The Opium Wars Commentary - Research Paper Example

The Opium Wars CommentaryThe Opium Wars, also referred to as the Anglo-Chinese Warfare, was a series of two wars between China and three other westerners – Britain, The Unites States and France. The first part of the war took place between 1839 and 1842 and the second part of the warfare was from 1856 to 1860. The issues at hand were regarding the diplomatic and trade relations between China under the Qing Dynasty, as well as the British Empire. According to the thesis statement provided by the commentary, the short essay was meant to focus on the international trade of opium, which was mainly carried out in Guangzhou, China, and the nation did not support this.

They were, however, forced to agree by the superpowers, Britain, The United States and France. According to the article that I went through, China feared for the health and wellbeing of their citizens, as well as their treasury, and; thus, they opted to ban the importation of opium to their nation. Britain, proclaiming the idea of free trade, rejected China’s proposal, which made the nation appear as if it is being ruled by foreigners or it is a British colony. France, Britain and the United States deployed some of their citizens, as well as their army men, to go and settle in strategic regions of China.

This put the country into pressure noting that its sovereignty was being mocked by the three other nations, which had decided to settle without consent in China. China’s endeavor to remove the foreigners from their land was what made the whole process seem like warfare as there were always tensions throughout the land of expected battles.However, even if it seemed that Britain, The United States and France were taking advantage of China’s weakness, China's regime was brutal and corrupt. It executed many of its citizens on trumped up charges and was not worthy of any sympathy.

Even as it is correct for critics to argue that wars have been brought about by fewer issues, I believe the Opium Wars was a way of granting Britain the right to sell opium to the Chinese. It was also one of our less epic military ventures. The Chinese, according to the source provided, seem to be quite touchy regarding that part of their history, as torching down the Summer Palace is quite a sore point. Also it would be an oversight for the British regime to push this matter too far as it will weaken China’s reliability when objecting to genuine injustices.

Another question that might arise from this topic is how weak the Chinese regime was just to allow the sale of tobacco to their people from other nations. In addition, they were forced to accept the venture without their views being heard. The Chinese government could have incorporated both Communists and Nationalists to exploit this legacy to produce a sense of national unity. They should have emphasized how scheming foreign powers victimized their citizens instead of playing along Britain’s rules.

This is a practice which the Chinese regime still engages in today.