Essay on Opium Wars - 1685 Words

Drugs have been around for hundreds of years and it modifies normal body functions depending on the drug. During the 19th century, the Chinese had become a victim under the dangerous drug of Opium. When opium was first introduce in China it was like any other drug, addictive and harmful to the human body but the Chinese weren’t aware of the opium negative effects. Opium the narcotic drug is derived of from immature seed pods of poppy plants. Opium was used for pain relieving, it was one of the first drugs able to relieve pain before morphine was invented, and morphine is safer drug then opium and they both came from the same plant. Before the opium war, foreign trade to Western countries was limited and strictly controlled by the†¦show more content†¦Strong economy is very important for every nation, especially in periods of conflicts happening, and with a strong economy countries can support their own military by buying more weapons for better war results. China†™s defeat isn’t just from lack of technology into military but it’s also the insufficient funds to their military. A nation’s military superiority is usually determined by how much the nation is willing to spend on its military; we still see today the superpower of the world like United States is known for its dominating military but their expenditure on military is extremely high which forces their nation in debt. But China is exactly opposite of the modern United States, when they do have money to spend, these money won’t be used effectively and investing into dead-end ancient weapons like bows and spears. Another misuse of spending for the Chinese government is that they spend too much money on arts and instead on their growing fine good’s production prospering China a lot during the Opium wars. Though China isolates them away from the rest of the world it does keep a steady economy and the Opium wars triggered an economical boom in China whic h they will slowly prosper. With the treaty of five ports, it welcomes British merchants to do trades with the Chinese and actually benefit both sides. While British are only interest in certainShow MoreRelatedOpium War769 Words   |  4 PagesOpium War There were two Opium Wars. The first one was from 1839-1842. This war was fought between China and Britain. This war was fought over the two not seeing eye to eye on a lot of things. The second Opium War was from 1856-1860. In this war the British forces fought toward the legalization of the Opium trade. The reason they did this was to be able to expand coolie trace, to be able to open all of China to British merchants, and also to be able to expand foreign imports from internat transitRead MoreOpium Wars1177 Words   |  5 PagesOpium Wars and They Changed China In the early eighteen hundreds, Britain and other European countries demanded more and more Chinese commodities, especially tea and silk. 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