He holds an M.A. in Japanese studies from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. As part of his master's program,...
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Opium Wars, two armed conflicts in China in the mid-19th century between the forces of Western countries and of the Qing dynasty, which ruled China from 1644 to 1911/12. The first Opium War (1839–42) was fought between China and Britain, and the second Opium War (1856–60), also known as the Arrow War or the Anglo-French War in China, was fought by Britain and France against China. In each case the foreign powers were victorious and gained commercial privileges and legal and territorial concessions in China. The conflicts marked the start of the era of unequal treaties and other inroads on Qing sovereignty that helped weaken and ultimately topple the dynasty in favour of republican China in the early 20th century.
Also known as the Anglo-Chinese War, it was a series of military clashes that occurred between Great Britain and the Chinese ruling Qing dynasty. Chinese officials took strict measures against the opium trade and threatened those who violated it with the death penalty, which caused heavy losses to the British government, as the British were the most prominent suppliers of opium narcotic to China and since they were much stronger militarily, they defeated the Chinese and imposed sanctions that granted the major Western countries privileges. Especially commercial in China
