 1850: The Rise Of Imperialism In Asia

Imperialism in Asia

In the 1830s, Britain took advantage of the trade deficit with the Chinese by selling Indian opium to the Chinese market. This a very profitable crop for Britain and most affordable crop in world markets. Opium eventually came into China faster which created a higher demand for the opium. The sharp rise became an addiction for social cost and criminal acts and the Chinese government led by the aging Machu Dynasty acted against the British. In 1839, the Chinese got rid of the British opium in port city of Canton which started the Opium Wars of 1839-1842. The British acted on this by easily dominating the Chinese forces and their expeditionary force blocking and controlling the Canton. In 1842, the Treaty of Nanking granted Britain to their trading rights and commercial rights in China which marked the first of unequal treaties between the Chinese and

At the end of the century, five wars between the Chinese and European powers such as: France, Britain, Germany, Japan, and Russia all had territorial and commercial advantages in their spheres of influence. The spheres of influence were comprised of many territories, ports, shipping lines, rivers, etc. The Chinese did not like the Europeans inside thousands of Chinese port cities and meant that foreigners were exempt from the law enforcement. Even though they were on Chinese land, they were not judged or tried by the officials due to their own nation that generally looked opposite directions of profit. This result of lawlessness came together with European economic, political, and military domination over the Chinese which eventually contributed the anti-imperial sentiment. The Boxer Rebellion saw the sentiment create this idea of mass social arrest and war. With encouragement from the Chinese impress, they dedicated everything they had to end foreign exploration in North China. The international expeditionary forces put down the revolt and made Bejing to