The Opium Wars
Storyboard Text
- The Opium Wars
- The Opium Wars
- McCartney's visit
- Thank you for your kind offer, but we don't require them. We have some gifts to return
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- Us English people have pots, spoons, and pans for trade!
- Excuse me? You are being rude.
- Strained relations escalate
- We rule the world! You need to listen to us.
- No more poisoning our citizens! We don't want your drugs!
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- The First Opium War
- HELP! THE BARBARIANS ARE ATTACKING!
- McCartney goes to China to hopefully open up trade, however he finds the Chinese rude. They refuse to trade because they have no need for pots, spoons, pans, and other British goods as they have they have no need for them because of things like chopsticks, but give some gifts back to Britain. The British find their rejection rude and think their gifts are mockery as they mean nothing to her. She is furious.
- The Second Opium War
- Unfazed by rejection, the British start illegally start smuggling opium which they produce in India into China in an effort to make more money. Britain is once again furious as they see this as China targeting her. In Britain, using opium was socially acceptable, so they thought that China was just trying to prevent trade. The reason the emperor bans opium is that it is destroying people, fueling a war with the British.
- Hong Kong
- The British need more money, so they go to war to make China agree to their terms. China's military and navy are destroyed by the British as the British are more advanced and experienced. They make China sign a disastrous treaty, where they had to give Britain a lot of money, allow them to continue dealing drugs, and cede Hong Kong.
- We will continue to trade opium! How dare you dump our illegal drugs?
- The Chinese hadn't delivered on the deal they were forced into. They also had the ongoing Taiping Rebellion to deal with, and the opium trade was still being stopped by the rebels. China also made some other mistakes like impounding a ship from Hong Kong. They went back to war, and during negotiations, China tortured and killed the negotiators. This led Britain to destroy China's Summer Palace, a place of significance to the Chinese. They forced China to give up more money and land
- Goodbye Summer Palace.. Goodbye family!
- Hong Kong became an international trade center and a gateway between China and the Western World. As a result of the British, Hong Kong became a huge trading hub and still is today. Hong Kong was ceded back to China in 1997 after 99 years, and was to keep a high level of autonomy until 2047.
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