Opium wars in China

[Ringo]

The topic of this post is the Opium Wars.
In the history of different states, there are periods that are shameful or humiliating to remember. The Opium Wars, or the Century of Humiliation, as it is called in China, is a historical period that China still remembers, and we will return to this at the end. This is a period that China will never forgive the West for, and this is the period from which the roots of the current conflict between China and Europe and the United States of America grow. As for the other side of the conflict, England, Great Britain, the USA, and partly France, it is customary not to remember this period because it is indeed a shameful matter, it is a completely inhuman matter, and it perfectly shows the true nature of geopolitics, the true nature of the economic interests of capitalism and state aspirations.

So, the Opium Wars. At the beginning of the 19th century, China entered as the richest country in the world. 35% (!) of the world's GDP was accounted for by then Qing China. For comparison, now the US economy is 25% of the entire world GDP. That is, China was the richest power in the world. In addition to the fact that China produced various items and products that were of interest to Europe, such as porcelain, spices, silk, and especially tea, which was of interest to Great Britain, China was a huge sales market. And the Western powers, naturally, sought to trade there, but China was completely isolated.
When the envoys of the English King George arrived at the court of the Chinese Emperor Qianlong to agree on new trade laws, the Emperor of China told them that thanks to heaven and earth, we have everything we need, and we do not need your strange barbarian goods. Indeed, China, the Chinese emperor, treated Europeans as barbarians, as white monkeys, and treated his neighbors as vassals, quite contemptuously, and indeed China did not need anything from Europe, but Great Britain needed a lot from China.

Well, let's start with the fact that a huge amount of tea begins to be imported from China, and literally during the 18th century, a real tea revolution takes place in Great Britain, and there is a theory that drinking Great Britain switches to tea and, in fact, this contributes to the sobering up of the nation and the economic rise of Great Britain in the 19th century. I do not presume to say that this is so, but such a version exists. The British import huge quantities of tea from China, at which time the saying appears, "I won't do it for all the tea in China," that is, for no money.
And the British pay China for this tea with silver.

Of course, it is more profitable to pay with some other goods, but China, I repeat, is a closed territory. Foreigners are allowed into only one port, Guangzhou. Further into the continent, they are not allowed to spread their trade. There in Guangzhou are English and American trading posts. And they trade with Chinese merchants. They are not allowed further into the continent. They are forbidden to settle on the continent; if they are on a long business trip, they are forbidden to bring their families so that people do not put down roots in Chinese land.

Great Britain's policy at that time, economic policy, is very simple. The trade balance must be strictly in favor of Great Britain. That is, we must sell more than we buy so that we have a positive trade balance. But China doesn't need anything. The monopoly on the tea trade belongs to the greatest corporation in the world at that time, the East India Trading Company. It is based in India but trades with all nearby territories, including China, and brings silk, spices, porcelain, and most importantly, tea to Great Britain. Silver is paid for tea. And so the British, from whom the Chinese need nothing, are trying to find a product that could be exchanged for tea because a huge amount of silver is already being exported to China in exchange for this tea, which is starting to undermine the pound sterling, which is starting to undermine the British economy.

A variety of goods were used, precious stones, but they are also available in China, all sorts of valuable fur skins, yes, they are also imported, but in fact, they do not provide any large income item. And then Opium enters the scene. Now opium is very strongly associated with China. And all these opium dens in London, and in San Francisco in America, there will be Chinese servants, and all this will be associated with China. In fact, opium has nothing to do with China. Opium was not born there. Opium was born in the East. It was brought to China long ago by Egyptian merchants and was used as a medicine for insomnia, during some operations, because it is clear that opium contains morphine, and this is a painkiller, this is the remedy that is used during operations, used for sleep disorders, and so on.
And in China, it is known as a medicine, and in the Middle East, it is known as a medicine, but then opium begins to be smoked, it begins to be mixed with tobacco, such a mixture is called madak, and it gives a kind of mild euphoric effect, that is, people smoke opium mixed with tobacco, fall into such a euphoric state and, therefore, relax. This kind of high, over time, formed this habit of smoking raw opium.

But science does not stand still, and at some point, they learned how to purify opium to increase the amount of narcotic content in it, that is, they actually learned how to make heroin. And at this point, opium becomes a popular drug. At the beginning of the 19th century, the British brought the first opium to China. Opium quickly becomes a very popular drug. It must be said that the British, the East India Company, had a delivery technology, the so-called clippers, which were high-speed ships that could move quickly through tropical storms.
They were called tea clippers because they mainly carried tea to Great Britain from China. From India to China, they carried drugs, they carried opium. I must say, to finish with the history of tea, that the Chinese, since they considered all white people to be barbarians, sold them low-quality tea. They call it red tea, we call it black tea. And good teas, all high-mountain green teas, they kept for themselves because why should white monkeys drink this? This garbage will do. But this garbage began to be considered a delicacy in Great Britain.

