Opium Wars Broke the Middle Kingdom

25. Opium continued to be a serious problem in China for more than a century

British politician William Gladstone railed against Britain’s activity in the opium trade throughout the period of the two opium wars and for years afterward. He was joined by other voices and the opposition continued through the 19^th and 20^th centuries, but British interests continued to support the trade. As time went on, its complete legalization in China spurred domestic production, and Great Britain found its biggest competition to be the Chinese growers of poppies and refiners of opium. Following the suppression of the Taiping Rebellion, opium production and sale became a major part of the Chinese economy in many areas of the country.

The opium wars themselves saw the opening of trade to the point that western interests became ubiquitous, and resented, in China. The resentment focused on western imperialism, western religious influences, the presence of foreigners in China, and exploded into the Boxer Rebellion in 1899. The Russians, French, British, and Americans were joined by German, Austro-Hungarian, Japanese, and Italian forces to defend their interests in China, and their legations in Beijing. As with most wars, the true legacy of the First and Second Opium Wars, was further wars to come.