Why are the Opium Wars so named?

rightiam

Because the British-India smuggled Opium into China http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opium_Wars Dec 04 07, 7:44 PM

MonkeyOnALeash

Get the Chinese hooked then they could be controlled. This control would be reached through the ingestion of Opium, a highly addictive Poppy derivative. Same thing is going on in America with the internet, Starbucks and "instant anything". Get people addicted to luxury and ease of operation control the "ease", control the user. Dec 04 07, 8:21 PM

zbeckabee

The wars are so named because they centered on the trade of opium, a powerful narcotic that British merchants were smuggling into China in vast quantities. The Chinese lost both wars. As a result, they found themselves forced into the emerging world of global trade and diplomacy, while Western nations gained significant commercial privileges and territory in China. http://www2.uhv.edu/fairlambh/asian/opium_wars.htm Dec 04 07, 8:22 PM

author

This is an example of global capitalism: Like in today's Iraq or Afghanistan you have to control the trade of the most important opiates. Today it is oil (Iraq) and heroin (Afghanistan). In the 19th century opium played a similar role. The ultimate goal of the Western Powers was to open the Chinese ports for their trade. This goal was accomplished by the Treaty of Tianjin. Quote: In June 1858 the first part of the war ended with the Treaties of Tianjin, to which France, Russia, and the United States were party. These treaties opened eleven more ports to Western trade. The Chinese initially refused to ratify the treaties. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Opium_War Dec 04 07, 8:55 PM