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The number of people using the drug in China grew rapidly, to the point that the trade imbalance shifted in the foreign countries' favor. In 1839 matters came to a head when Chinese official Lin Zexu tried to end the opium trade altogether by destroying a large amount of opium in Canton, thereby triggering the First Opium War.
The Chinese Opium Wars. London: Hutchinson. ISBN 978-0-09-122730-2. Fay, Peter Ward (1975). The Opium War, 1840–1842: Barbarians in the Celestial Empire in the Early Part of the Nineteenth Century and the War by Which They Forced Her Gates Ajar. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. ISBN 978-0-8078-1243-3. Gelber, H. (2004).
After the First Opium War in 1840 China was in a shaky situation due to onerous conditions of the ratified peace treaty and inner sociopolitical conflict within the nation: the weakening of the power of the Manchu emperors led to an open Taiping Rebellion and, most importantly, formation of the Taiping State, with which the government fought for many years ever since. [2]
British and French forces looted, plundered and burned the Old Summer Palace to the ground for the second time (the first time being in 1860, following the Second Opium War). German forces were particularly severe in exacting revenge for the killing of their ambassador due to the orders of Kaiser Wilhelm II, who held anti-Asian sentiments ...
The war followed on from the First Opium War. In 1842, the Treaty of Nanking granted an indemnity and extraterritoriality to Britain, the opening of five treaty ports, and the cession of Hong Kong Island. The failure of the treaty to satisfy British goals of improved trade and diplomatic relations led to the Second Opium War (1856–1860). [8]
Sailing off the Chinese coast, USS Portsmouth and USS Levant had received news of the beginning of the Second Opium War. The two sloops-of-war were tasked with protecting American lives by landing a 150-man detachment of marines and sailors in Canton. After a peaceful landing the Americans occupied the ancient city.
The Battle of Canton (Chinese: 廣州城戰役) was fought by British and French forces against Qing China on 28–31 December 1857 during the Second Opium War.The British High Commissioner, Lord Elgin, was keen to take the city of Canton as a demonstration of power and to capture Chinese official Ye Mingchen, who had resisted British attempts to implement the 1842 Treaty of Nanking.
The Battle of the Bogue (Chinese: 虎門之戰) was fought between British and Chinese forces in the Pearl River Delta, Guangdong province, China, on 23–26 February 1841 during the First Opium War. The British launched an amphibious attack at the Humen strait (Bogue), capturing the forts on the islands of Anunghoy and North Wangtong.