So, the first box of opium arrives in China. And the Chinese are hooked on this drug, it becomes fashionable to smoke it. Merchants, officials, and army officers based in Guangzhou, in the territory next to the English trading post, are the first to start smoking it, the first opium dens appear, and then the drug begins to take over China.

This is a completely amazing story, because the Chinese emperor and, in general, let's say, the highest authorities of China slept through the opium story. It begins at the beginning of the nineteenth century, and by the thirties of the same century, China begins to get "high". Everyone smokes opium. Of course, at first, the high society smokes it. These are officials, officers, merchants. Then the imperial court begins to smoke it. Ordinary people smoke less because it is still an expensive pleasure. But then they learn to dilute it in the right proportions to reduce the cost. And it begins to completely devour China. The profit is fantastic.

In Calcutta, at auction, a box of opium costs 130 pounds. When it arrives in China, it is sold for 600 pounds. The East India Company simply became incredibly rich through the opium trade. Just for example, a figure. In 1837, the British imported 2,535 tons of opium into China, earning 592 tons of silver for it. That is, first, the East India Company brings opium and exchanges it for tea. And earns twice. Once on opium, then earns by supplying tea to Great Britain.
Then tea is no longer enough, and China begins to pay for opium with silver. Even the emperor's court begins to get "high" on opium. And, in fact, to make it clear, 20% (!) of all British imports at that time was opium. That is, you see, when we now say, "Oh, these Colombian drug traffickers, Afghan drug traffickers," then it was simply state policy, this drug trade, it is the state policy of Great Britain, which is supported by everyone.

 

[Ringo]

The Chinese realized very late that the drug had devoured the country. But at some point, it was decided to end this opium trade. You understand that where there are drugs, it's not just drug addiction. A huge empire immediately grows around this. Traders, resellers, big dealers, small dealers. Most importantly, corruption, because all the officials who deal with opium, all these Chinese army officers, Chinese officials, they all start earning money from this. On the one hand, the country is killing its population with drugs, on the other hand, it is killing its economy with corruption, and on the third hand, it is constantly giving silver to the British. A real national tragedy arises. Even Manchu princes begin to smoke opium. 20% of officials are opium addicts. And this, of course, is a catastrophic, exorbitant figure.

In 1839, the emperor closes the trading market for merchants from India and Great Britain. A special official is sent to Guangzhou with an order to close the opium trade. The official arrives, the confiscation of all the opium that is in the warehouses of the East India Trading Company begins, and the opium is thrown into the sea, after asking the sea for forgiveness, it was such a special rite, because excuse me, dear sea, that we have defiled you, dumped this devilish potion there.

By that time, these tea clippers were already called devil ships in China, and the drug itself was called Jesus opium. In general, the Chinese emperor rushes to close this narcotic avalanche, but it's too late. The British protest to the emperor. The emperor does not react to this. Again, how can the Emperor of the Celestial Empire communicate with barbarians? Therefore, there is no reaction.
And in 1840, a British squadron appeared off the coast of China. These are 17 sailing ships and 4 steamers. The squadron moves along the coast to northern China and begins shelling this coast. The Chinese cannot do anything about this, because although China has a huge army, it is, firstly, scattered around the country, the country is quite large, as you can imagine. Secondly, it has not fought for a long time, and naturally, it is inferior to the British in technical equipment. The British have other guns, the British have other cannons, they have a well-trained army, and, in fact, in 1841, near the village of San-Yuan-Li, a British detachment of 800 people was surrounded by a 100,000-strong Chinese army, and the Chinese could not win this battle, because the British are more disciplined, more technically equipped.

In 1841, the British squadron moved further along the coast and captured port after port. And finally, in the spring of 1842, the British took Shanghai. Now Shanghai is a world financial center, before that it was not, but still Shanghai was a large city and, in fact, Shanghai was a very important strategic point, because a huge number of trade routes went through it to Beijing. And the British are forcing the Emperor of China to sign the Treaty of Nanking. On August 29, 1842, this treaty was concluded in Nanjing.
What did the British get under it? Beijing must pay London multi-million dollar compensation in silver. China, of course, pays for everything that was confiscated and for what was destroyed in Guangzhou.
China transfers the island of Hong Kong to Great Britain for perpetual use.

Hong Kong is the story of China's national humiliation. That is why China constantly wanted to return this city back. The city went to the British under the humiliating Treaty of Nanking. And the opium wars are to blame.
For China, the loss of Hong Kong, which will only return to China in 1999, is a national humiliation. And China will remember this and still remembers it.
In addition to Hong Kong, open 4 more Chinese ports to Great Britain. Amoy, Fuzhou, Ningbo and, in fact, the newly captured Shanghai.

