The Opium War

The first Opium War was when The British fought The British and China. They fought with ships in the seas. This war started because the British had opium and wanted to trade with China.Opium comes from a plant called poppy. In the beginning British gave away opium to the Chinese so they can become addicted to it and make it a physical need for them. The rate of addiction greatly grew in China. Later the Chinese wanted more opium, however British didn't give it away this time, now they wanted to trade it to them for tea. The Emporer was not happy about this so when the British came to the ports to trade with the Chinese merchants, the Emporer sent out ships to block off the British ships. Obviously, the Chinese lost because of their out of date ships and weapons. The Europeans had high powered cannons and ships made of steel. European won the war because they had more superior technology's than China.