The Opium War was an armed conflict between Britain and China in the years 1839-1842 and 1856-1860.
With the end of the Napoleonic Wars, all maritime trade turned to the East, but there was a problem: China still maintained some restrictions in relation to trade with foreign countries.
Great Britain, which in turn was going through the second Industrial Revolution, increasingly needed raw materials at low prices and a large consumer market to sell its products. And this is where China and India arouse great interest on the part of the British as they both had a large population, which would mean a large consumer market. India was open to any foreign business, and on the contrary China was very resistant, at least with regard to the purchase of European products, but selling its products to these interested countries, she did not think twice.
China was a major producer of silk, porcelain and tea, which was the product that aroused the greatest interest in the British. In 1720 they bought about 12,700 tonnes of tea from the Chinese, and in 1830 they bought around 360,000 tonnes, however the Chinese had no interest in European products, which brought very little profit to the British. Only one product aroused great interest in them and it was often he who made trade with China profitable. That product was Opium.
