Why did the British Attack China Again The Second Opium War

The end of the First Opium War was supposed to bring about easier trade for Britain and China, new rights for British citizens, and the cession of Hong Kong to the British Empire. In reality, only some of this happened as it was intended to, and as the name itself implies, this would not be the only Opium War. By the 1850s, Britain had been attempting to gain even more influence and privileges within China, and aimed to take full advantage of their possession of Hong Kong. As part of this strategy, the British began to grant registration for some of the Chinese-operated ships in Hong Kong, with one of those vessels being the Arrow. Formerly a pirate ship, the Arrow had since been resold and registered in Hong Kong by the British, and subsequently flew a British flag, though it was still operated by a Chinese crew. When the Chinese authorities in Canton saw the ship in the fall of 1856, they seized it under the claim that they believed it was still being used for piracy, in spite of the British flag in clear sight. This, of course, angered the Brits. While the Chinese officials would eventually decide to release the crew, it wasn't enough to satisfy Britain's consul to China, Harry Parkes, who was ready to declare war on the Chinese. This was with a disregard for the British Parliament's objection to a war. Meanwhile, the Prime Minister would soon join Parkes' side. As a result, the British launched an attack on Canton from the Pearl River. As relations between Britain and China crumbled, the Governor of Canton was captured by the Brits and sent to their Indian colony, and trading between the nations came to a total halt. With Canton within its grasp, Britain looked to push further as war became a guarantee. By now, Britain's Prime Minister, Lord Palmerstone, was all in favor of officially launching a second Opium War. When Parliament voted against such a daring endeavor, the Prime Minister ensured that the following general election swung in his favor as to ensure the support of his desired battle. Thus, pushing dissenting parliamentarians aside, Lord Palmerstone locked his nation in another war with China. And Britain wasn't alone now, given that the French had also developed a growing feud with China and hoped to from the conflict, a new alliance was formed between the famed enemies France and Britain. But the other notable powers, Russia and the United States, opted to remain more or less neutral. So with just France and Britain taking up arms side by side, the situation ramped up in the spring of 1858. The Allied's naval vessels reached Tianjin by May and began to harass the Chinese coast, fairly quickly pushing the latter into peace negotiations. By June of the same year, the treaties of Tianjin were signed by the Chinese Qing Dynasty, British Empire, Russia, France, and the United States. This was a series of agreements that were meant to end the war altogether, but in reality would only put a pause on the hostilities. The treaty had a few main goals, ranging from opening up travel by foreigners into previously closed-off regions of China, to the opening of almost a dozen more ports to the Western nations, even to the establishment of Western legations in Peking. China additionally owed millions of tales of silver to both belligerent nations of Britain and France. And yet, this would not be enough to satisfy either Western power. The first signs of renewed warfare came only a year after the 1858 series of treaties, when a dispute between Chinese defenders at the Taku Forts and a British naval fleet turned violent. The latter was made up of 2,200 troops spread over 21 ships and was escorting the new envoys from France and Britain who needed to be brought to Beijing. Upon arriving in front of the Taku Forts, Admiral Sir James Hope demanded that his fleet be allowed to pass so they may escort the envoys on their way. This was denied despite British insistence, and the fleet was told instead to land at Beitang and escort the envoys inland from there. Sir James Hope refused to agree. Subsequently, in the thick of the summer night, British troops blew up Chinese blockades in the Baihe River in preparation for their continuation. They next began shelling the forts and tried to sail on but were ultimately repelled by the Taku defenders. Even so, the following year would renew hostilities at the Taku Forts. This time, the Allied French and British troops did land at Beitang at the end of July and launched their offensive a few days later. The fight would not be easy, and after the Allied forces took out the fort's artillery, combat became increasingly intense. The British and French troops eventually forced their way into the first fort and battle here alone raged on for over three hours before the defenders had all been eradicated. The Allied troops took over 100 casualties as well, but their victory here prompted one of the forts to the south to call for a ceasefire. The plea for peace was nevertheless ignored, and the Brits and French marched along to the second northern fort instead. Despite worsening weather conditions, the Allied forces once more were triumphant and captured the second of the set of four forts. Seeing these developments and knowing that they would be unable to protect themselves, the remaining defenders thus surrendered. By now, the Chinese leadership realized that they had more or less run out of options for defeating the British and their allies. Knowing that the war would never end in their favor, they opted to re-enter negotiations, even if it meant signing another one of the so-called Unequal Treaties. After defeating the Taku Forts, the Western Allies had marched next to Zhengjiawan where they clashed with a roughly 30,000 strong Chinese force. This ended in an Allied victory and was followed only a few days later by the Battle of Palikao. This clash ended with the Western forces routing the Chinese and marching on into Beijing. To the horror of the Chinese authorities and Qing dynasty, the Allied troops plundered the Summer Palace and Winter Palace, hammering the final nail in the coffin of China's hopes for triumph. Finally, the Convention of Peking would end the brutal war with a series of three new treaties. The agreements were made not just between China, Britain, and France, but also with the United States and the Russian Empire. Yet again, this convention was seen as unfair to China, but given the circumstances, there wasn't much that the Chinese officials could do. Once more, they were pushed into ceding territory to Britain, as well as some to Russia. The previously signed treaties were also ratified and China held accountable for them, among other things. It was said that, beyond a doubt, by 1860, the ancient civilization that was China had been thoroughly defeated and humiliated by the West. But there was one other factor that, this time, took more of a backseat in the war. Opium. In the First Opium War a couple decades earlier, the main issue between China and Britain had been the matter of Britain's opium trade into China. The latter, growing intolerant of the highly addictive drug being imported into China and additionally leading to a trade imbalance, seized Britain's opium stocks at Canton after banning the product's trade. Britain, of course, would not accept such terms nor threats, and thus the First War began. The second time around, though, opium trade was actually put a bit on the backburner. The main point of strain was mutual dissatisfaction with the prior treaties which had ended the First War. But this did also include British frustration with China's failure to legalise the opium trade. The Second Opium War would eventually change this and reopen legal opium trade into China for the Brits, which in more ways than just militarily made the conflict a success for the Western allies. Still, overall, the war's purpose was to increase open trade for Western nations into China, with legalising the already continued opium trade as a nice bonus. At the end of the day, the British and French allies were able to essentially bully the Chinese government into accepting their desired terms. The defeat in the war was also seen as deeply embarrassing for China, although not everyone was on the side of the West. In fact, one particularly important man over in Britain had quite a bit to say about the matter. William Ewert Gladstone, a parliamentarian who would later become Prime Minister himself, was horrified by Lord Palmerstone's wars over opium trade. After witnessing the damage the drug could inflict with the use of it by his own sister, Gladstone found even the basic act of trading opium into China to be despicable and inexcusable. A war more calculated in its progress to cover this country with permanent disgrace was how Gladstone described what he often labelled Palmerstone's Opium War, blaming the eager-for-conflict contemporary Prime Minister for the judgments of God upon England the parliamentarian feared would come.