Opium War

American  

noun

1. a war between Great Britain and China that began in 1839 as a conflict over the opium trade and ended in 1842 with the Chinese cession of Hong Kong to the British, the opening of five Chinese ports to foreign merchants, and the grant of other commercial and diplomatic privileges in the Treaty of Nanking.

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Example Sentences

In response, the British sent military forces to China with orders to impose penalties on the Chinese government and protect British merchants in a conflict later named the First Opium War.

From Textbooks • Dec. 14, 2022

China has always asserted it never gave up sovereignty and its surrender of Hong Kong to the British was due to unfair Opium War treaties in the 1800s.

From BBC • Jun. 15, 2022

The Qing ceded Hong Kong Island in perpetuity to the British in 1842 following the first Opium War and would later do the same with the adjacent Kowloon Peninsula.

From New York Times • Aug. 4, 2021

In 1839, the first Opium War between China and Britain broke out.

From Washington Times • Nov. 3, 2018

After a second Opium War, the Tientsin Treaties legalized the ravaging opium trade, legalized a British-French-American control of China’s customs.

From "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" by Alex Malcolm X;Hailey