The Opium War started as a dispute over trading rights between China and Great Britain. Regular trade between Europe and the Chinese had been ongoing for centuries. But China's trading restrictions frustrated the British who were eager to supply the Chinese people with the increasingly popular narcotic Opium. Circumventing the government's attempts to ban opium trade by smuggling and bribery, China declared the death sentence on Opium smuggling and refused to compensate British tradesmen for any losses. Furiously, the Brits sent out a fleet to demand compensation and end the Cohong trading monopoly. Fierce battles and attacks on the Chinese coast were followed. Find out all about the First Opium War from Indy in our new episode of Battlefields!
