WORLD HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -Beyond the health problems related to opium addiction, the increasing opium trade with the Western powers meant that for the first time, China imported more goods than it exported. Settling this financial problem eventually led to the First Opium War between Great Britain and China, from 1839 to 1842.

Detailed explanation-2: -What caused the Opium Wars? The first Opium War was the result of China’s attempt to suppress the illegal opium trade, which had led to widespread addiction in China and was causing serious social and economic disruption there. British traders were the primary source of the drug in China.

Detailed explanation-3: -The Chinese wanted to stop the trade. Although opium was valued as a medicine that could ease pain, assist sleep and reduce stress, by 1840 there were millions of addicts in the country. Illegal opium imports were also eroding what had once been a favourable balance of trade.

Detailed explanation-4: -The First Opium War was fought from 1839 to 1842 between China and the United Kingdom, and was triggered by the Chinese government’s campaign to enforce its prohibition against opium trafficking by British merchants.

Detailed explanation-5: -In response, the British East India Company hired private British and American traders to transport the drug to China. Chinese smugglers bought the opium from British and American ships anchored off the Guangzhou coast and distributed it within China through a network of Chinese middlemen.

Detailed explanation-6: -The trade was thus almost completely stopped by 1917. Opium smoking and addiction remained a problem in China during the subsequent decades, however, since the weakened central republican government, which had overthrown the Qing dynasty in 1912, could not wipe out the native cultivation of opium.