Pay attention to how the hypocritical British work. There is no mention of the opium trade in the treaty at all. No words smuggling, opium. Just open for trade. For what kind of trade? Well, for some kind of trade. And, in fact, China actually becomes a periphery of Great Britain, that is, it becomes one of, well, not colonies, but, of course, a trade-dependent state on Great Britain. Along with India, along with other surrounding countries. It opens its market to the British and actually falls completely into economic dependence. But China's troubles do not end with the Treaty of Nanking.

Naturally, after four more ports were opened and all customs barriers were removed, the flow of opium increased significantly. In China, the Treaty of Nanking is perceived as a national humiliation, a civil war begins there, and this civil war is supported from all sides by Europeans, both French and British, and Americans, who also appear in China by that time. They do not occupy such a large opium trade market, only 10%, but nevertheless this market is growing. The Americans compete with the British, the British do not let them into the procurement markets, that is, they do not allow the Americans to buy opium in Calcutta, in India, and then the Americans drag opium from Turkey. It is cheaper, of lower quality, but nevertheless it is still a big business for America.
We will then talk separately about who got rich on this.

In China, a real degradation and extinction of the population is beginning, because heroin intensifies addiction practically from the third time. That is, people are literally starting to die. The nation is beginning to degrade. Everyone benefits from this for now. China is weakening, China is giving away all its gold and foreign exchange reserves, it is dying out, it is severely corrupt, it is dependent on the British. And, strictly speaking, there is still a civil war going on in China, and everyone is only happy about this. Well, except for the Chinese, of course. It would seem that everything is perfect for business, but the British would not be British if they did not go further, this is not enough for them, they want complete subordination of China, complete disintegration of China, and they go further.

The British are looking for a reason to unleash the Second War, and, in fact, the reason is found very quickly. There is a ship Arrow, which is essentially a pirate clipper and engages in piracy and robbery at sea, as well as smuggled opium. The opium cargo is confiscated. The British protest, start the second Opium War. Strictly speaking, they completely capture Guangzhou. This is the port where all this opium trade began. By this time, the British already have assistants, these are French troops, they together occupy the Dagu fort and the large port of Tianjin and begin to move further north of China. The Chinese army suffers one defeat after another and a year later, in 1858, new negotiations begin, which end with the Tianjin agreements.

Pay attention here, 1857, the British practically finished the Crimean War with Russia yesterday. That is, England is fighting on all continents at once. It is restless in India, where it is suppressing the Sepoy rebellion. And now they are unleashing the second Opium War in China.
Under the agreements, Europeans receive another piece of privileges and another piece of territory. Now all foreigners who are accused of crimes by China can no longer be convicted by the Chinese authorities. They must be extradited to the British or the French, that is, conditionally speaking, to the country to which these foreigners belong. The opium trade is legalized. That is, it becomes absolutely the same normal craft as trading, for example, tea.

And of course, since China is losing the war, it is again obliged to pay a new indemnity to England and France, and this time. The US did not actually participate in the war, but, of course, they provided all logistical assistance to England and France, and 7 ports were also opened for the Americans under this new treaty. The American opium trade also flourishes at this very moment, permanent diplomatic missions of England and France appear in China, and China opens up even more. In the Soviet Union there was an Iron Curtain, and in China it was called the Bamboo Curtain. It is finally collapsing. That is, the country is opening up even more by England and France, mainly, of course, England, and falls into even greater dependence on the British.

You know, when you walk the streets of Hong Kong, you read all these names, Pottinger Street, Elliot Street, then you see all these portraits of statesmen, Pottinger, the first Governor-General of Hong Kong, Elliot, these are all such big statesmen with noble faces. But in fact, of course, they were complete scumbags. They behaved in China in a horrific way, and it was absolutely undisguised robbery and, of course, national humiliation.

It would seem that we have just talked about two agreements. Each subsequent agreement was worse for China than the previous one. And, in fact, well, stop already, that's it, under the first treaty you received seaports, under the second treaty you have already entered inside and you were allowed into the river valleys, you can already open a trading post there, you have a preferential regime, you have diplomatic missions, you are already officially trading opium, this is no longer smuggling, but the British still do not have enough of this, and they are moving even further...

After the signing of this treaty in 1858, the British and French equipped a squadron, which goes along the Baihe River to Tianjin. It moves along the river and the Chinese, who were not warned about this squadron, open fire on this squadron from the Dagu forts. This is all the British and French need. They again declare this a pretext for war and begin to land an army in China.

