1840 (20 years of Daoguang), the British government decided to send an expeditionary force to invade China on the pretext that Lin Zexu destroyed opium in Humen. In June, 1840, 47 British ships with 4,000 troops, led by Major General Giorgio and Charles Leo, commercial supervisor in China, arrived outside the Pearl River Estuary in Guangdong, blocked the Haikou, and the Opium War began.

The Opium War ended with China's failure and reparations. China and Britain signed the treaty of nanking, the first unequal treaty in China's history. China began to cede territory, pay reparations and negotiate tariffs to foreign countries, which seriously endangered China's sovereignty, became a semi-colonial and semi-feudal society, lost its independent status and promoted the disintegration of the natural economy. At the same time, the Opium War also opened a new chapter in the history of modern China people's resistance to foreign aggression.

Extended data:

I. Opium imports

After the Industrial Revolution, the British bourgeoisie tried to sell industrial products to China in an attempt to open the door to China through commodity trade. Until the twenties and thirties of 19, the trade between China and Britain still maintained the status of more than 23 million taels of silver per year.

In order to change this unfavorable trade situation, the British bourgeoisie made strong representations through diplomatic channels, but failed to achieve their goal, so they took despicable measures to smuggle a large number of special commodities-opium to China by means of "extermination" to satisfy their infinite desire to pursue profits.

Second, the result of the war.

1, cut Hong Kong Island to Britain. (Loss of territorial sovereignty)

2. Open Guangzhou, Xiamen, Fuzhou, Ningbo and Shanghai as trading ports, and allow British people to set up consulates at trading ports. (Loss of trade sovereignty)

3. China paid compensation of RMB 2 1 10,000 to Britain. 2 1 10,000 yuan consists of: compensation for opium of 6 million yuan, repayment of debts of British businessmen of 3 million yuan, and British military expenditure of10.2 million yuan. (A lot of silver outflow)

4. British import and export goods in China should be taxed, and China and Britain agree. (Loss of tariff sovereignty)

British businessmen are free to trade with China businessmen, and are not restricted by "public banks". (Loss of trade sovereignty)

Baidu Encyclopedia-Opium War