Date: 65438+June 28th, 0840-65438+August 0842.

Location: China.

Result: Britain won.

Cause: Humen destroyed opium.

Territorial change: ceding Hong Kong Island to Britain.

1840 (twenty years of Daoguang), the British invaders, with the support of other western capitalist powers, launched a war of aggression against ancient feudal China. Because this war was caused by Britain's forced dumping of opium into China, it was called the Opium War in history. After the Opium War, China gradually changed from an independent feudal country to a semi-colonial and semi-feudal country, and the Chinese nation began a course of humiliation, suffering, exploration and struggle for more than 100 years.

After the middle period of Jiaqing, the rule of Qing Dynasty declined gradually. The Qing government still claimed to be a "paradise", and it was arrogant and closed its eyes. At the same time, the European and American powers are advancing by leaps and bounds, and China, with its vast territory and large population, is the main target of expanding overseas markets. China has been an agricultural country since ancient times. With the self-sufficient natural economy and the conservative thought of "China is superior to the country", China people have always had little demand for foreign products. In order to make huge profits, foreign businessmen smuggled a large amount of opium from South China into China, and the import volume of opium increased from 4,000 cases at the beginning of Daoguang's accession to the throne to 40,200 cases in the eighteenth year of Daoguang, that is, before the outbreak of the Opium War. The spread of opium affects people's physical and mental health, corrupts the management of officials, leads to the outflow of silver and the shortage of government revenue. Daoguang continued the policy of banning smoking since Yongzheng, but opium smuggling not only failed, but became increasingly rampant. The development of the situation has aroused the vigilance of people in the ruling and opposition parties. Daoguang ordered the frontier defense minister to discuss the idea of banning smoking, and there were different opinions in the ruling and opposition parties. What finally touched Daoguang Emperor was the memorial of Lin Zexu, governor of Huguang at that time. Lin Zexu hit the nail on the head and pointed out: Opium can't help but weaken the country's poor in a few decades. "There are not many soldiers who can defend the enemy in the Central Plains, and there is no silver to pay." This situation is obviously what Daoguang Emperor did not want to see anyway. "Soldiers" and "silver" are two fatal loopholes in feudal rule. In November of the 18th year of Daoguang (1838), Lin Zexu went to Guangdong to ban opium.

Lin Zexu/KLOC-0 arrived in Guangzhou in March, 839, and immediately banned smoking, strictly investigated cigarette dealers, reorganized the navy, and instructed foreign businessmen to hand in opium. On June 3 of the same year, more than 20,000 boxes (more than 2 million Jin) of opium were destroyed in public at Humen Beach. China's smoking ban met with strong opposition from the British government. 1June, 840 (in the summer of the 20th year of Daoguang), the British Expeditionary Force consisting of 48 ships and more than 4,000 officers and men blocked the Pearl River Estuary in Guangzhou, and the Opium War broke out. Under the deployment of Lin Zexu, the soldiers and civilians in Guangzhou are ready for battle. The British army had no chance to invade Xiamen from the north, but it didn't succeed. He invaded Dinghai, Zhejiang, and then went to Haikou, Tianjin, and sent a note from the British Foreign Secretary to Qishan, the governor of Zhili. Qishan was ordered to go to Chuanbi, outside Humen, Tianjin, to negotiate with the British Commander-in-Chief and agree on a draft agreement, which was called "Chuanbi Cao Yue" in history. China ceded Hong Kong with compensation of 6 million yuan, Britain returned Dinghai, and the diplomacy of the two countries went hand in hand. The Qing government was furious, so in January of the 21st year of Daoguang, the Qing government declared war on Britain and appointed Yi Shan, the nephew of the emperor, as a general to fight in Guangdong. The following month, British troops captured Humen Fort, and Guan Tianpei, the Guangdong Navy's prefect, died. Qishan was locked and brought to Beijing to plead guilty. In April of the same year, the people spontaneously fought against the British invaders in Sanyuanli, a suburb of Guangzhou, showing the courage of China people to resist foreign invasion.

