Introduction
The Opium Wars remains to be the worst wars in the history of China. The wars, together with the Taiping Rebellion, resulted in the deaths of tenths of millions of people. The Opium Wars were necessary for the Western powers to gain entry into the flourishing Chinese market. The Taiping Rebellion which begun during the same period played to the advantage of the Western powers and made it easier for the western powers to acquire more trading rights and freedom in China. Likewise, the opium wars resulted in the formation and development of the Taiping rebellion. The first opium war weakened the Chinese imperial powers and allowed for the influx of Christians missionaries who contributed significantly to the formation of the Taiping movement. The paper describes events of the opium wars and the Taiping Rebellion and the conditions for the wars and their outcomes.
The Opium Wars
a) The First Opium Wars
British traders entered the Chinese market exporting opium illegally as early as the mid-eighteenth century ( Kang, 2018) . These British traders gained entry into China mainly through India and sold opium to the Chinese illegally. The influx of foreign opium traders grew considerable by 1820. Soon there was a widespread addiction among the Chinese, which caused devastating economic and social disruption. China had been a very wealthy and powerful country in the east under the steady rule of the Qing dynasty from the seventeenth century to that point. The Chinese government recognized the growing addiction and the resultant social and economic disruption in the country and decided to do something about it. In 1839, the Chinese government under the Qing dynasty ordered the confiscation of all opium stored in warehouses in Canton, present-day Guangzhou, as way of dealing with the opium problem. The Chinese managed to confiscate and destroy over a thousand tons of opium in Canton. Opium merchants persuaded the British government to help them get back the value of their opium. Hostilities grew between the two governments over the following months. The British sent warship to china, attacked its coastal regions killing many Chinese locals. The British conquered Hong Kong by mid-1841 and later, Nanjing the following year, which ended the war. A one-sided treaty, the treaty of Nanjing, would then be signed immediately after the end of that war. China was required to pay a large war indemnity, allow the British to trade and reside in four areas, and cede Hong Kong to the British ( Kang, 2018) .
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
b) Second Opium Wars
The first opium war significantly weakened the Qing government. On top of that, the Taiping rebellion was becoming a nightmare to the Qing government. After the first Opium war ended, the Qing government’s main problem was quelling the Taiping rebellion. The British saw an opportunity to extend their trading rights in the country. In the mid-1850s while china was busy responding to the Taiping attacks and preventing more people from joining the Taiping movement, the British renewed hostilities. Fighting ensued with the British bombarding Chinese towns such as Canton and the Chinese destroying British factories and warehouses. The French later joined the British and made the war quite difficult for the Chinese. The Chinese were quite inferior to the Western powers and could not do more than destroy warehouses belonging to foreigners and create blockades. More one-sided treaties were later signed allowing foreigners to settle in Beijing and opening more ports to Western trade and settlement. Leaders also granted Christian missionaries freedom of movement, and foreigners allowed to travel throughout the interior of China. In other negotiations in Shanghai, the lawmakers finally legalized Opium trade. The war proceeded until 1860 when the British finally captured Beijing, forcing the Qing government into agreeing to observe the treating signed earlier. Besides, the Chinese were required to cede more territory (the southern part of the Kowloon Peninsula) to the British. In return, the Western powers would help the Qing government stop the Taiping rebellion.
The Taiping Rebellion
The story of the Taiping rebellion begins with the story of its leader, Hong Xiuquan. Around the time of the first Opium Wars, Hong became very sick and was in bed for days. When he awoke, he told of stories of himself being in heaven and fighting the demon. People believed he had gone mad. After the end of the first opium war, the Chinese imperial prestige was significantly damaged, allowing a massive influx of Christian missionaries into China. Hong soon encountered the words of Jesus which changed his views and everything he believed in before. He became convinced that his visions connect to the story of Jesus and heaven. He was quite confident that he was the son of God and Jesus was his older brother. Hong spread the stories of his visions and soon started journeying across China gathering believers. The followers comprised of poor peasants who found the ideologies of their leader more appealing. Hong introduced a communal approach to every aspect of life and burnished private ownership among his followers ( Chin &Fogel, 2018) .
