TheSecond Opium War (simplified Chinese:第二次鸦片战争;traditional Chinese:第二次鴉片戰爭), also known as theSecond Anglo-Chinese War orArrow War,[3] was fought between theUnited Kingdom,France,Russia, and theUnited States against theQing dynasty of China between 1856 and 1860. It was the second major conflict in theOpium Wars, which were fought over the right to importopium to China, and resulted in a second defeat for the Qing and the forced legalisation of the opium trade. It caused many Chinese officials to believe that conflicts with the Western powers were no longer traditional wars, but part of a looming national crisis.[4]
On 8 October 1856, Qing officials seized theArrow, a British-registered cargo ship, and arrested its Chinese sailors. The British consul,Harry Parkes, protested, upon which theviceroy of Liangguang,Ye Mingchen, delivered most of sailors to the British on 22 October, but refused to release the rest. The next day, British gunboats shelled the city ofCanton. The British government decided to seek redress from China and dispatched a naval force led byMichael Seymour, and France joined in the action, citing as its reason the murder of a French missionary in China. After coordination with each other, the British and French stormed Canton in December 1857. Ye was captured and the governor ofGuangdong surrendered. The alliance then moved north to demand a treaty from the Qing court, and on 20 May 1858, captured theTaku Forts, stormedTianjin, and threatened the capitalBeijing. The Qing asked for peace, and signed theTreaty of Tientsin with Great Britain and France in 1858.
However, theXianfeng Emperor refused to ratify the treaty, after which the Qing generalSengge Rinchen restarted the war with the British and French that month. Allied reinforcements sailed fromHong Kong, and his troops were defeated. As the alliance's forces advanced toward Beijing, Parkes and a number of British and French officers were captured as hostages, and some were tortured or murdered. These events promptedLord Elgin to order his soldiers to loot and burn theOld Summer Palace as soon as they captured Beijing. The emperor and his entourage fled toRehe, whilePrince Gong stayed to conduct the negotiations, signing theConvention of Peking with the alliance on 24 October 1860, thus ratifying the Treaty of Tientsin and bringing the Second Opium War to an end.
During and after the Second Opium War, the Qing government was also forced to sign treaties with Russia, such as theTreaty of Aigun and theConvention of Peking. As a result, China ceded more than 1.5 million square kilometres (0.58 million square miles) of territory to Russia in its north-east and north-west. With the conclusion of the war, the Qing government was able to concentrate on countering theTaiping Rebellion and maintaining its rule.[5] Among other things, the Convention of Peking ceded theKowloon Peninsula to the British as part ofHong Kong.
The terms "Second War" and "Arrow War" are both used in literature. "Second Opium War" refers to one of Britain's strategic objectives, legalizing theopium trade.[6] China's defeat also opened up all of China to British merchants, and exempted foreign imports from internal transit duties. "Arrow War" refers to the name of the vessel which became the starting point of the conflict.[7]
The war followed on from theFirst Opium War. In 1842, theTreaty of Nanking granted anindemnity andextraterritoriality to Britain, the opening of fivetreaty ports, and the cession ofHong Kong Island. The failure of the treaty to satisfy British goals of improved trade and diplomatic relations led to the Second Opium War (1856–1860).[8] In China, the First Opium War is considered to have been the beginning of modern Chinese history.[9][10][11]
Between the two wars, repeated acts of aggression against British subjects led in 1847 to theExpedition to Canton which assaulted and took, by acoup de main, the forts of theBocca Tigris resulting in thespiking of 879 guns.[12]: 501
The Illustrated London News print of the steamshipLy-ee-moon, built for the opium trade,c. 1859