In the summer and autumn of the same year, the British army continued to expand the war situation and successively captured Xiamen, Fujian, Dinghai, Zhenhai and Ningbo. His nephew Yijing was ordered to go to Zhejiang to take charge of military affairs, but he was defeated and fled to Hangzhou. In the 22nd year of Daoguang, the British captured Wusongkou Fort, and the garrison commander Chen Huacheng died. After that, the British army once occupied Shanghai and Baoshan, then broke into the Yangtze River, captured Zhenjiang, cut off the north-south traffic of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, and then reached Nanjing, an important town in the south of the Yangtze River. On July 24th of the same year, at the gunpoint of the British army, the Qing government was forced to sign the "treaty of nanking" which humiliated the country. This was the first unequal treaty of the Qing government, which seriously damaged China's sovereignty. He stipulated that China should cede Hong Kong and pay 21 million silver dollars for foreign trade in five port cities: Guangzhou, Xiamen, Fuzhou, Ningbo and Shanghai. In addition, Britain also enjoys agreed tariffs, and obtains consular jurisdiction, unilateral MFN treatment and concessions by signing the Humen Treaty, a supplementary document to the Charter of the Five Ports and the treaty of nanking. The United States and France followed closely, coercing the Qing government to sign an unequal treaty with it. In the 29th year of Daoguang, Portugal expelled China's officials in Macau, stopped paying the rent, and openly occupied Macau.

As a result of the Opium War, the Chinese Empire closed Gu Men for 5,000 years for self-defense, and it was opened by British sharp guns from then on. From then on, it is impossible to get back together. US President Taylor immediately sent a plenipotentiary ambassador to Guangzhou by warship. The Qing government was frightened and quickly signed the Wang Xia Treaty with him.

French warships sailed to Guangzhou to demonstrate, claiming to attack Zhoushan Islands in the north. Daoguang Emperor quickly signed the Huangpu Treaty with him. China people have never heard of several western countries, such as Portugal, Spain, Belgium, Prussia (Germany), Austria-Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden and so on. "Some tiny countries that China has heard of or never heard of were not eligible to pay tribute in the past, and now they are all waiting in line." (Bai Yang's History of China, Volume II) They signed treaties with China one by one and enjoyed the same privileges as the British in treaty of nanking. The Chinese empire suddenly fell into a semi-colonial state. In 5,000 years, I have never been insulted like this.

The British and French bourgeoisie jointly invaded China for the first time.

1856 ~ 1860 (Xianfeng six to ten years), the war of aggression against China jointly launched by Britain and France with the support of Russia and the United States. It was named because its essence was the continuation and expansion of the Opium War, also known as the war between Britain and France.

After the Opium War, western capitalist powers invaded China one after another. However, they are not satisfied with the privileges and benefits they have obtained, and deliberately step up their violation of China's sovereignty and economic plunder. 1854, the 12th anniversary of the signing of treaty of nanking. Britain misinterpreted the provisions of the Wang Xia Treaty 12 years later that trade and sea areas could be slightly changed, invoked the MFN clause, and demanded a comprehensive revision of the treaty of nanking from the Qing government. The main contents are as follows: trade throughout China, legalization of opium trade, exemption of import and export goods from customs duties, and the presence of foreign minister in Beijing. France and the United States also requested to amend the treaty respectively. The Qing government refused and the negotiations were fruitless. 1856, the Wang Xia treaty expired for 12 years. With the support of Britain and France, the United States once again asked for a comprehensive revision of the treaty, but it was still rejected by the Qing government. Therefore, the western powers are determined to launch a new war of aggression against China. It was the spring of 2008, and the Crimean War was over. With the victory of Britain and France, more troops were transferred to China. Russia was defeated and tried to make up for the loss by invading China. The United States actively expanded outward and adopted the policy of collaborating with Britain and France to invade China.

1856 10, Britain used the Yarrow Incident as an excuse for the war. Arrow is a China ship. It was registered with the British authorities in Hong Kong for smuggling, but it has expired. On October 8th, 65438/kloc-0, Guangdong navy arrested several pirates and suspected sailors on the Yarrow. This is purely an internal affair of China and has nothing to do with Britain. At the behest of the British Ambassador to China, the British acting consul in Guangzhou wrote to the Governor of Guangdong and Hong Kong, Ye, saying that the Arrow was a British ship, and fabricated a story that China soldiers insulted the British flag flying on the ship, demanding the release of the arrested persons and apologizing. At first, Ye Chenming argued, but later compromised and sent all the prisoners to the British consulate. In order to further expand the situation, Parkes was critical and refused to accept it. 10 year 10 on 23rd, the British ship suddenly broke into the estuary of Humen and attacked the battery along the Pearl River, flagrantly provoking a war of aggression. Then, the British army shelled Guangzhou and once invaded the inner city. The local soldiers and civilians bravely resisted. Due to the shortage of troops, the British army was forced to withdraw from the Pearl River inland river in June 1857+ 10, waiting for reinforcements.

