Essay Example on The Conflict Due to the isolation of the Chinese

The Conflict Due to the isolation of the Chinese and the degradement of the Navy the Chinese Junks were no match to the British steam powered paddle boats The British had powerful pistols while the Chinese had old Rifles The Chinese did not expect an attack so the military was composed of weak soldiers The British Nemesis easily destroyed the Chinese Junks The Chinese s ancient weapons were no match to the ironclads that the British owned see Appendix A In Kowloon during the war six drunk men were accused of murder They demanded their right to have a right of trial in Britain The seamen walked out of the court unpunished The Chinese had regarded the First and Second Opium wars as an unjust treatment and a humiliation The first opium war was relatively short On November 3rd 1839 two British Frigates opened fire on the Chinese The HMS Volage and the HMS Hyacinth attacked 29 unsuspecting Junks blockading a harbor near Chuanbi see Appendix B There was many Chinese casualties while only one British sailor was wounded The worried Lin Zexu reported this to the Emperor Afraid that he would lose his position due to this humiliation Lin twisted the report and the Emperor became persuaded that this battle was a victory This marked the beginning of the First Opium War The true beginning of the war began when the British Government in India issued a formal declaration of war 

This became known as the famous Second Battle of Chuanbi Qishan upset that his tactic failed agreed to the British Terms in the Convention of Chuanbi The Daoguang emperor soon caught wind of this and was enraged He imprisoned Qishan and had him sentenced to death Charles Elliot the British diplomat was punished for agreeing to low terms The British government insisted that the specific terms were the compensation of lost opium which Qishan did not agree to the cession of an island to the British and the removal of the strict Canton Trade System which Qishan also did not agree to Both diplomats were punished Captain Elliot then led a series of quick skirmishes that compromised the safety of Canton The HMS Nemesis and some other British warships were now in position to lay siege to Canton which they did in May see Appendix D The British then moved back north again recapturing Amoy Tinghai and Ningpo There was mainly very little resistance On March of 1842 a group of Chinese soldiers rebelled against the British in Ningpo and fought the foreigners Next in the May of 1842 the British took over the city of Chapu in a bloody battle A British lieutenant was instantly killed by a shot in his neck The British were surprised by this because casualties were often low for the British Finally the British captured Shanghai and reached the capital Nanking The war was over