The 1850s saw the rapid growth of Westernimperialism. Some of the shared goals of the Western powers were the expansion of their overseas markets and the establishment of new ports of call. The FrenchTreaty of Huangpu, and the AmericanWangxia Treaty, both contained clauses allowing renegotiation of the treaties after 12 years of being in effect. In an effort to expand its privileges in China,Britain demanded that the Qing authorities renegotiate theTreaty of Nanjing (signed in 1842), citing itsmost favoured nation status. The British demands included opening all of China to British merchant companies, the legalising of theopium trade, the exemption of foreign imports from internal transit duties, the suppression of piracy, the regulation of thecoolie trade, permission for a British ambassador to reside in Beijing, and that the English-language version of all treaties takes precedence over the Chinese language one.[13][dead link]
To give Chinese merchant vessels operating around treaty ports the same privileges accorded to British ships by the Treaty of Nanjing, British authorities granted the vessels British registration in Hong Kong. In October 1856, Chinese marines in Canton seized a cargo ship called theArrow on suspicion of piracy, arresting twelve of its fourteen Chinese crew members. TheArrow, which had previously been used by pirates, was captured by the Chinese government and subsequently resold. It was then registered as a British ship and still flew the British flag at the time of its detention, though its registration had expired. Its captain, Thomas Kennedy, who was aboard a nearby vessel at the time, reported seeing Chinese marines pull the British flag down from the ship.[14] The British consul in Canton,Harry Parkes, contactedYe Mingchen, imperial commissioner andViceroy of Liangguang, to demand the immediate release of the crew, and an apology for the alleged insult to the flag. Ye released nine of the crew members but refused to release the other three.[citation needed]
On 23 October, the British destroyed four barrier forts. On 25 October, a demand was made that the British be allowed to enter Canton. The next day, the British began to bombard the city, firing one shot every 10 minutes. Ye Mingchen issued a bounty on every British head taken. On 29 October, the Royal Navy blasted a hole in the poorly defended and inadequate city walls.[15] The troops entered Canton, with the flag of the United States being planted on the walls and residence of Ye Mingchen by James Keenan, the U.S. Consul.[16][page needed] Losses were three killed and 12 wounded. Negotiations failed and the city was bombarded. On 6 November, 23 warjunks attacked and were destroyed.[17][better source needed] There were pauses for talks, with the British bombarding at intervals, causing fires. On 5 January 1857, the British returned to Hong Kong.[16][page needed]
On 3 March 1857, the British government lost a Parliamentary vote regarding theArrow incident and what had taken place at Canton to the end of the previous year. This defeat led to ageneral election in April 1857 which increased the government's majority.[18][page needed]
In April, the British government asked the United States of America and Russia if they were interested in alliances, but both parties rejected the offer.[16][page needed] In May 1857, theIndian Mutiny became serious, and British troops destined for China were diverted to India.[12][page needed] which was considered the priority issue.[citation needed]
France joined the British action against China, prompted by complaints from their envoy, BaronJean-Baptiste-Louis Gros, over the execution of a Frenchmissionary,Auguste Chapdelaine,[19] by Chinese local authorities inGuangxi province, which at that time was not open to foreigners.[20]
The British and the French joined forces under Admiral SirMichael Seymour. In late 1857, a joint British and French army attacked and occupied Canton (todayGuangzhou). A joint committee of the Alliance was formed. The Allies left the city governor at his post in order to maintain order on behalf of the victors. The British-French alliance maintained control of Canton for nearly four years.[citation needed]
The United States and Russia sent envoys to Hong Kong to offer military help to the British and French, though in the end Russia sent no military aid.[13]