In order to expand the war of aggression, 1857, in March, the British government appointed former Canadian Governor Erkin as the plenipotentiary to lead a navy and army to China. At the same time, I ask the French government to send troops jointly. Earlier, France was negotiating with China on the basis of "Father Ma incident" (also known as "Xilin religious case"). The so-called "Father Ma incident" refers to a case in which a French Catholic priest, Male, illegally entered the mainland of China, and was executed in Xilin County, Guangxi in February 1856. This case is not closed yet. 1857, the French government used this as an excuse to invade China, appointed Gro as the plenipotentiary, and led troops to China to coordinate with the British army.

1857 65438+in February, more than 5,600 British and French troops (including French troops 1000) gathered at the mouth of the Pearl River to prepare for a massive attack. American envoy Li Weilian and Russian envoy Pu Yating also arrived in Hongkong, conspiring with Britain and France to invade China. At that time, the Qing government was trying its best to suppress the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and the Nian Army uprising, and it was "difficult to pay" to adopt a policy of "focusing on soldiers" against foreign invaders. Ye faithfully carried out the policies of the Qing government and did not fight for them. 12 On February 28th, the British and French allied forces shelled Guangzhou and landed to attack the city. Du Tonglai Village, Qian Zong Deng Anbang and others led the troops to resist tenaciously and fell the next day. Bai Gui, the governor of Guangdong Province, and General Guangzhou surrendered in Fengtian. Driven by the enemy, they continued to hold their original posts under the supervision of the "Coalition Committee" headed by Parkes. Ye Chenming was captured by the invading army and later sent to Calcutta. During the occupation of Guangzhou by the invading army, the local people waged an indomitable struggle. Yimin near Guangzhou set up Yingyong Bureau in Foshan Town, gathering tens of thousands of people to resist and destroy the enemy. Patriotic compatriots in Hong Kong and Macao also went on strike in protest.

After the fall of Guangzhou, the invaders of the four countries conspired to continue northward in order to pose a direct threat to the Qing government. 1858 in April, the ministers of Britain, France, Russia and the United States successively led ships to Dagukou, and sent notes to the Qing government respectively, requesting to appoint plenipotentiaries to negotiate. Russia and the United States also expressed their willingness to act as mediators. Emperor Xianfeng ordered the Qing army to fortify Tianjin and Dagu, and sent Tan Tingxiang, governor of Zhili, as an imperial envoy to Dagu for negotiations, hoping for the "mediation" of Russian and American envoys. The British and French aggressors did not have the sincerity to negotiate, but only used it to delay time and step up military preparations. On May 20th, British and French warships shelled Dagu Fort. The Qing army stationed in each battery fought back and launched a fierce battle with the enemy. However, Tan Ting and others had no fighting spirit, followed the wind, the battery facilities were rudimentary, and Otani fell. On the 26th, British and French forces invaded the suburbs of Tianjin and threatened to attack Beijing. The Qing government quickly sent Gui Liang, a university student, and Hua Shana, a senior official of the official department, as imperial envoys to Tianjin for peace talks. Under the intimidation of the British and French aggressors, Gui Liang and others concluded the Tianjin Treaty with Britain and France on June 26th and 27th respectively.

Article 56 of Sino-British Tianjin Treaty, with annex; The Sino-French Tianjin Treaty consists of 42 articles, with about 6 articles attached. The main contents are as follows: ① the minister is stationed in Beijing; Niuzhuang (later renamed Yingkou), Dengzhou (later renamed Yantai), Taiwan Province Province (later renamed Tainan), Danshui, Chaozhou (later renamed Shantou), Qiongzhou, Hankou, Jiujiang, Nanjing and Zhenjiang were turned into trading ports; (3) allowing foreign missionaries to enter the mainland to preach freely; (4) Foreigners should travel and trade in the Mainland; ⑤ Foreign merchant ships can sail in the Yangtze River port; ⑥ Revise the tariff and reduce the tonnage tax of merchant ships; All landowners to Britain four million and two thousand silver, two million and two thousand silver to France.

Prior to this, Russian and American envoys used the status of "transferor" to sign the Sino-Russian Tianjin Treaty 12 and the Sino-American Tianjin Treaty 30 with the Qing government in June 13 and June 18 respectively, and seized almost the same aggression privileges as those obtained by Britain and France except compensation. Paragraph 9 of the Sino-Russian Tianjin Treaty also specifically stipulates that the two countries will send personnel to explore the "previously undefined border" and "make sure to bring the border clearing into this peace treaty" so as to solve it in the future, thus laying the groundwork for China to be further plundered by Russia.