The Taiping Rebellion began in 1850 when Hong alleged Jesu urged him to fight on behalf of heaven. He began arming his followers, buying the gun powder, and organizing his followers into a military. The first major clash between the Taiping and the Qing government took place near the end of 1851. The Taiping won the battle by surprise. More followers joined the ‘Heavenly King’s army, and in 1852, they were able to capture the city of Yongan. Later that year, after a series of killings, the Taiping movement took control of Nanjing. At this point, the army had grown to a capacity of over two million followers. The Taiping would continue to hold Nanjing for eleven years. When the second opium war broke out in 1856, Hong foolishly thought the western powers would sympathize with his movement. He, therefore, went out of their way and also provided help to them. Later when the opium war ended in 1861, the Western power diverted their attention and begun attacking the Taiping and taking back all that Taiping had conquered ( Platt, 2015) . Hong died in 1864 and with him died the rebellion. The Qing government massacred all the remaining Taiping forces and took back Nanjing. By end of the rebellion, an estimated twenty million people had died ( Chin &Fogel, 2018) .
Conditions and Causes of the Opium Wars
China flourished under the Qing dynasty rule since the beginning of the seventeenth century to the early nineteenth century. During this period, China was both a powerful nation and a very wealthy one. Venturing into china at the time was an excellent business opportunity. At the time, Opium was one of the major products for the British economy. The British wanted to gain extra rights and freedom for conducting their businesses in China. In addition to promoting the opium business in China, they would also open the country for many other trading opportunities in order to sustain and enrich its economy. The opium war was, therefore, an excuse for opening up China for Western trading. The British were confident about winning the war against China given their superiority. Other conditions and causes for the war include the confiscation and destruction of over a thousand tons of opium by the Qing government, the frequent hostilities and killings of foreigners by the Chinese and the Taiping rebellion.
The Taiping rebellion presented a huge opportunity for the British to further gain more rights and freedom in China ( Platt, 2015) . The British used the opportunity to bargain for more rights and freedom of conducting their business in China. The weakened and frustrated Qing government would not stand any chance against the foreign powers and would have no choice but to give in to any demands made by the British.
Conditions for the Outcome of the Wars
China was already a powerful state years before the Opium Wars. However, its military prowess could not match that of the Western powers. Chinese forces used inferior weapons such as swords and arrows which no match for the British arms. The war had to end with the group with the superior weapons winning. The Taiping rebellion was another reason for the outcome of the Opium war, precisely the second opium war. The rebellion frustrated the Qing government for over a decade. The weakened and frustrated government could not, therefore, stand a chance against the British. The second opium war was, therefore, merely an opportunity for the western powers to acquire more control in China. The war had to end with the Chinese surrendering to the terms of the Western powers.
Conclusion
The Opium Wars, as discussed above, were opportunistic wars that destroyed the lives of millions of people. The British, confident about winning a war against the Chinese, entered the war to gain more rights and freedom for trading in China. The addiction of many Chinese triggered the Qing government to confiscate and destroy enormous tons of Opium in an attempt to stop the Opium trade. The action triggered the British to declare war and later gain more trading rights and freedom in China. The Taiping rebellion created yet another opportunity for the Western powers to gain more territories, rights and freedom for doing business in China.
References
Chin, S., &Fogel, J. A. (2018). The Taiping Rebellion . Routledge.
Kang, H. (2018). The Opium Wars-Two Armed Conflicts concerning the Qing Dynasty and the British Regarding the Right to Trade. THE PPEREVIEW , 46.
Platt, S. R. (2015). 2 British intervention in the Taiping Rebellion. Britain and China, 1840-1970: Empire, Finance and War , 41.