The U.S. was involved in a minor concurrent conflict during the war, though it ignored the UK's offer of alliance and did not coordinate with the Anglo-French forces. In 1856, the Chinese garrison atCanton shelled aUnited States Navy steamer,[17] and the U.S. Navy retaliated in theBattle of the Pearl River Forts. The ships bombarded then attacked the river forts near Canton, taking them. Diplomatic efforts were renewed afterwards, and the American and Chinese governments signed an agreement for U.S. neutrality in the Second Opium War.[citation needed]
The capture of Ye Mingchen after the fall of Canton
Throughout 1857, British forces began to assemble in Hong Kong, joined by a French force. In December 1857 they had sufficient ships and men to raise the issue of the non-fulfilment of the treaty obligations by which the right of entry into Canton had been accorded.[12]: 502 [better source needed] Parkes delivered an ultimatum, supported byHong Kong governor SirJohn Bowring and Admiral SirMichael Seymour, threatening on 14 December to bombard Canton if the men were not released within 24 hours.[16][page needed][21]
The remaining crew of theArrow were then released, with no apology fromViceroy Ye Mingchen who also refused to honour the treaty terms. Seymour, Major Generalvan Straubenzee and Admiralde Genouilly agreed the plan to attack Canton as ordered.[12]: 503 This event came to be known as theArrow Incident and provided the alternative name of the ensuing conflict.[22][page needed]
British troops taking a fort in 1860
Though the British were delayed by theIndian Rebellion of 1857, they followed up theArrow Incident in 1856 and attackedGuangzhou from thePearl River.Viceroy Ye Mingchen ordered all Chinese soldiers manning the forts not to resist the British incursion. After taking the fort near Canton with little effort, the British Army attacked Canton.[citation needed]
The capture of Canton, on 1 January 1858,[16][page needed] a city with a population of over 1,000,000[23][page needed] by less than 6,000 troops, resulted in the British and French forces suffering 15 killed and 113 wounded. 200–650 of the defenders and inhabitants became casualties.[citation needed]Ye Mingchen was captured and exiled toCalcutta, India, where he starved himself to death.[24]
Meanwhile, in Hong Kong, there was a possible attempt to poison John Bowring and his family in January, known as theEsing Bakery incident. However, if it was deliberate, the baker who had been charged with lacing bread witharsenic bungled the attempt by putting an excess of the poison into the dough, such that his victims vomited sufficient quantities of the poison that they had only a non-lethal dose left in their system.Criers were sent out with an alert, preventing further injury.[25]
When known in Britain, theArrow incident (and the British military response) became the subject of controversy. TheBritish House of Commons on 3 March passed a resolution by 263 to 249 against the Government saying:
That this House has heard with the concern of the conflicts which have occurred between the British and Chinese authorities on the Canton River; and, without expressing an opinion as to the extent to which the Government of China may have afforded this country cause of complaint respecting the non-fulfilment of the Treaty of 1842, this House considers that the papers which have been laid on the table fail to establish satisfactory grounds for the violent measures resorted to at Canton in the late affair of the Arrow, and that a Select Committee be appointed to inquire into the state of our commercial relations with China.[26][page needed]
The Chinese issue figured prominently in the election, at which Palmerston won an increased majority, silencing the voices within theWhig faction who supported China. The new parliament decided to seek redress from China based on the report about theArrow Incident submitted by Harry Parkes. TheFrench Empire, theUnited States, and theRussian Empire received requests from Britain to form an alliance.[citation needed]
In June 1858, the first part of the war ended with the fourTreaties of Tientsin (Tianjin), to which Britain, France, Russia, and the U.S. were parties. These treaties opened 11 more ports to Western trade. The Chinese initially refused to ratify the treaties.