 

[Ringo]

The army is led by Lord Elgin, there is Elgin Street in Hong Kong, and his portrait still hangs there. And this nobleman arranges a real massacre for the Chinese, encountering practically no resistance or encountering unorganized resistance, the English troops are advancing very quickly towards Beijing, Beijing does not surrender, they deploy artillery and threaten to bombard city blocks and walls. And at this moment, the emperor is already fleeing Beijing, his summer palace, the famous residence of the emperor, is plundered by noble gentlemen, all ancient relics, porcelain, terracotta, jade are taken out of there, all this is raked out and dissolved among the English gentlemen.
And Prince Gong, who becomes the Chinese interim governor of Beijing, signs the surrender on October 24, then the subsequent treaty on October 25, the Chinese sign two treaties. The Treaty of Peking is actually one, but it was simply signed in two days with different delegations, with the English delegation and with the French delegation.
Another indemnity is taken from China, only not very much, 618 tons of silver, well, that is, a huge amount. The British are expanding their holdings in Hong Kong. Hong Kong is an island, if you look at the map, but the territory of the continent is added to it.

The French translator Delamar, he is a very devout man, he achieves the inclusion in the Treaty of Peking of a clause on the expansion of the Christian mission. Christians were not allowed into Beijing, they were not allowed into China, they were not allowed to open temples, and now, under this treaty, it is possible to open Christian temples, it is possible to engage in missionary activities, so, the interests of the Catholic Church were also protected.

Thus, in 1860, China was defeated, China was completely economically subordinate to the British, Americans and French, the nation is dying out and degrading, the opium trade is taking over everything, and the British, as good economists, at some point decide, well, why carry opium from India? It can be grown right here, the climate is right!
And a huge amount of territory in China is simply planted with opium, also under the control of the East India Company. Actually, at this point, the expansion of Western powers into Asia begins, this is how Indochina becomes a colony of France, because after leaving China, they enter Indochina. They enter Vietnam, they enter, respectively, Cambodia, this is how Burma becomes an English colony, this is how the occupation corps are trying to enter Thailand.
That is, the British and French begin to spread their influence throughout this geography. And, in fact, they will sit there for a long time, until the 40s of the 20th century.
Now I would like to say separately about the Americans. Yes, they did not fight in either the first or second Opium Wars, but they did a lot for the opium trade.

One of the first traders was a man named Forbes, he has nothing to do with Forbes magazine, he came from America. At first they tried to trade sandalwood with the Chinese, which was exported from, it seems, the Hawaiian Islands, then some kind of skins, but all this was generally needed by China in small volumes, and then the Americans, in fact, got hooked on this opium trade and began to import Turkish opium.
The second person who became a pillar of America's opium trade was a man named Delano Roosevelt. The last name is probably familiar to you.
Yes, this is the grandfather of the future president of the United States of America, Franklin Delano Roosevelt. And his grandson knew him alive. Franklin Delano was 16 years old when his grandfather died.

Delano Roosevelt amassed a huge fortune. He arrives in Guangzhou in 1830 and starts trading opium. He is not yet a business owner, he is an employee of the company. At the same time, he established, bypassing his own company, as they would say now, parallel imports of silk. He also earns money on this, but on opium he simply becomes fantastically rich, he returns to America and starts buying mines, railways, investing in oil companies with the invested money. He builds a huge empire that burns down in the panic of 1858.
Delano Roosevelt returns to Hong Kong and again makes crazy money on opium, only now he trades it in two directions.
One side, one sales market is China, and the second, in fact, America, because there is a civil war there, and opium is needed for hospitals.

And so Delano Roosevelt makes huge money from the opium trade. When his grandson becomes president, during the first presidential campaign against Franklin Delano Roosevelt, a large article by a well-known journalist, author, and Pulitzer Prize winner will appear in the press about the roots of the Roosevelt family's wealth. And there will be this opium story. Well, the matter was quickly hushed up and the topic of opium in conjunction with Franklin Roosevelt somehow disappeared from the media. His wife would later recall that, of course, everyone knew about this story, but it was not customary to talk about it out loud.

Just like another huge family of American millionaires, the Astor family, they also got rich from the opium trade. As a matter of fact, most of the fortunes of American families, which were subsequently invested in American trade, in the American economy, were based on drug trafficking.
And now, of course, no one remembers this, it was a long time ago...
And in England it's exactly the same. China was virtually destroyed by these opium wars. The country will be addicted to opium for a very long time, and all this infection will be eradicated by Mao Zedong, and this is already the forties of the 20th century.
So you understand why the Chinese call this the century of humiliation?
Indeed, in almost 100 years, from a country that had 35 percent of the world's GDP, it turned into a fragmented, impoverished power that was torn apart by civil wars, that was humiliated, that had its territory taken away, addicted to opium, corrupted the entire elite, and in general, the country was almost torn to pieces.
And only Mao Zedong eradicates all this, because the civil war will continue until the 40s.
All this will be supported from all sides, because, of course, such a state of China was beneficial to all market participants.
Therefore, today, when you hear statements from the Chinese elite about the West, you must understand that the Chinese understand perfectly well that a quarter of the current British House of Lords have ancestors who were directly or indirectly involved in the opium trade, participated in the opium wars, and participated in the humiliation of China.
The Chinese remember this very well, since the country thinks in terms of millennia, the planning horizon is 100 years, and all their steps, and everyone who offended them, everything is recorded.
You know, an interesting point, history, it's such a thing, it loves to play toys. So let's say the British and Americans hooked a country called China on opium, that is, on heroin. And now the dominant amount of synthetic drugs, such as fentanyl, those drugs that are brought into the territory of the United States of America, are produced in China. And so, in general, when the Americans say that, well, you are producing a huge amount of all kinds of chemicals in your drug labs and importing it into the States, China always has something to answer.
I'm not saying that evil must be paid for with even greater evil, but in principle, historical justice, albeit in such elaborate forms, manifests itself.

