Opium Wars Opium Wars The Opium Wars were two wars in the mid-19th century involving China and the British Empire over the British trade of opium and China's sovereignty. The clashes included the First Opium War (1839–1842) and the Second Opium War (1856–1860). The wars and events between them weakened the Qing dynasty and forced China to trade with the other parts of the world. In 1820, China's economy was the largest in the world, according to British economist Angus Maddison. Within a decade after the end of the Second Opium War, China's share of global GDP had fallen by half. In
An Authentic Account of an Embassy from the King of Great Britain to the Emperor of China in 1798 for George Nicol in two volumes. The American edition was published in two volumes in 1799 in Philadelphia by John Bioren for Robert Campbell. The English text was soon after its publication translated into various languages. The German version "Reise der englischen Gesandtschaft an den Kaiser von China in den Jahren 1792 und 1793" was published in two volumes in Zürich by Geßner 1798-1799, translated by Johann Christian Hüttner. The translation holds no illustrations due to its small size and is the only version that admits being freely translated. The Dutch translation "Reis van lord Macartneij, naar China"