After the Tianjin Treaty was signed, the British and French allied forces withdrew from Tianjin, and the coastal roads went south one after another. Emperor Xianfeng was worried about the content of the treaty at this time, which made Gui Liang and others negotiate with the representatives of Britain and France to amend the Tianjin Treaty, cancel the terms of envoys' stay in Beijing, inland travel and Neijiang trade, and tried to prevent Britain and France from changing the treaty in Beijing. 165438+ 10, Gui Liang and other representatives of Britain, France and the United States signed the Treaty on the Restoration of Trade Regulations, stipulating that the opium trade should be legalized; Customs levies 100% tax on the hourly value of import and export goods; Foreign goods are transported and sold in the mainland, only paying 2.5% sub-tax, and all domestic taxes are exempted; Hire an Englishman to help with customs and taxes. However, Britain and France cannot change the terms of the Tianjin Treaty, but insist on changing the contract in Beijing.

The British and French governments were far from satisfied with the privileges seized from the Tianjin Treaty, and deliberately used the opportunity of exchanging contracts to provoke war again. 1In June, 859, British Minister Proust, French Minister Brun and American Minister John Eliott Ward, after rejecting Gui Liang's proposal to exchange contracts in Shanghai, respectively led their fleets to Dagukou in an attempt to deter the Qing government from exchanging the ratification documents of the Tianjin Treaty by force. The Qing government fortified Dagu and ordered Hengfu, the governor of Zhili, to send a note to the British and French envoys, specifying to land in Beitang and go to Beijing to change the contract via Tianjin. Their entourage shall not exceed 20 people and shall not carry weapons. The British and French envoys flatly rejected the arrangement of the Qing government and insisted on returning to Beijing by the fleet through Dagukou. 1858 After the British and French fleets retreated, the Qing government put Prince Horqin in charge of the defense of Dagu area. On June 25, the British and French allied forces suddenly attacked Dagu Fort. Under the command of monk Qin, the defenders fought bravely and the battle was extremely fierce. Shi Rongchun, the magistrate of Zhili, and Ruyuan, the deputy commander of the Drum Club, took the lead and were killed successively. As a result of fierce fighting, the British and French allied forces were defeated, losing many ships, killing more than 400 people, and the commander of the British fleet, Herb, was also seriously injured. In the battle, the American fleet helped the British and French troops retreat. In August, American special envoy John Eliott Ward went to Beijing from Beitang in disguise. After returning to Beitang, he exchanged the ratification of Tianjin Treaty with Hengfu, governor of Zhili. Prior to this, the Russian representative had changed the contract in Beijing.

News of the disastrous attack on Dagu by the British and French allied forces spread to Europe, and the ruling class in Britain and France set off an uproar of war, clamoring for "massive revenge" and "occupation of the capital" against China. 1860 In February, the British and French governments re-appointed Elgin and Gro as plenipotentiaries respectively, leading15,000 British troops and 7,000 French troops to expand the war of aggression against China. In April, the British and French allied forces occupied Zhoushan. In May and June, the British army occupied Dalian Bay, while the French army occupied Yantai and blocked the Bohai Bay as a forward base for attacking Dagukou. Russian special envoy ignatieff and American special envoy John Eliott Ward also arrived in Bohai Bay in July, and once again cooperated with Britain and France in the name of "mediators". After the victory of Dagu Campaign, the Qing government dreamed of making peace with Britain and France. When the British and French warships approached Dagu Haikou, Emperor Xianfeng also instructed Sengqin and Hengfu not to "make peace after the war first" in order to avoid "the war will last until the end" and "the care bureau is always important", and sent Hengfu to negotiate with the British and French envoys. Former enemy commander-in-chief monk Lin Qinqin thought that the enemy was not good at land warfare, so he devoted himself to Dagu and gave up Beitang defense, giving the enemy an opportunity. Ignatieff provided Britain and France with unsuspecting information about Beitang.

