First Opium War:

i. The British merchants used to sell Opium brought from India into the Chinese market. 

ii. The Chinese people exchanged silver to buy Opium which led to a stream of silver export to England. 

iii. The Chinese government, was against this business, however, European traders continued to smuggle Opium into China. 

iv. This led to the First Opium War between England and China in the year 1839. 

v. In this war, China was defeated, which compelled the Manchu empire to sign a treaty with England in 1842 known as the ‘Nanking Treaty’. 

vi. According to this treaty, England was given the control of four ports along with Canton port. England also won the Hong Kong island.

vii. Taking advantage of these developments, in the following ten years, America, France, Belgium, Holland, Portugal and Russia sought commercial concessions from China.

Second Opium War:

i. In the year 1856, England and France had a war against China. This was known as the Second Opium war. 

ii. The war came to an end with the defeat of the Manchu emperor and the Peking Treaty. 

iii. By this treaty, another group of six Chinese ports were opened for the foreign traders. 

iv. The business of Opium was given permission. The foreign envoys were allowed to stay in Peking. 

v. The Christian missionaries were given security and freedom of spreading their religion.