So, what is this evolutionary process like? How did China and Britain turn from confrontation to war? Please listen to JAL Jun for your analysis.
Guangzhou shisanhang
First, the seeds of war-the East India Company
Let's take a look at the history of the East India Company: Queen Elizabeth I granted the company a royal charter on June1600 65438+February 3 1, giving it the privilege to trade in India. In fact, this charter gives East India a trade monopoly of 2 1 year. With the change of time, the East India Company has changed from a commercial trading enterprise to the actual owner of India.
The East India Company mainly monopolized the trading rights of East India, and one of its main trading targets was the Qing government. Therefore, the East India Company strongly urged the Qing government to change its foreign policy in order to better trade. The East India Company instigated the British government to send Mangane and Amish missions to China, hoping to make the Qing government change its policy, but both missions ended in failure.
Magney's trip to China
After two failures, the East India Company still dared not take a tough confrontation policy against the Qing Dynasty. For example, the board of directors of the East India Company warned the following people not to confront the Qing government fiercely in Guangzhou. They said frankly:
"You must learn to be careful what you say and do to avoid hostile disputes with the China government under any circumstances."
"If you want trade to continue, you must put up with the annoying restrictions of the Guangzhou government."
However, in practice, the East India Company still can't change their colonial appearance of swaggering and swaggering. They are superstitious about the power and ostentation of force, so they often use tough methods to pay off the government.
1823- 1828 after the bankruptcy of Guangzhou businessmen, British businessmen demonstrated frequently to demand more businessmen. They put pressure on the Guangzhou government by refusing to import merchant ships, leaving Guangzhou through members of the Merchant Museum, and even organizing armed sailors to show off their strength. Although it failed in the end, it was well received by the merchants.
So a series of conflicts broke out between the Qing government and foreign businessmen. For example 1830, the East India Company sheltered three Indian Bath people who killed Dutch captain Mei Jianzhi and prevented them from being tried by China law; The Qing government demolished the illegal buildings built by the British, which triggered the dissatisfaction and resistance of British businessmen. The "Eight Rules for Binding Outsiders" promulgated by Li Hongbin, Governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, aroused British dissatisfaction and intensified the Sino-British struggle.
Faced with this situation, the Special Committee and British businessmen did not abide by the forbearance requirements issued by the East India Company. Instead, they chose to confront the Guangzhou authorities on the one hand and seek help from the East India Company on the other, asking them to try their best to show their strength in Guangzhou and threaten the Qing government to make it yield.
The East India Company is a colonial and aggressive company. They are often superstitious about violence and threats. Even if they wanted to be tolerant, it was impossible for these colonists. So the seeds of the Opium War were planted as early as the East India Company.
Trade map of British East India Company
Second, the bud of war-from Laube to Robinson
1834, in view of the crisis, Lao Bei, the chief commercial governor of the British government in China, arrived in China, hoping to establish direct official relations with the Guangdong authorities, but was rejected by the Qing government.
In the Qing government's view, in the face of such a big event, it is necessary to write a letter requesting the imperial edict, and it is not allowed to enter the city before the imperial edict is issued. Lao Bei believes that trade issues should be discussed by businessmen instead of following the emperor's advice. The two sides had a huge dispute over this.
The Qing government stopped the trade with Britain in a simple and rude way, blocked the British commercial museum, cut off the supply of British materials, and wanted to make Pharaoh North yield. Pharaoh Bay was also a glutton, and attracted two warships to forcibly enter the waters of China, trying to make the Qing government yield by showing off their strength. The governor of Guangdong and Guangxi refused to give in and led the navy to confront Lao Bei.
The practice of obeying the law and servility aroused the dissatisfaction of British businessmen, who condemned the law and servility one after another. In the end, Kaka was exhausted, anxious and angry, and eventually died.
The conflict between the two is obvious. There was a fierce conflict between the imperious empire and the Chinese empire. Both sides want to change each other to suit themselves, even by force. This is also mixed with the contradiction between the British free trade system and the Qing government's closed-door system, so the two sides can only change each other by force, and the seeds of war quietly germinated at this time.
Law and the status of law
Since then, the British government has changed its conflict measures, hoping to promote trade by reconciliation. Therefore, a method called "silence strategy" is adopted. Derby, the second commercial director, said:
Until China people take further action, it seems that it is the most appropriate policy for us to keep absolute silence and ban.
