HONG KONG — In 1840, Britain went to war with China over questions of trade, diplomacy, national dignity and, most importantly, drug trafficking. While British officials tried to play down the illicit ...

The First Opium War began as a trade dispute, but it quickly exposed a deeper power struggle between Britain and Qing China.

In China around 1839, large quantities of opium were circulating, with an estimated 40,000 boxes of opium being brought in annually via the port of Guangzhou. A huge market had formed, with some ...

Key point: London instigated a war of aggression against China in order to force an unequal treaty on China. London started a trend after other major imperial powers saw their success they soon ...

New York; March 8, 2024 — Last week, award-winning author Amitav Ghosh sat down with Princeton professor and former BBC journalist Razia Iqbal for a conversation about his latest book, Smoke and Ashes ...

In the 19th Century, the British East India Company was buying up huge amounts of Chinese goods – tea, silk, porcelain and more – but China was not interested in buying... Here’s What You Need to Know ...

Queen Victoria is often remembered as the figurehead of a moral, industrious era in British history. Yet the global economic machinery that operated during her reign included one of the most ...

The Opium Wars, a 19th-century armed conflict between the Qing Dynasty and the British Empire, is narrated by a history professor who has a hypnotic effect on his students.