China before the war.

From the early Qing Dynasty to the eve of the Opium War, China was still an independent feudal country, and this powerful country showed a declining trend from the end of Qianlong. The feudal system seriously hindered the development of new productive forces. In the middle of Ming Dynasty, the development of capitalism was very slow. Before the Opium War, the self-sufficient natural economy, which combined small-scale peasant economy with cottage industry, always occupied the dominant position in China's social economy. Land annexation is becoming more and more serious, which has become a common phenomenon in China. Bureaucratic corruption and feudal autocracy developed to the extreme. The Qing government used the "Four Books" and "Five Classics" to imprison people's thoughts and brutally suppress those who were dissatisfied with or commented on current politics. National defense is empty and armaments are slack. In terms of foreign relations, the long-term closed-door policy of Qing Dynasty seriously hindered China's foreign trade, social politics and economic development. With the increasing corruption of the Qing dynasty and the intensification of exploitation and oppression of the people, domestic class contradictions have intensified day by day, and people's resistance struggles have broken out one after another. The rule of the Qing Dynasty is facing a profound crisis, and the feudal society in China has come to an end.

War process

1839 July, Lin's case happened in Tsim Sha Tsui Village, Kowloon. The British sailor was drunk, made trouble in the village and killed the villager Lin. Lin Zexu asked the British commercial director Yi Fa to hand over the murderer, but Yi Fa himself gave a light sentence. /kloc-In August of 0/5, Lin Zexu banned all trade, sent troops into Macao, and further deported the British. This incident thus became the fuse of the Opium War. 10 year 10 month 1 day, the British cabinet made a decision to "send a fleet to the Sea of China" on the grounds that business was blocked and the lives of British people were threatened, although according to the laws of China, British people have no right to store opium in China. 1840 65438+1On October 5th, according to Daoguang's will, Lin Zexu officially closed Hong Kong and cut off trade with Britain forever. On October 8th, 65438/kloc-0, the captain of the British "Volain" announced that Guangzhou Port and the Pearl River Estuary would be closed from June 65438 to October 8th, 65438. 16 10/6 16, Queen Victoria made a speech in Parliament, saying that she was paying close attention to the interests of British people in China and national dignity. The events in China led to the interruption of trade relations between our subjects and that country. I am very concerned about this incident and will continue to pay attention to it, which affects the interests of our subjects and the dignity of the royal family. In February, the British government appointed Yi Law and Yi Law as deputy plenipotentiaries, and Yi Law was the commander-in-chief of the British army. In April, the British Parliament held a heated debate on this issue. Under the influence of Queen Victoria, the British government finally passed the military action by 27 1 vote to 262. The British government has never officially declared war, thinking that military action is only revenge, not war. In June, more than 40 British ships and a mobile fleet composed of 4,000 soldiers led by Yiliu set off from India and arrived in the Sea of China, marking the official start of the first Opium War. According to Rhodes Murphy's analysis, the deep reason why Britain sent troops was that it wanted to have the opportunity of free trade with the huge China market, so as to directly enter the China market. And hoped that the Qing government could recognize Britain as an equal country. However, due to the traditional world order, the five-service tribute system and other unequal diplomacy, China's arrogant attitude of posing as China made Britain unable to tolerate contempt or neglect and exclusion, and China's attitude seemed out of place in the international community that had entered the modern world at that time. Britain regards China's refusal as a sign of backwardness, while some western Renye Fang have a sense of mission and resort to force to push China into the modern world when necessary, which will benefit both sides. It was the arrogance of both sides that led to the outbreak of confrontation.

War result

1842, the Qing government was forced to negotiate with the British government in Nanjing Jinghai Temple, and the two sides discussed it about four times in the temple. On August 29th, the Qing government in China accepted all the conditions put forward by Britain, and formally signed the first unequal treaty in modern China, the British treaty of nanking, on the British flagship "Khan Hua", which met most of the requirements of Britain. . Main content: (1) Allocate Hong Kong Island to Britain. (2) Open Guangzhou, Xiamen, Fuzhou, Ningbo and Shanghai as trading ports, and allow British people to set up consulates at trading ports. (3) China paid 2 1 10,000 silver dollars (military expenditure, paid in 24 years) to Britain. (4) The British import and export goods in China should be taxed, and both sides have agreed. (5) British businessmen and China businessmen trade freely and are not restricted by "public banks". (6) Having consular jurisdiction, the British can commit crimes in China without being punished by the laws of China. 1843, the British government forced the Qing government to conclude the Articles of Association for Trade with Five Ports and the Provisions on the Aftermath of Trade with Five Ports (Humen Treaty) as annexes to the treaty of nanking, adding provisions on consular jurisdiction and one-sided MFN treatment. The powers did not want Britain to become a big country, so they signed more unequal treaties with China. 1844 On July 3rd, China and the United States signed the Sino-American Wang Xia Treaty. 1844, 10, 10 On October 24th, France and China signed the Huangpu Treaty, enjoying consular jurisdiction and missionary rights. 1843, 10, 10 On October 8th, China and Britain signed the Humen Treaty, which redefined the most-favored-nation treatment and consular jurisdiction enjoyed by Britain. Starting from 1845, Belgium, Sweden and other countries also coerced the Qing government to sign similar treaties, further damaging China's sovereignty. The failure of the Opium War and the signing of a series of unequal treaties, such as the treaty of nanking, caused fundamental changes in China society. Politically independent China, due to the destruction of territorial sovereignty and the disintegration of self-sufficient natural economy after the war, gradually became the world capitalist commodity market and raw material supplier, and China began to become a semi-colonial and semi-feudal society.