This is the story of the Opium Wars, which shows that within any statements about open door policies, the formation of a large open market, there are always tough economic interests of states, always tough geopolitical interests. The strong always beats and humiliates the weak. And when the strong wins this war against the weak, he signs the necessary documents to say that in fact the weak is to blame for this war.

There's a joke that shows one of the forms of primitive accumulation of capital:
A millionaire was asked how he became a millionaire? "I found an apple, washed it, sold it, bought two apples with that money, washed them, sold them, and bought four apples with the earned money." And then you sold them and bought eight apples? "No, then my aunt died and left me an inheritance of three million."
In the real life of capitalism, the last words of this joke would sound something like "I acquired a box of opium and sold it to China." But that wouldn't be a very funny joke anymore...

 

[Jroc]

The topic of this post is the Opium Wars.
In the history of different states, there are periods that are shameful or humiliating to remember. The Opium Wars, or the Century of Humiliation, as it is called in China, is a historical period that China still remembers, and we will return to this at the end. This is a period that China will never forgive the West for, and this is the period from which the roots of the current conflict between China and Europe and the United States of America grow. As for the other side of the conflict, England, Great Britain, the USA, and partly France, it is customary not to remember this period because it is indeed a shameful matter, it is a completely inhuman matter, and it perfectly shows the true nature of geopolitics, the true nature of the economic interests of capitalism and state aspirations.

So, the Opium Wars. At the beginning of the 19th century, China entered as the richest country in the world. 35% (!) of the world's GDP was accounted for by then Qing China. For comparison, now the US economy is 25% of the entire world GDP. That is, China was the richest power in the world. In addition to the fact that China produced various items and products that were of interest to Europe, such as porcelain, spices, silk, and especially tea, which was of interest to Great Britain, China was a huge sales market. And the Western powers, naturally, sought to trade there, but China was completely isolated.
When the envoys of the English King George arrived at the court of the Chinese Emperor Qianlong to agree on new trade laws, the Emperor of China told them that thanks to heaven and earth, we have everything we need, and we do not need your strange barbarian goods. Indeed, China, the Chinese emperor, treated Europeans as barbarians, as white monkeys, and treated his neighbors as vassals, quite contemptuously, and indeed China did not need anything from Europe, but Great Britain needed a lot from China.

Well, let's start with the fact that a huge amount of tea begins to be imported from China, and literally during the 18th century, a real tea revolution takes place in Great Britain, and there is a theory that drinking Great Britain switches to tea and, in fact, this contributes to the sobering up of the nation and the economic rise of Great Britain in the 19th century. I do not presume to say that this is so, but such a version exists. The British import huge quantities of tea from China, at which time the saying appears, "I won't do it for all the tea in China," that is, for no money.
And the British pay China for this tea with silver.

Of course, it is more profitable to pay with some other goods, but China, I repeat, is a closed territory. Foreigners are allowed into only one port, Guangzhou. Further into the continent, they are not allowed to spread their trade. There in Guangzhou are English and American trading posts. And they trade with Chinese merchants. They are not allowed further into the continent. They are forbidden to settle on the continent; if they are on a long business trip, they are forbidden to bring their families so that people do not put down roots in Chinese land.

Great Britain's policy at that time, economic policy, is very simple. The trade balance must be strictly in favor of Great Britain. That is, we must sell more than we buy so that we have a positive trade balance. But China doesn't need anything. The monopoly on the tea trade belongs to the greatest corporation in the world at that time, the East India Trading Company. It is based in India but trades with all nearby territories, including China, and brings silk, spices, porcelain, and most importantly, tea to Great Britain. Silver is paid for tea. And so the British, from whom the Chinese need nothing, are trying to find a product that could be exchanged for tea because a huge amount of silver is already being exported to China in exchange for this tea, which is starting to undermine the pound sterling, which is starting to undermine the British economy.

