The Opium Wars

The Opium Wars were fought between the British and the Chinese from 1839-1842. It had begun because The Chinese government did not want the the British to sell opium in China anymore. Tea from China had become very popular in Britain, but the British needed to use gold and silver to pay for it. The British wanted to balance out trade, so they began to sell tobacco mixed with opium to the Chinese. However, the Chinese were becoming addicted to the drug, so the government wanted to stop the opium trade. Lin Tse-hsü had attempted to stop the Britsh by shutting down all traffic in opium and destroying stores that sold opium. He also tried to send a letter to England to try and get them to stop selling opium in China. England refused and Lin Tse-hsü threatened to cut off trade between England and China, which started the Opium Wars. During the Opium wars, England completely outclassed China in military strength. They had weapons and technology that was far more advanced than China had, so they easily defeated the Chinese.