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
Russia in the Opium Wars city), and the official right to trade opium. The Qing government rejected these demands, however this did not lead to an open conflict yet, since the main British military forces were focused on the battlefronts in Russia and Persia. After a victorious campaign in the Crimean War of 1856, Britain transferred its focus on Qing China to further expand its political influence on the empire. On October 8, 1856 they found one: Chinese authorities arrested "Arrow", a British commercial ship that was smuggling goods and selling opium. Britain demanded to free the sailors, as they believed the accusation was falsified,