A variety of goods were used, precious stones, but they are also available in China, all sorts of valuable fur skins, yes, they are also imported, but in fact, they do not provide any large income item. And then Opium enters the scene. Now opium is very strongly associated with China. And all these opium dens in London, and in San Francisco in America, there will be Chinese servants, and all this will be associated with China. In fact, opium has nothing to do with China. Opium was not born there. Opium was born in the East. It was brought to China long ago by Egyptian merchants and was used as a medicine for insomnia, during some operations, because it is clear that opium contains morphine, and this is a painkiller, this is the remedy that is used during operations, used for sleep disorders, and so on.
And in China, it is known as a medicine, and in the Middle East, it is known as a medicine, but then opium begins to be smoked, it begins to be mixed with tobacco, such a mixture is called madak, and it gives a kind of mild euphoric effect, that is, people smoke opium mixed with tobacco, fall into such a euphoric state and, therefore, relax. This kind of high, over time, formed this habit of smoking raw opium.

But science does not stand still, and at some point, they learned how to purify opium to increase the amount of narcotic content in it, that is, they actually learned how to make heroin. And at this point, opium becomes a popular drug. At the beginning of the 19th century, the British brought the first opium to China. Opium quickly becomes a very popular drug. It must be said that the British, the East India Company, had a delivery technology, the so-called clippers, which were high-speed ships that could move quickly through tropical storms.
They were called tea clippers because they mainly carried tea to Great Britain from China. From India to China, they carried drugs, they carried opium. I must say, to finish with the history of tea, that the Chinese, since they considered all white people to be barbarians, sold them low-quality tea. They call it red tea, we call it black tea. And good teas, all high-mountain green teas, they kept for themselves because why should white monkeys drink this? This garbage will do. But this garbage began to be considered a delicacy in Great Britain.

So, the first box of opium arrives in China. And the Chinese are hooked on this drug, it becomes fashionable to smoke it. Merchants, officials, and army officers based in Guangzhou, in the territory next to the English trading post, are the first to start smoking it, the first opium dens appear, and then the drug begins to take over China.

This is a completely amazing story, because the Chinese emperor and, in general, let's say, the highest authorities of China slept through the opium story. It begins at the beginning of the nineteenth century, and by the thirties of the same century, China begins to get "high". Everyone smokes opium. Of course, at first, the high society smokes it. These are officials, officers, merchants. Then the imperial court begins to smoke it. Ordinary people smoke less because it is still an expensive pleasure. But then they learn to dilute it in the right proportions to reduce the cost. And it begins to completely devour China. The profit is fantastic.

In Calcutta, at auction, a box of opium costs 130 pounds. When it arrives in China, it is sold for 600 pounds. The East India Company simply became incredibly rich through the opium trade. Just for example, a figure. In 1837, the British imported 2,535 tons of opium into China, earning 592 tons of silver for it. That is, first, the East India Company brings opium and exchanges it for tea. And earns twice. Once on opium, then earns by supplying tea to Great Britain.
Then tea is no longer enough, and China begins to pay for opium with silver. Even the emperor's court begins to get "high" on opium. And, in fact, to make it clear, 20% (!) of all British imports at that time was opium. That is, you see, when we now say, "Oh, these Colombian drug traffickers, Afghan drug traffickers," then it was simply state policy, this drug trade, it is the state policy of Great Britain, which is supported by everyone.

The United States had nothing to do with the opium wars and communist China has no relation to the previous Chinese ...Mao starved to death 40 to 50 million of his own people....quit blaming the West ....it's because of the United States and the west of China is where it is right now with thier manufacturing economy

 

[whitehall]

China only abolished slavery as late as 1910 and allegedly it persisted as late as 1949. Poor Chinese families sold their children to the government to be abused and used as slaves. Maybe still do.

 

[Jroc]

China only abolished slavery as late as 1910 and allegedly it persisted as late as 1949. Poor Chinese families sold their children to the government to be abused and used as slaves. Maybe still do.

They still have slavery. They put uygers and another minorities in slave labor camps

 

[Ringo]

They still have slavery. They put uygers and another minorities in slave labor camps

Goebbels's lying propaganda of capitalism still reigns in people's minds.

 

[Jroc]

Goebbels's lying propaganda of capitalism still reigns in people's minds.

 

[August West]

The United States had nothing to do with the opium wars and communist China has no relation to the previous Chinese ...Mao starved to death 40 to 50 million of his own people....quit blaming the West ....it's because of the United States and the west of China is where it is right now with thier manufacturing economy

There were an estimated 150-200 million unnecessary deaths in India when it was ruled by the Brits. Some estimate the number at 200-300 million.

British empire killed 165 million Indians in 40 years: How colonialism inspired fascism - Geopolitical Economy Report

British colonialism caused over 100 million deaths in India from 1880-1920, stealing $45 trillion wealth. The capitalist system was founded on European imperial genocides, inspiring fascism.

geopoliticaleconomy.com

 

[Jroc]

There were an estimated 150-200 million unnecessary deaths in India when it was ruled by the Brits. Some estimate the number at 200-300 million.