This "silent policy" continued until the fourth commercial director Yi Law, when Yi Law began a new action.
Charles Elliot
Third, the imminent war-China policy of foreign countries and France.
After Yi Fa came to power, he began to take active actions against China, and he took active diplomatic measures. He believes that China should actively communicate with the government, and the British government should re-evaluate and adjust its policies. Yi Fa began to learn and use China's system.
After taking office, Yili began to actively contact Deng Tingzhen, governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, and adopted a low-key way to deal with the Qing government. Soon after, Liu Yi successfully returned to Guangzhou and won more and more space for himself. However, all the measures taken by Yi Fa are self-assertion, without the consent and authorization of the British government. This behavior aroused the anger of British Prime Minister david palmer. In the end, Yi Fa listened to the arrangement of Ba Maizun, and the negotiations with China ended in failure, and Yi Fa was driven out of Guangzhou.
I have to say that Yi Law can be said to be a good commercial director who knows China officialdom. However, the law of righteousness faces a difficult problem, that is, to please the Qing government, and the British government will be dissatisfied; Please the British government, the Qing government will not be satisfied. Therefore, this is basically an irreconcilable contradiction between two systems, two systems and two countries, which is difficult to solve through negotiation, so the shadow of war is constantly expanding at this time.
Since then, the opium issue has caused new controversy. With the continuous expansion of opium in China, the Qing government's efforts to ban smoking were also expanding. Yifa wants to intervene in the opium problem in order to profit from it.
When the British opium merchant was arrested by the Qing government for smuggling opium by righteous men, Yifa immediately stood up and expressed dissatisfaction and accusation against righteous men's behavior. Then Coco arrived in Guangzhou, began to rectify opium merchants, and issued a notice in the name of the British government, asking British businessmen to stop opium trade. The notice is:
All sailboats, clippers and other small sailboats owned by the British who regularly or occasionally engage in illegal opium trade in Humen will be withdrawn from Humen within three days from now and will not come back to engage in this illegal trade.
The practice of the righteous law won the favor of the Guangzhou government, and the righteous law returned to Guangzhou city again, and the two sides resumed normal trade, which shows that the practice of the righteous law is indeed practical and effective.
However, the implementation of the law of righteousness caused dissatisfaction among British businessmen. They mobilized newspapers and other media to spread rumors of just laws, which once again aroused the dissatisfaction of British Prime Minister david palmer. Sino-British relations, which had been slightly eased, were sharply opposed again. Finally, Yifa changed his view and began to actively prepare for China. War seems to be on the verge.
British Prime Minister John Bamazun
Fourth, the first voice of the war-the discussion in Britain and the curtain of the war
After the failure of negotiations on justice and law again and again, there were also discussions on the policies of the Qing government in Britain.
Derby believes that in the face of the Qing government, "the China government will not change its foreign policy unless your majesty takes compulsory measures." British Foreign Secretary Wellington proposed that "a large destroyer and a smaller warship should be kept in the waters of China", and Karl gutzlaff, Secretary of the British Commercial Office in China, wrote a paper entitled "On the Present Situation of Our Relations with China", arguing that "the arrogance of China people should be dealt a fatal blow by force".
Under various pressures, British Prime Minister david palmer also decided to take tough measures against China. He put forward:
"Starting from the need to protect British merchant ships and wealth from looting and make British businessmen and sailors obey orders, a warship should be stationed at the China base for a long time and command the commander of the warship to keep in touch with the British government agencies in China."
The Qing government gradually stepped up its efforts to quit smoking, and finally Lin Zexu confiscated opium. Yifa dragged the British government into it, and lobbied the British government to take military action against China, which was accepted by Bamazun, and China and Britain came to the end of the war.
The destruction of opium in Humen
Verb (abbreviation of verb) abstract
Therefore, long before the Opium War broke out, the British people had gradually changed their attitudes and made preparations and ideas for going to war with China. Therefore, the Opium War was premeditated by the British people, not a coincidence war as we thought.
What is hidden behind the Opium War is not only the war itself, but the irreconcilable contradiction between China and Britain, which belongs to irreconcilable contradiction in terms of national policy, government guidance and all aspects. Therefore, only by means of war can we force the other side to yield and accept their wishes.
Therefore, the outbreak of the Opium War was not an accidental event, but a historical necessity.