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Conflicts of this era include the Napoleonic Wars in Europe, the American Civil War in North America, the Taiping Rebellion in Asia, the Paraguayan War in South America, the Zulu War in Africa, and the Australian frontier wars in Oceania. 1800–1810. 1810–1819. 1820–1829. 1830–1839. 1840–1849. 1850–1859. 1860–1869. 1870–1879. 1880–1889. 1890–1899.
StartFinishName Of ConflictBelligerents ...(victorious Party (if Applicable))17651865British Empire Susu Tribes18011805United States Sweden (until 1802) Sicily18011801War of the Oranges Part of the War of the ...France Spain18021805The 1840s (pronounced "eighteen-forties") was a decade of the Gregorian calendar that began on January 1, 1840, and ended on December 31, 1849. The decade was noted in Europe for featuring the largely unsuccessful Revolutions of 1848 , also known as the Springtime of Nations .
- Overview
- The first Opium War
- The second Opium War
The Opium Wars were two conflicts fought 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 Great Britain, and the second Opium War (1856–60), also known as the Arrow War or the Anglo-French War in China, was fought by Great Britain and France against China.
Qing dynasty
Read more about the Qing dynasty.
What caused the Opium Wars?
The first Opium War was the result of China’s attempt to suppress the illegal opium trade, which had led to widespread addiction in China and was causing serious social and economic disruption there. British traders were the primary source of the drug in China. The second Opium War was the result of the desire of Great Britain and France to win additional commercial privileges in China, including the legalization of the opium trade, as well as to gain more legal and territorial concessions in China.
Read more below: The first Opium War
The Opium Wars arose from China’s attempts to suppress the opium trade. Foreign traders (primarily British) had been illegally exporting opium mainly from India to China since the 18th century, but that trade grew dramatically from about 1820. The resulting widespread addiction in China was causing serious social and economic disruption there. In spring 1839 the Chinese government confiscated and destroyed more than 20,000 chests of opium—some 1,400 tons of the drug—that were warehoused at Canton (Guangzhou) by British merchants. The antagonism between the two sides increased in July when some drunken British sailors killed a Chinese villager. The British government, which did not wish its subjects to be tried in the Chinese legal system, refused to turn the accused men over to the Chinese courts.
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A History of War
Hostilities broke out later that year when British warships destroyed a Chinese blockade of the Pearl River (Zhu Jiang) estuary at Hong Kong. The British government decided in early 1840 to send an expeditionary force to China, which arrived at Hong Kong in June. The British fleet proceeded up the Pearl River estuary to Canton, and, after months of negotiations there, attacked and occupied the city in May 1841. Subsequent British campaigns over the next year were likewise successful against the inferior Qing forces, despite a determined counterattack by Chinese troops in the spring of 1842. The British held against that offensive, however, and captured Nanjing (Nanking) in late August, which put an end to the fighting.
In the mid-1850s, while the Qing government was embroiled in trying to quell the Taiping Rebellion (1850–64), the British, seeking to extend their trading rights in China, found an excuse to renew hostilities. In early October 1856 some Chinese officials boarded the British-registered ship Arrow while it was docked in Canton, arrested several Chinese crew members (who were later released), and allegedly lowered the British flag. Later that month a British warship sailed up the Pearl River estuary and began bombarding Canton, and there were skirmishes between British and Chinese troops. Trading ceased as a stalemate ensued. In December Chinese in Canton burned foreign factories (trading warehouses) there, and tensions escalated.
The French decided to join the British military expedition, using as their excuse the murder of a French missionary in the interior of China in early 1856. After delays in assembling the forces in China (British troops that were en route were first diverted to India to help quell the Indian Mutiny), the allies began military operations in late 1857. They quickly captured Canton, deposed the city’s intransigent governor, and installed a more-compliant official. In May 1858 allied troops in British warships reached Tianjin (Tientsin) and forced the Chinese into negotiations. The treaties of Tianjin, signed in June 1858, provided residence in Beijing for foreign envoys, the opening of several new ports to Western trade and residence, the right of foreign travel in the interior of China, and freedom of movement for Christian missionaries. In further negotiations in Shanghai later in the year, the importation of opium was legalized.
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The First Opium War ( Chinese : 第一次鴉片戰爭; pinyin : Dìyīcì yāpiàn zhànzhēng ), also known as the Anglo-Chinese War, was a series of military engagements fought between the British Empire and the Qing dynasty of China between 1839 and 1842.
- 4 September 1839 – 29 August 1842, (2 years, 11 months, 3 weeks and 4 days)
3 de jul. de 2019 · The years from 1840 to 1850 were marked by war, political changes, a gold rush in California, and many other important events in America and around the world. 1840. January 10: Penny postage was introduced in Britain. January 13: In a shocking maritime disaster, the steamship Lexington burned and sank in Long Island Sound.
The first Opium War and its aftermath. In February 1840 the British government decided to launch a military expedition, and Elliot and his cousin, George Elliot, were appointed joint plenipotentiaries to China (though the latter, in poor health, resigned in November).
From the Napoleonic Wars to the great Revolutions of the 1820s and 1840s, to the Wars of Unification for both Italy and Germany, and beyond, the wars of the 1800s left lasting effects on the entire world, and set the stage for the great World Wars fo the next century.