British empire killed 165 million Indians in 40 years: How colonialism inspired fascism - Geopolitical Economy Report

British colonialism caused over 100 million deaths in India from 1880-1920, stealing $45 trillion wealth. The capitalist system was founded on European imperial genocides, inspiring fascism.

geopoliticaleconomy.com

We're not the British

 

[Litwin]

There were an estimated 150-200 million unnecessary deaths in India when it was ruled by the Brits.

The Brits gave Hindu losers their very own huge empire. What are you talking about? Hindus owe everything to the Brits and other Europeans.

Mughal India ~ The Biggest Holocaust in World History

The modern World today is facing a global threat from organizations and groups of terrorists such as the ISIS, Taliban and Al-Qaeeda – whose ideology is chillingly similar to that of the perpetrators of the World’s biggest holocaust in India.

www.sikhnet.com

 

[Jroc]

The Brits gave Hindu losers their very own huge empire. What are you talking about? Hindus owe everything to the Brits and other Europeans.

Mughal India ~ The Biggest Holocaust in World History

The modern World today is facing a global threat from organizations and groups of terrorists such as the ISIS, Taliban and Al-Qaeeda – whose ideology is chillingly similar to that of the perpetrators of the World’s biggest holocaust in India.

www.sikhnet.com

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It's a theory.... They can't know how many Indians would have died if the British weren't there.. this is not fact... 200 million? my ass. I call b*******... The Pakistani and the Indians are killing each other today and they have been for a long time Muslims Hindus kill each other all time and have been for centuries that doesn't have anything to do with the British

 

[Litwin]

It's a theory.... They can't know how many Indians would have died if the British weren't there.. this is not fact... 200 million? my ass. I call b*******... The Pakistani and the Indians are killing each other today and they have been for a long time Muslims Hindus kill each other all time and have been for centuries that doesn't have anything to do with the British

+1!!!!! Man, I am the real anti-colonialist. (North) Hindu thugs are imperialists-colonialists and criminal beggars. India and the so-called "Global South" decry British colonialism, yet actively fund Moscow’s imperial war machine by buying discounted stolen Siberian oil. While preaching justice, they fuel Putin’s wars in Ukraine, Georgia, Belarus, Armenia, Azerbaijan, EU and beyond. That’s not neutrality—it’s complicity.

India can’t play both sides. If it opposes colonialism, it must stop enabling one. Trump’s tariffs were a good start—we need to ratchet them up to 100%, then to 500%, to influence genocidal behavior.

 

[August West]

We're not the British

What does that have to do with a historical fact? Don`t be afraid of learning something.

 

[Jroc]

What does that have to do with a historical fact? Don`t be afraid of learning something.

A Theory is not fact...India wasn't even a country before the british and there's no way of knowing how many people would have died from famine if the British weren't there

 

[Deadstick]

The Opium wars were the British Colonialists attacking China because they tried to protect Chinese people from the British drug dealers, it's that simple.

 

[AyeCantSeeYou]

The topic of this post is the Opium Wars.
In the history of different states, there are periods that are shameful or humiliating to remember. The Opium Wars, or the Century of Humiliation, as it is called in China, is a historical period that China still remembers, and we will return to this at the end. This is a period that China will never forgive the West for, and this is the period from which the roots of the current conflict between China and Europe and the United States of America grow. As for the other side of the conflict, England, Great Britain, the USA, and partly France, it is customary not to remember this period because it is indeed a shameful matter, it is a completely inhuman matter, and it perfectly shows the true nature of geopolitics, the true nature of the economic interests of capitalism and state aspirations.

So, the Opium Wars. At the beginning of the 19th century, China entered as the richest country in the world. 35% (!) of the world's GDP was accounted for by then Qing China. For comparison, now the US economy is 25% of the entire world GDP. That is, China was the richest power in the world. In addition to the fact that China produced various items and products that were of interest to Europe, such as porcelain, spices, silk, and especially tea, which was of interest to Great Britain, China was a huge sales market. And the Western powers, naturally, sought to trade there, but China was completely isolated.
When the envoys of the English King George arrived at the court of the Chinese Emperor Qianlong to agree on new trade laws, the Emperor of China told them that thanks to heaven and earth, we have everything we need, and we do not need your strange barbarian goods. Indeed, China, the Chinese emperor, treated Europeans as barbarians, as white monkeys, and treated his neighbors as vassals, quite contemptuously, and indeed China did not need anything from Europe, but Great Britain needed a lot from China.

Well, let's start with the fact that a huge amount of tea begins to be imported from China, and literally during the 18th century, a real tea revolution takes place in Great Britain, and there is a theory that drinking Great Britain switches to tea and, in fact, this contributes to the sobering up of the nation and the economic rise of Great Britain in the 19th century. I do not presume to say that this is so, but such a version exists. The British import huge quantities of tea from China, at which time the saying appears, "I won't do it for all the tea in China," that is, for no money.
And the British pay China for this tea with silver.

