The Opium War of China, beginning in January 1840, was a major Turning Point in history which subsequently affected a great number of the Chinese population of 400 million. Retrospectively, for an historian the outbreak of war between the British and the Chinese is predictable for many reasons. However, initially it is unlikely that neither the Chinese at the time nor the British would have expected it. The British always knew that war was a viable option, yet it was not entirely predictable. However, to say that the Opium War happened completely without warning is a completely inaccurate. As the devastation inflicted by the Opium increased through time and as the Chinese government became more desperate to stop the flow of the drug, it would have become more obvious to the Chinese that war with Britain was going to be inevitable. On the other hand, by not acting at all the decay on Chinese society was only going to worsen, eventually leading to a complete collapse of the civilisation.

The British had plans concerning China, yet a military takeover was not one of them. Britain saw China not as a prospective colony, but instead as a valuable trading partner which they could vastly exploit. Britain was making far too much money off China and taking over would serve little advantage apart from extra territory of which the British had acquired an enormous amount already. The prospects of extraterritoriality in China was also appealing to the British, where although they would not assume control of China they would have communities where British law would exist and Chinese law be default. At Canton before the opium war, the British and Americans ‘demanded extraterritoriality because they had become accustomed to the protection of their own laws in their relations with the Muslim states of North Africa and the Ottoman Empire and had suffered from Chinese attempts to apply Chinese criminal law to Westerners.’ After Lin Zexu seized the opium from the twelve Chinese merchants, conflicts erupted between Britain and China, and subsequently trade was completely stopped. At this stage war was now a very imminent certainty, and although it was not likely when trade first began with Britain, it was always a possibility which was known by the Chinese, as they recognised the vast military superiority of the British.

The Opium War was initiated by the British who realised that the Opium trade was not going to survive unless it was to be forced upon the Chinese. Initially when trade first began, the war was an unforeseeable event which only became a reality when Britain became closer to the realisation that the opium trade was breaking down and the Chinese were beginning to fight back. Certainly for the Chinese it was unpredictable, yet it did not happen without warning as the events leading up to it indicated that some sort of conflict was bound to occur eventually.

all parts of the world… not because we wish to acquire new territories, nor to realize

Some topics in this essay:
Lin Zexu, Opium War, British British, British Indian, Britain China, King George, Manchu’s Turks, Hong Kong, Emperor China, India Chinese, opium war, chinese government, opium trade, british ships, lin zexu, entirely predictable opium, britain china, chinese population, twelve chinese, emperor china, chinese merchants, twelve chinese merchants, predictable opium war,