-Talking about the Two Opium Wars

History is sometimes heartbreaking. Without real shots, detailed words, broken relics and traumatic body and mind, we can hardly believe the scenes in China's modern history. Although history has passed, it will not disappear without a trace. History has left behind more than just a pile of materials, several inscriptions and several sites. Preserving history, people are always used to remembering victories, successes and glories, but often forget failures, scars and humiliations. The past history is not so much a period as an exclamation point or even a question mark. 100 years of heavy and dim memories have given people too much grief and thinking. The people of China should not forget, nor can they forget, the scenes in the modern history of China. Although it is full of dots, it is very vivid, such as the two opium wars.

168 years ago, the British imperialist powers opened the door of China's long-term closure with the help of "building a strong ship and sharpening guns", and the modern history of China began. In just 20 years, China was deeply mired in the Opium War twice, and could not extricate itself for a long time. What history has left is not a blank, but a reason worth pondering. "Take history as a mirror", don't make similar mistakes for the same reason. This is the meaning of historical science.

First, the reasons for the outbreak of the two Opium Wars

On the eve of the Opium War in China, although the feudal society had ended, new social factors were constantly emerging, showing a transitional state of mutual infiltration between the old and the new to some extent. But on the whole, the old pattern and outlook of society have not changed. China's self-sufficient small-scale peasant economy still dominates the economy, thus resisting the dumping of imported goods. British industrial products can't find a market in China market at all, and Britain's huge demand for China tea has always led to its trade surplus. In order to change the situation of Sino-British trade, Britain tried to turn China into their raw material producing area and commodity selling market. In essence, Britain launched this war for a long time, which was the inevitable result of British capitalist aggression and expansion.

1856 to 1860, Britain and France jointly launched a war of aggression against China with the support of Russia and the United States. Because its essence is the continuation and expansion of the Opium War. After the Opium War, western capitalist powers invaded China one after another. However, they are not satisfied with the privileges and benefits they have obtained, and deliberately step up their violation of China's sovereignty and economic plunder. 1854, the 12th anniversary of the signing of treaty of nanking. Britain misinterpreted the provisions of the Wang Xia Treaty 12 years later that trade and sea areas could be slightly changed, invoked the MFN clause, and demanded a comprehensive revision of the treaty of nanking from the Qing government. The main contents are as follows: trade throughout China, legalization of opium trade, exemption of import and export goods from customs duties, and the presence of foreign minister in Beijing. France and the United States also requested to amend the treaty respectively. The Qing government refused and the negotiations were fruitless. 1856, the Wang Xia treaty expired for 12 years. With the support of Britain and France, the United States once again asked for a comprehensive revision of the treaty, but it was still rejected by the Qing government. Therefore, the western powers are determined to launch a new war of aggression against China. The following spring, the Crimean War ended. With the victory of Britain and France, more troops were transferred to China. Russia was defeated and tried to make up for the loss by invading China. The United States actively expanded outward and adopted the policy of collaborating with Britain and France to invade China, thus the Second Opium War began.

Second, the influence of the two Opium Wars on China society:

The Opium War was an aggressive war launched by Britain in order to poison the people of China and prevent China from banning smoking. As a result of the war, China made humiliating peace with foreign invaders for the first time, and signed the first unequal treaty-treaty of nanking. Since then, independent China has embarked on the road of semi-colonial and colonial suffering. Therefore, the Opium War was the beginning of the oppression, exploitation and bullying of China people by foreign invaders. However, the Opium War forced China to move from feudal society to capitalist modernization, and China's modernization was a direct product of the Opium War, so the Opium War was the beginning of China's modernization. These two beginnings of the Opium War interweave into an old China 109 history, which is actually the dual role played by the Opium War in China's modernization process. That is, it not only stimulated and promoted China to embark on the road of modernization, but also oppressed and bound the smooth progress of China's modernization and had to embark on the deformed road of semi-colonialism and semi-feudalism. The Opium War forced China people to open their eyes to the world, admit that they were backward, and gradually eliminate the arrogance of "going to China", "being independent" and "being arrogant". The Opium War imported machinery and modern production technology, transplanted hundreds of modern large-scale mechanical industrial, mining and transportation enterprises in the wasteland of feudal natural economy in China, and greatly shortened the modernization process of China. The Opium War made China begin to realize the importance of talents, and at the same time began to cultivate modern technical talents.

After the Opium War, western colonialists, relying on the privileges seized by a series of unequal treaties, accelerated the expansion of foreign capital forces in China, gradually controlled the economic lifeline of China, and made China's national capital too heavy to achieve normal development. After the Opium War, western colonialists controlled and monopolized China's import and export trade for a long time, and conducted unequal exchange of import and export. In addition, the early opium trafficking drained a lot of blood and sweat from the people of China, and plunged China into poverty. The huge war reparations after the Opium War became a heavy burden for the people of China. 265,438,000 silver dollars set a bad example for war reparations.

The Second Opium War deepened the degree of semi-colonial and semi-feudal society in China. Politically, China lost a large area of territory and sovereignty; The rulers of the Qing Dynasty took refuge in foreign invaders and began to become their vassals and tools. Chinese and foreign reactionary forces openly colluded to suppress the resistance of the people of China. Economically, foreign aggression spread to coastal provinces and extended inland, which facilitated them to dump goods and plunder cheap raw materials and labor, making it difficult for China to resist the impact of capitalist economic aggression. The Second Opium War dealt a great psychological blow to the ruling class in Qing Dynasty. If the shock of the Opium War mainly hit the coastal areas, then the second Opium War brought a heavy shock to the center of China society. The Second Opium War promoted the division of the landlord class. The appearance of the Westernization School marked the beginning of the real division of the landlord class in China. The Second Opium War triggered the trend of innovation. Starting from Confucius, China has been calling all foreign people and things except China "foreigners" for thousands of years, which was restricted by the Tianjin Treaty signed during the Second Opium War. This is the intersection of "foreign" and "foreign" substitution. This substitution reflects the great changes of China's traditional ideas. Although this change is the result of compulsion, it contains reasonable elements. Because it means a step forward from the order of Chinese and foreigners to the forest of nations in the world. During and after the Second Opium War, some discussions and works reflected the original innovative ideas. Hong Rengan's "Senior Minister's New Chapter" is the program of capitalist innovation, and its content is the forerunner of early reformists in many places.

The smoke of the two Opium Wars has already dispersed, but the ruins of Yuanmingyuan always warn every Chinese son and daughter. Don't forget the national humiliation and revitalize China, we need Qi Xin to work together!

History has proved that if we want to save the nation from peril, we must rest on our laurels, and if we want to save the decline of civilization, we must open our doors and develop ourselves. Remember that "you will be beaten if you fall behind", let's work together!