Imperialism in China: The Opium Wars & Boxer Rebellion

Early European Trade Limited by agreement with the Chinese government Trade only permitted at the port at Canton Had to trade through official traders Could only trade at certain times of the year The Chinese would only accept gold or silver Westerners were not allowed to enter China Traders had to leave as soon as trade was done

Lord McCartney Sent by Britain to China to arranged better trading rights with the Chinese government Refused to kowtow to the Emperor Was allowed into the Forbidden City only to find a document refusing trading rights

Imperialism in China China refused to adapt to Western Culture History of isolation Isolated by jungles, mountains and desert Middle Kingdom = Ethnocentric Ethnocentrism  Belief that your culture is better than all others

Imperialism in China Believed they were self-sufficient Had little interest or desire to trade with the West Europeans nations saw the market potential of China (435 million people) Hmm… What would the Chinese people be willing to trade for? What product would they want that they didn’t have? OPIUM

The Opium Wars Opium was used recreationally in China starting in the 15th Century Opium was prohibited in 1729 British start to smuggle opium from India into China

The Opium Wars By 1835, 12 million people were addicted to opium

The Opium Wars Emperor Daoguang has one of this top officials, Lin Zexu write a letter to Queen Victoria

The Opium Wars Emperor Daoguang orders British shipments of opium be confiscated and destroyed During one seizure of British cargo 20,000 chests of opium were destroyed Each chest was worth $1,000 In modern dollars that’s about $300,000,000

The Opium Wars Britain attacks coastal Chinese cities to start the war in October of 1839 Battles took place mostly at sea Outdated Chinese ships were no match for the modern steam-powered gunboats of the British

The Opium Wars The Treaty of Nanjing China had to pay reparations All Chinese ports were opened to the British Britain gained control of Hong Kong (Restored to China in 1997) Extraterritoriality  British & other foreigners were not subject to Chinese law in 5 major port cities of China

Sphere of Influence/Open Door Policy Other foreign nations sign treaties unfair to China Each nation gets a “sphere of influence” Sphere of Influence  an area in which a foreign nation controlled trade & investment In 1899 the United States proposes the Open Door Policy Open Door Policy  China’s doors (ports) be open to merchants of all nations In exchange China would not be colonized

Sphere of Influence/Open Door Policy

Response to Imperialism Taiping Rebellion Empress Cixi wants to strengthen China Promotes programs to update the educational system, and military, factories Boxer Rebellion