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

He reeled off a litany of Western military actions stretching over centuries — from the British Opium War in China in the 19th century to Allied firebombings of Germany and the Vietnam and Korean Wars.

From New York Times • Sep. 30, 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

In the aftermath of the Opium War, other European states secured the legal right to carry on trade in China, administer their own taxes and laws in designated port cities, and support Christian missionary work.

From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2020

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