Opium Wars: Great Britain vs China - Animated History

Opium Wars: two armed conflicts waged between the Qing and Western countries, namely Britain. In the 18th century, through the Canton System, China enjoyed a favorable trade balance with Great Britain: exporting porcelain, silk, and tea in exchange for silver. This trade, on the contrary, was not balanced on the side of Britain, as millions of pounds of silver were flowing out of the British Empire and into China, forcing it to seek ways to counter-trade, and then they did: Opium. With the cultivation of opium in British territories in Bengal expanded, Britain started exporting opium from British-controlled India to China. Opium had been used for medicinal purposes in China for centuries; however, by the early 19th century, the recreational use of opium skyrocketed, followed by an addiction crisis and serious social and economic disruption in China. Under these circumstances, a ban on both the production and the importation of opium was attempted, and smoking opium was outlawed. However, these a