1814 TO 1816
CHINA — VERSUS — BRITAIN}
INTRODUCTION
:
Smoking Opium
The
Opium Wars, during which Britain forced China to open its ports to
international trade, including the selling of Opium, is possibly the most
ignominious series of wars ever engaged in by the British Empire. The British
were at the time, near the height of their power, prosperous, highly civilized,
and 'socially conscientious' enough to have enacted democratic reforms within
their own realm, such as outlawing slavery and restricting child labor. The
importation of Opium was in fact, illegal within Britain itself, and yet they
submitted to the idea of fighting a one-sided war with China for the purpose of
forcing the Opium trade upon a government that was only trying to prevent
illegal foreign trafficking of a baneful substance. Some history of the historical
relationship between Britain and China is necessary to understand how these
highly inglorious wars came about.
For
many years leading up to the Opium Wars, Britain had been frustrated in its
dealings with China and had striven unsuccessfully for decades to negotiate
more favorable trading terms with them. The Chinese government, based on their
interactions with the European trading companies for nearly 200 years, had an
exceedingly low opinion of westerners and would not consent to make treaties
with their ambassadors, much less open their ports to their wares, or encourage
trade in any way. Britain had already tried every conceivable diplomatic effort
to increase trading opportunities, but all exertions were fruitless. The
Chinese government simply wanted nothing to do with foreigners or their
products.
Opium
was the most important trading product with China precisely because it was
illegal and carried on largely by smugglers. There simply wasn't much demand,
legal or otherwise, for bolts of linen or steam engines, or any of the more
savory items that Britain might have had to offer, and there wouldn't be, as
long as the Chinese government discouraged such trade. The Opium Wars were
therefore, entirely opportunistic on the part of Britain. It had attempted
every peaceful means at its disposal to no avail. The incident which sparked
the First Opium War was the only possible pretext it had for war because it was
the only occasion on which the Chinese government had done anything that could
possibly be construed, however flimsily, as a violation of British sovereignty.
The second Opium War was likewise sparked by a trivial incident. In both cases,
Britain had resolved upon war because it failed to achieve what it desired
diplomatically. While the practice of using a flimsy excuse to commence
hostilities was by no means an unusual practice, and the war itself was
conducted in a measured fashion without causing a great deal of physical damage
to China, it would probably have been less disgraceful to attack China openly
and without excuse than to try to pass off the suppression of opium traffic as
acasus belli.
FIRST
OPIUM WAR : 1840-1842
The
Incident that sparked the first Opium War occurred when the Chinese government
placed an embargo on all British ships and demanded that British subjects
within their realm turn over all their opium to the Chinese government. The
British commander in charge of the region at the time was Charles Elliot. He
agreed to these terms and ordered the opium surrendered. The Chinese
confiscated and destroyed over 20,000 chests of opium. This occurred in 1839. A
year later, after much debate and consideration, Britain declared war on China
and demanded reparations for the destruction of British private property.
Elliot opposed the war, and argued that the Opium trade was a disgrace, but
when the British government determined on war, he was put in charge of the invading
fleet.
The
actual fighting commenced on June 22, 1841, when the British fleet took the
island of Chu-san. They then sailed to up the nearby river and tried to open
negotiations. On the 30th of August, a meeting took place between a Chinese
minister and Elliot, but no terms could be agreed upon. Another meeting was
arranged, but still no terms could be agreed to so Elliot moved up the river
with his fleet and took two more forts. At this point Elliot was able to
negotiate a treaty with the minister, who could see first hand the futility of
further resistance, but the Emperor was furious and refused to sign it. The war
was resumed and in February 1842 the forts protecting Canton were attacked.
Negotiations continued, but the emperor would still not agree to any terms. In
May additional forces arrived and a siege of Canton was commenced. More
treaties were negotiated, but the emperor always refused the terms negotiated
by his ministers. Eventually the British refused any further negotiations until
they were assured of the emperors backing. Meanwhile they continued to fight
various Chinese armies raised against them, in several extremely lop-sided
battles due to their vastly superior technology. In one case 15,000 Chinese
were defeated by 500 British. In August the British sailed up the river and
laid siege to Nanking. At this point, a minister with papers from the emperor
guaranteeing his authority to treat accepted the terms laid down by the
British. These included the payment of a large indemnity, the opening of five
ports within China, and the cession of the Island of Hong Kong to the British.
SECOND OPIUM WAR : 1856-186
The
second opium was in some ways a repeat of the first, but with some important
differences. Again, the British had specific treaty demands that they desired
to negotiate, which the Chinese government would not agree to without coercion.
Again, they resolve to go to war, and identified a flimsy casus belli, this
time an incident in which the Chinese government boarded a small boat flying a
British flag, and arrested twelve of its crew.
There
were some major differences however. This time, instead of attacking China
unilaterally, and taking the risk that China would make an alliance with
another western power, Britain formed a coalition with France and they attacked
China together. Another important change, was the fact that, having dealt more
closely with the Chinese government over the last few years, the British
ambassadors did not believe that the government would deal openly and truthfully
with them unless they were taught a severe lesson. The Second Opium War, from
the beginning, was more ambitious than the first, and there was a conscious
intention of the need to destroy and discredit the Chinese "doctrine of
Universal Sovereignty". The Mandarin government believed that China was at
the center of the Universe, and could dictate terms to other
"barbarian" states, and the western governments found it impossible
to negotiate with them on equal terms. There was an enormous cultural gulf between
the two cultures—the westerners perceived the Chinese leaders as dishonest,
corrupt and treacherous. The Chinese perceived the westerners as rude, grasping
barbarians. The British were determined that the Chinese would deal with them
on their own terms, and believed that these reforms were needed for the good of
the Chinese themselves.
The
idea of making a strong show of force was present from the beginning of the
Second Opium War. The British began by taking Canton, and then proceeded to
take the Taku Forts which guarded the harbor nearest the capital of Peking. The
Europeans marched on Peking, but instead of sacking the city, destroyed the
Emperors summer palace, in order to punish the government for kidnapping
several of the English ambassadors, and other acts of bad faith. At the time,
the idea of destroying the royal palace in order to punish the emperor, instead
of marching on Peking and displacing thousands of innocent people was
considered "enlightened", and humane. (Ironically, this is now one of
the most universally condemned acts of the war, derided as "cultural
vandalism.") In any case, the explicit intention to humiliate and debase
the Chinese government, rather than kill many of its civilians, was
accomplished. More ports were opened to the foreigners. Restitution for the war
was demanded. Many privileges were granted to westerners, and the Opium trade
was finally legalized.
Chinese
defeat British Fought June 25, 1859, when an attempt was made by the
British to carry the forts at the mouth of the Peiho River. Eleven
light-draught gunboats crossed the bar, and tried to silence the batteries, but
without success, and at 5 p.m. an attempt was made to carry the defenses by a
land attack. A force of 600 marines and blue-jackets, under Captain Vansittart,
was landed, but after severe fighting was driven back to the boats, with a loss
of 68 killed, and nearly 300 wounded. Six of the gunboats were sunk or
disabled, and their crews also suffered heavily.
British defeat Chinese On August 21,
1860, a second and successful assault was made on the forts by a force of
11,000 British and 7,000 French troops, under Sir Hope Grant. After a brief
bombardment, the small north fort, garrisoned by 500 Chinese, was stormed by
2,500 British, and 400 French, 400 of the garrison falling, while the British
lost 21 killed and 184 wounded. In the course of the day the remaining forts
surrendered without further fighting.