Of course, it is more profitable to pay with some other goods, but China, I repeat, is a closed territory. Foreigners are allowed into only one port, Guangzhou. Further into the continent, they are not allowed to spread their trade. There in Guangzhou are English and American trading posts. And they trade with Chinese merchants. They are not allowed further into the continent. They are forbidden to settle on the continent; if they are on a long business trip, they are forbidden to bring their families so that people do not put down roots in Chinese land.

Great Britain's policy at that time, economic policy, is very simple. The trade balance must be strictly in favor of Great Britain. That is, we must sell more than we buy so that we have a positive trade balance. But China doesn't need anything. The monopoly on the tea trade belongs to the greatest corporation in the world at that time, the East India Trading Company. It is based in India but trades with all nearby territories, including China, and brings silk, spices, porcelain, and most importantly, tea to Great Britain. Silver is paid for tea. And so the British, from whom the Chinese need nothing, are trying to find a product that could be exchanged for tea because a huge amount of silver is already being exported to China in exchange for this tea, which is starting to undermine the pound sterling, which is starting to undermine the British economy.

A variety of goods were used, precious stones, but they are also available in China, all sorts of valuable fur skins, yes, they are also imported, but in fact, they do not provide any large income item. And then Opium enters the scene. Now opium is very strongly associated with China. And all these opium dens in London, and in San Francisco in America, there will be Chinese servants, and all this will be associated with China. In fact, opium has nothing to do with China. Opium was not born there. Opium was born in the East. It was brought to China long ago by Egyptian merchants and was used as a medicine for insomnia, during some operations, because it is clear that opium contains morphine, and this is a painkiller, this is the remedy that is used during operations, used for sleep disorders, and so on.
And in China, it is known as a medicine, and in the Middle East, it is known as a medicine, but then opium begins to be smoked, it begins to be mixed with tobacco, such a mixture is called madak, and it gives a kind of mild euphoric effect, that is, people smoke opium mixed with tobacco, fall into such a euphoric state and, therefore, relax. This kind of high, over time, formed this habit of smoking raw opium.

But science does not stand still, and at some point, they learned how to purify opium to increase the amount of narcotic content in it, that is, they actually learned how to make heroin. And at this point, opium becomes a popular drug. At the beginning of the 19th century, the British brought the first opium to China. Opium quickly becomes a very popular drug. It must be said that the British, the East India Company, had a delivery technology, the so-called clippers, which were high-speed ships that could move quickly through tropical storms.
They were called tea clippers because they mainly carried tea to Great Britain from China. From India to China, they carried drugs, they carried opium. I must say, to finish with the history of tea, that the Chinese, since they considered all white people to be barbarians, sold them low-quality tea. They call it red tea, we call it black tea. And good teas, all high-mountain green teas, they kept for themselves because why should white monkeys drink this? This garbage will do. But this garbage began to be considered a delicacy in Great Britain.

So, the first box of opium arrives in China. And the Chinese are hooked on this drug, it becomes fashionable to smoke it. Merchants, officials, and army officers based in Guangzhou, in the territory next to the English trading post, are the first to start smoking it, the first opium dens appear, and then the drug begins to take over China.

This is a completely amazing story, because the Chinese emperor and, in general, let's say, the highest authorities of China slept through the opium story. It begins at the beginning of the nineteenth century, and by the thirties of the same century, China begins to get "high". Everyone smokes opium. Of course, at first, the high society smokes it. These are officials, officers, merchants. Then the imperial court begins to smoke it. Ordinary people smoke less because it is still an expensive pleasure. But then they learn to dilute it in the right proportions to reduce the cost. And it begins to completely devour China. The profit is fantastic.

In Calcutta, at auction, a box of opium costs 130 pounds. When it arrives in China, it is sold for 600 pounds. The East India Company simply became incredibly rich through the opium trade. Just for example, a figure. In 1837, the British imported 2,535 tons of opium into China, earning 592 tons of silver for it. That is, first, the East India Company brings opium and exchanges it for tea. And earns twice. Once on opium, then earns by supplying tea to Great Britain.
Then tea is no longer enough, and China begins to pay for opium with silver. Even the emperor's court begins to get "high" on opium. And, in fact, to make it clear, 20% (!) of all British imports at that time was opium. That is, you see, when we now say, "Oh, these Colombian drug traffickers, Afghan drug traffickers," then it was simply state policy, this drug trade, it is the state policy of Great Britain, which is supported by everyone.

Did you copy this from a source? If so, You need to provide the link(s) AND know that USMB has a rule against plagiarism. Basically, large amounts of text (more than a few sentences) copied and pasted from sources is not allowed.

 

[Ringo]

Did you copy this from a source?

No.

 

[Jroc]

No.

Bull

 

[Zebra]

Bull

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