Day 114 - 19th Century China
Today in WHAP we took notes about China.
So initially, back in the 1800s, China could still protect its own borders, and keep out the west. Britain, among other European nations, was especially eager to open up trade with China for the lucrative money they would make off of the trade.
Eventually, Britain started the McCartney mission by sending in McCartney, a general, to try and broker a trade. Britain wouldn't agree to China's tribute system, so they ended not having any sort of trade relationship. Then, Britain, realizing they couldn't get trade to work in a diplomatic manner, decided to start selling opium to the Chinese. The Chinese people became addicted to the opium, and as a result wanted more and more of the drug.
The British were importing a LOT of opium into China, and due to the population suffering from various side effects of opium the Chinese wanted the British to stop trading opium into China. All efforts of banning opium failed, so the Chinese took the more drastic action of destroying some of the British's opium. Arguably, Britain was waiting for that to happen so that they would then have cause to go and attack them with force. This was the beginning of the opium wars.
In the wars, Britain crushed the Chinese forces with their more advanced technology, including but not limited to steamboats. The Chinese then had to agree to unequal treaties because they lost the wars. These treaties allowed the Europeans to trade in China, not be subjected to the Chinese laws, and even resulted in Britain obtaining Hong Kong. Really at this time, China didn't have control over their territory at all.
Moving forward, the Taiping rebellion, led by Hong Xiuquan, was a massive movement in China where the people actually were strong enough that the Chinese government couldn't deal with them all by themselves, so they had to bring in foreign help, at a heavy cost of more unfair treaties.
With that, the bell rang and we were dismissed. Until Tomorrow!
P.S. - Silas, have you recovered from that Eurostep at JBDL yet?
Moving forward, the Taiping rebellion, led by Hong Xiuquan, was a massive movement in China where the people actually were strong enough that the Chinese government couldn't deal with them all by themselves, so they had to bring in foreign help, at a heavy cost of more unfair treaties.
With that, the bell rang and we were dismissed. Until Tomorrow!
P.S. - Silas, have you recovered from that Eurostep at JBDL yet?
not yet
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