Imperialism in China: The Opium Wars

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Imperialism in China The Opium Wars Boxer
Rebellion

• Global II Spiconardi

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Imperialism in China

• China refused to adapt to Western Culture
• History of isolation
• Isolated by jungles, mountains and desert
• Middle Kingdom Ethnocentric
• Ethnocentrism ? Belief that your culture is
  better than all others

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Imperialism in China

• Believed they were self-sufficient
• Had little interest or desire to trade with the
  West
• Europeans nations saw the market potential of
  China (435 million people)
• Hmm
• What would the Chinese people be willing to trade
  for?
• What product would they want that they didnt
  have?
• OPIUM

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The Opium Wars

• Opium was used recreationally in China starting
  in the 15th Century
• Opium was prohibited in 1729
• British start to smuggle opium from India into
  China

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The Opium Wars

• By 1835, 12 million people were addicted to opium

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The Opium Wars

• Emperor Daoguang has one of this top officials,
  Lin Zexu write a letter to Queen Victoria
• Read the excerpt from Letter to Queen Victoria
• According to Lin, what was Britains motivation
  for trading opium?
• Why did Lin oppose the opium trade?
• What does Lins letter reveal about Chinas
  attitudes toward foreigners and Western influence?

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The Opium Wars

• Emperor Daoguang orders British shipments of
  opium be confiscated and destroyed
• During one seizure of British cargo
• 20,000 chests of opium were destroyed
• Each chest was worth 1,000
• In 2007 dollars thats about 300,000,000

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The Opium Wars

• Britain attacks coastal Chinese cities to start
  the war in October of 1839
• Battles took place mostly at sea
• Outdated Chinese ships were no match for the
  modern steam-powered gunboats of the British

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The Opium Wars

• The Treaty of Nanjing
• China had to pay reparations
• All Chinese ports were opened to the British
• Britain gained control of Hong Kong (Restored to
  China in 1997)
• Extraterritoriality ? British other foreigners
  were not subject to Chinese law in 5 major port
  cities of China

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Sphere of Influence/Open Door Policy

• Other foreign nations sign treaties unfair to
  China
• Each nation gets a sphere of influence
• Sphere of Influence ? an area in which a foreign
  nation controlled trade investment
• In 1899 the United States proposes the Open Door
  Policy
• Open Door Policy ? Chinas doors (ports) be open
  to merchants of all nations
• In exchange China would not be colonized

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Sphere of Influence/Open Door Policy
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Response to Imperialism

• Taiping Rebellion (Refer to reading)
• Empress Cixi wants to strengthen China
• Promotes programs to update the educational
  system, and military, factories
• Boxer Rebellion (Refer to reading)