the Opium Wars 1839 -1860: Britain, China and that Forced Open an Empire

Two wars. One collapsing relationship. A confrontation that changed China forever.In 1839, Chinese official Lin Zexu ordered the destruction of thousands of chests of illegal opium at Canton. Britain responded with warships.What followed was not one war but two.Across the First and Second Opium Wars, British and French forces fought their way along China's coast and rivers, captured powerful forts, opened the Yangtze, marched towards Beijing and ultimately burned the magnificent Summer Palace. The Qing Empire possessed enormous armies and ruled hundreds of millions of people-yet relatively small foreign expeditionary forces repeatedly forced it to negotiate.How did this happen?The Opium Wars: Britain, China and the Wars That Forced Open an Empire tells the complete story, from Britain's insatiable demand for Chinese tea and the illegal opium trade to Lin Zexu's crackdown, the battles of Chuenpi and the Taku Forts, the seizure of Hong Kong, the Treaties of Nanjing and Tianjin, and the Anglo-French advance on Beijing in 1860.Discover why Western naval power proved so difficult for the Qing military to stop, how China adapted and occasionally fought back, why the wars created the controversial "unequal treaty" system, and how their consequences helped shape modern China, Hong Kong and East Asia.Part of the One Hour Wars series, this is a fast-moving and accessible introduction designed for readers who want to understand the people, battles and consequences of a major historical conflict without committing to a 500-page history book.One hour. Two wars. The essential story.