Between 1839 and 1842 British forces fought a war on behalf of drug traffickers. Their victory opened up the lucrative China trade to British merchants. This was all done with the full blessing of the British government.
https://www.nam.ac.uk/explore/opium-war-1839-1842
This article gives a brief introduction on the root, process and consequence of the first Opium War.
Any thoughts?
Do you think opiates were used as a weapon to defeat China? The article said "the British believed the Chinese had always been uncooperative", do you believe it is true?
The Brits were always known to be bullies (eg. American Indian Wars) so it doesn't surprise me that they were looking to take advantage of/exploit someone who doesn't agree with European interests.
ReplyDeleteThis is really interesting! I don't know enough about it to comment on whether opium was used as an oppressive tool, but it doesn't surprise me if it were the case.
ReplyDeleteI think its important to talk about the historic context of opioids before the 20th century, something we have yet to do in this class. I think it will open our eyes even more to how opium has affected civilizations, not just with modern times.
DeleteIt's really sad how greedy the British were in trading with China, and how they brought in the Opium to basically make their money back. So that ultimately trading with China became more profitable to them.
ReplyDeleteThis is an interesting history. This was basically a war fought for drug traffickers. I would say the Opium War was oppressive to the Chinese.
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