The major points of the treaty were:
Britain, France, Russia, and the U.S. would have the right to establish diplomaticlegations (small embassies) inBeijing (a closed city at the time)
On 28 May 1858, the separateTreaty of Aigun was signed with Russia to revise the Chinese and Russian border as determined by theNerchinsk Treaty in 1689. Russia gained the left bank of theAmur River, pushing the border south from theStanovoy mountains. A later treaty, the Convention of Peking in 1860, gave Russia control over a non-freezing area on the Pacific coast, where Russia founded the city ofVladivostok in 1860.[28]
In June 1858, shortly after the Qing imperial court agreed to the disadvantageous treaties, hawkish ministers prevailed upon the Xianfeng Emperor to resist Western encroachment. On 2 June 1858, the Xianfeng Emperor ordered the Mongol generalSengge Rinchen to guard theTaku Forts (also romanized as Ta-ku Forts and also called Daku Forts) near Tianjin. Sengge Rinchen reinforced the forts with additional artillery pieces. He also brought 4,000 Mongol cavalry fromChahar andSuiyuan.[citation needed]
TheSecond Battle of Taku Forts took place in June 1859. A British naval force with 2,200 troops and 21 ships, under the command of AdmiralSir James Hope, sailed north from Shanghai to Tianjin with newly appointed Anglo-French envoys for the embassies in Beijing. They sailed to the mouth of theHai River guarded by the Taku Forts near Tianjin and demanded to continue inland to Beijing. Sengge Rinchen replied that the Anglo-French envoys might land up the coast at Beitang and proceed to Beijing but he refused to allow armed troops to accompany them to the Chinese capital. The Anglo-French forces insisted on landing at Taku instead of Beitang and escorting the diplomats to Beijing. On the night of 24 June 1859, a small group of British forces blew up the iron obstacles that the Chinese had placed in theBaihe River. The next day, the British forces sought to forcibly sail into the river, and shelled the Taku Forts. Low tide and soft mud prevented their landing, however, and accurate fire from Sengge Rinchen's cannons sank four gunboats and severely damaged two others. American CommodoreJosiah Tattnall III, though under orders to maintain neutrality, declared "blood is thicker than water", and provided covering fire to protect the British convoy's retreat. The failure to take the Taku Forts was a blow to British prestige, and anti-foreign resistance reached a crescendo within the Qing imperial court.[29]
Once the Indian Mutiny was finally quelled,Sir Colin Campbell, commander-in-chief in India, was free to amass troops and supplies for another offensive in China. A 'soldiers' general', Campbell's experience of casualties from disease in the First Opium War led him to provide the British forces with more than enough materiel and supplies, and casualties were light.[30]
TheThird Battle of Taku Forts took place in the summer of 1860. London once more dispatched Lord Elgin with an Anglo-French force of 11,000 British troops under GeneralJames Hope Grant and 6,700 French troops under GeneralCousin-Montauban. They pushed north with 173 ships from Hong Kong and captured the port cities ofYantai andDalian to seal the Bohai Gulf. On 3 August they carried out a landing nearBeitang (also romanized as "Pei-t'ang"), some 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) from the Taku Forts, which they captured after three weeks on 21 August.[citation needed]
Southern Chinese laborers served with the French and British forces. One observer reported that the "Chinese coolies", as he called them, "renegades though they were, served the British faithfully and cheerfully... At the assault of the Peiho Forts in 1860 they carried the French ladders to the ditch, and, standing in the water up to their necks, supported them with their hands to enable the storming party to cross. It was not usual to take them into action; they, however, bore the dangers of a distant fire with great composure, evincing a strong desire to close with their compatriots, and engage them in mortal combat with their bamboos."[31][better source needed]
After taking Tianjin on 23 August 1860, the imperial emissary and word arrived that the British had kidnapped the prefect of Tianjin. Parkes was arrested in retaliation on 18 September.[32] Also captured were a number of British and French officers, Sikh soldiers, and ajournalist from The Times. Parkes and the others were imprisoned, tortured, and interrogated.[33][page needed]
The prisoners had been tortured by having their limbs bound with rope until their flesh was lacerated and became infected with maggots, and by having dung and dirt forced into their throats. Several were executed by beheading, their corpses fed to animals. Capturedcoolies who had worked for the allies were buried up to their necks and left to dogs.[33][page needed]
The Anglo-French forces clashed withSengge Rinchen's Mongol cavalry on 18 Septemberat the battle of Zhangjiawan before proceeding toward the outskirts of Beijing for a decisive battle inTongzhou (also romanized as Tungchow).[34] On 21 September, atBaliqiao (Eight Mile Bridge), Sengge Rinchen's 10,000 troops, including the elite Mongol cavalry, were annihilated after doomed frontal charges against concentrated firepower of the Anglo-French forces. The French army arrived at the Summer Palace outside Beijing on 6 October, followed by the British a day later.[33]: 276
After the release of Parkes and the surviving prisoners on 8 October, the extent of their mistreatment became apparent. The destruction of theForbidden City was discussed, as proposed by Lord Elgin, to discourage the Qing Empire from using kidnapping as a bargaining tool, and to exact revenge on the mistreatment of their prisoners.[38][page needed] However, an attack on Beijing was ruled out, as this had already been presented as threat for other terms. Elgin decided on burning the Summer Palace. In a letter, he explained that the burning of the palace was the punishment "which would fall, not on the people, who may be comparatively innocent, but exclusively on the Emperor, whose direct personal responsibility for the crime committed is established".[39]
On 18 October, British soldiers burnt the Old Summer Palace, the French refusing to assist. The razing of the buildings took two days, with imperial property in the vicinity also destroyed.[33]: 282 Most accounts say that the Old Summer Palace was burnt for three days and three nights.