1 In August, the British and French allied forces landed in Beitang without any resistance. 14, Tanggu was captured. Then the land and water cooperated to attack the fortress on the north bank of Dagu. Under the command of Le Shan, the governor of Zhili, the Qing army guarding Taiwan fought bravely. However, the Qing government did not have the determination to resist Japan, and Emperor Xianfeng ordered Sengqin to leave the camp and retreat. The Qing army fled Dagu and retreated to Tongzhou (now Tongxian County, Beijing) via Tianjin. On August 2 1, Dagu fell. The invading army entered and occupied Tianjin on the 24th. The Qing government urgently sent Gui Liang to Tianjin to make peace. Britain and France proposed that in addition to fully accepting the Tianjin Treaty, Tianjin should be opened as a trading port, compensation should be increased, and thousands of troops from various countries should be sent to Beijing to exchange contracts. The Qing government refused and the negotiations broke down. The invading army invaded Beijing from Tianjin.

The Qing government sent Zai Yuan, Prince of Harmony, and Yin Mu, Minister of War, instead of Gui Liang, to make peace in Tongzhou. The negotiations broke down again because of the dispute between the two sides. /kloc-in September of 0/8, the British and French allied forces captured Tongzhou. On 2 1 day, the Qing army fought fiercely with the British and French allied forces at Baliqiao, and the commander-in-chief monk Qin took the lead in escaping, which led to the whole army shaking and defeat. The next day, Emperor Xianfeng led his empresses and a group of officials to flee to Jehol (now Chengde, Hebei Province), leaving his younger brother Prince Gong Yi■ to preside over the peace talks in Beijing. When the British and French allied forces attacked Beijing, Russian Ambassador ignatieff provided Britain and France with information on Beijing's defense. 10 10 13, the British and French forces invaded Andingmen and took control of Beijing. The invading army burned and looted all the way, plundered the precious cultural relics, gold and silver jewelry and set fire to the buildings in the Yuanmingyuan, which the Qing court had long operated. 10 year1On October 24th and 25th, Yi■ exchanged the ratification documents of Tianjin Treaty with Er Jin and Ge Luo respectively, and concluded the Beijing Treaty between China, Britain and France.

The main contents of the Beijing Treaty between China, Britain and France include: ① opening Tianjin as a commercial port; (2) Allow Britain and France to recruit Chinese workers to go abroad; (3) ceding Kowloon to Britain; (4) Return the previously confiscated Catholic assets. The French side also added to the Chinese contract without authorization: "and served as a French missionary, renting and buying fields in various provinces and building their own houses"; (5) British and French military compensation increased to eight million and two thousand each, with a pension of five hundred and two thousand for Britain and two hundred and two thousand for France.

Russia's "mediation" contributed greatly, forcing Iraq to conclude the Sino-Russian Beijing Treaty in June 5438 +065438+10/October 14, occupying about 400,000 square kilometers of China territory east of the Wusuli River, which created a treaty basis for further plundering the western territory of China. 1864, Russia forced the Qing government to sign the Sino-Russian Northwest Border Treaty. It also divided and occupied more than 440,000 square kilometers of China territory east of Balakash Pool.

At this point, the second opium war ended. China once again lost a lot of sovereignty and territory, and took another step towards the semi-colonial road. Among them, the legalization of opium trade, Chinese workers going abroad, and allowing foreigners to preach in the mainland have intensified social contradictions in China. After the Second Opium War, the aggressive forces of foreign capitalism entered Chinese mainland from the southeast coast and expanded day by day. The foreign ministers in Beijing strengthened their influence and control over the Qing government, and China society was further semi-colonized.

There are many reasons why the Qing army finally failed in the four-year war with the British and French Coalition forces. First of all, political governance is corrupt and reactionary, and the reactionary policy of suppressing the people's uprising at home and compromising and surrendering abroad is implemented. Secondly, the backward weapons and clumsy combat methods of the Qing army are also important reasons for the failure. During the Second Opium War, the British and French invaders were equipped with the most advanced weapons in the world at that time (such as rifles with rifle barrels for firing conical projectiles, guns with rifle barrels sailing in shallow water, steam gunboats, etc.). ), but the equipment of the Qing army is still at the level of the first Opium War (still shotguns, rifles, front-mounted guns and cold weapons for launching spherical projectiles), and the battery construction is still open-air, which can't stand the bombardment of the invading artillery. In terms of operational methods, the British and French allied forces paid attention to land-water cooperative operations, covered land landing with powerful artillery fire, and adopted skirmisher tactics in land operations, while the Qing army stood still, stuck to the rules, ignored land defense in depth, and did not understand skirmisher tactics, so it was defeated repeatedly. The Qing government knew nothing about this, which also proved the decline of the feudal system in China.