Qing flag seized by Anglo-French forces. The flag reads "親兵第五隊右營": Bodyguard, fifth squadron, right battalion (unit types are approximate),Les Invalides.
On 24 October, the emperor's brother,Prince Gong, conceded to the allied demands, the emperor having fled to Chengde on 22 September. British and French troops entered Beijing, where the Treaty of Tientsin was ratified by theConvention of Peking.[33]: 283–284
At the time,[nb 1] the largest encyclopedia ever compiled in world history was the 1408Ming DynastyYongle Encyclopedia, most of which was looted or destroyed by foreign soldiers during the sack of Beijing, leaving only 3.5 percent surviving volumes today.[40][page range too broad][41] The British, French and—thanks to the schemes of Ignatiev—the Russians were all granted a permanent diplomatic presence in Beijing (something the Qing Empire resisted to the very end as it suggested equality between China and the European powers). The Chinese had to pay 8 milliontaels to Britain and France. Kowloon was ceded to the British owned Hong Kong. The opium trade was legalized and Christians were granted fullcivil rights, including theright to own property, and the right toevangelize.[citation needed]
The content of the Convention of Beijing included:
British ships were allowed to carry indentured Chinese to the Americas
Indemnity to Britain and France increasing to 8 million taels of silver apiece
Legalization of the opium trade
Two weeks later, Ignatiev forced the Qing government to sign a "Supplementary Treaty of Peking", which ceded theMaritime Provinces east of theUssuri River (forming part ofOuter Manchuria) to the Russians, who went on to found the port ofVladivostok between 1860 and 1861.[citation needed]The Anglo-French victory was heralded in the British press as a triumph for British Prime Minister Lord Palmerston, which made his popularity rise to new heights. British merchants were delighted at the prospects of the expansion of trade in the Far East. Other foreign powers were pleased with the outcome too, since they hoped to take advantage of the opening-up of China.[citation needed]
The defeat of the Qing army by a relatively small Anglo-French military force (outnumbered at least 10 to 1 by the Qing army) coupled with the flight (and subsequent death) of the Xianfeng Emperor, and the burning of the Summer Palace, was a shocking blow to the once powerful Qing Empire. "Beyond a doubt, by 1860 the ancient civilization that was China had been thoroughly defeated and humiliated by the West."[42] After the war, a major modernization movement, known as theSelf-Strengthening Movement, began in China, and several institutional reforms were initiated.[citation needed] As the Qing government became increasingly obligated to pay indemnities and protect Westerners following its loss in the Second Opium War and given theUnequal Treaties, resistance to Qing rule increased.[43]: 181
Theopium trade incurred intense opposition from the later British Prime MinisterWilliam Ewart Gladstone.[44] As a member of Parliament, Gladstone called it "most infamous and atrocious", referring to the opium trade between China and British India in particular.[45] Gladstone was fiercely against both of theOpium Wars, was ardently opposed to the British trade in opium to China, and denounced British violence against Chinese.[46] Gladstone lambasted it as "Palmerston's Opium War" and said that he felt "in dread of the judgments of God upon England for our national iniquity towards China" in May 1840.[47] Gladstone made a famous speech in Parliament against theFirst Opium War,[48][49] criticising it as "a war more unjust in its origin, a war more calculated in its progress to cover this country with permanent disgrace".[50] His hostility to opium stemmed from the effects of the drug upon his sister Helen.[51] Due to his disgust at the First Opium War, brought on by Palmerston, Gladstone was initially reluctant to join the government ofRobert Peel, but did so in 1841.[52]
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