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First Opium War
The First Opium War (), also known as the Opium War or the Anglo-Sino War was a series of military engagements fought between Britain and the Qing dynasty of China between 1839 and 1842. The immediate issue was the Chinese enforcement of their ban on the opium trade by seizing private opium stocks from merchants at Canton and threatening to impose the death penalty for future offenders. Despite the opium ban, the British government supported the merchants' demand for compensation for seized goods, and insisted on the principles of free trade and equal diplomatic recognition with China. Opium was Britain's single most profitable commodity trade of the 19th century. After months of tensions between the two nations, the British navy launched an expedition in June 1840, which ultimately defeated the Chinese using technologically superior ships and weapons by August 1842. The British then imposed the Treaty of Nanking, which forced China to increase foreign trade, give compensat ...
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Opium Wars
The Opium Wars () were two conflicts waged between China and Western powers during the mid-19th century. The First Opium War was fought from 1839 to 1842 between China and the United Kingdom, and was triggered by the Chinese government's campaign to enforce its prohibition against opium trafficking by British merchants. The Second Opium War was waged by Britain and France against China from 1856 to 1860. In each war, the superior military advantages enjoyed by European forces led to several easy victories over the Chinese military, with the consequence that China was compelled to sign unequal treaties to grant favourable tariffs, trade concessions, reparations and territory to Western powers. The two conflicts, along with the various treaties imposed during the " century of humiliation", weakened the Chinese government's authority and forced China to open specified treaty ports (including Shanghai) to Western merchants. In addition, China ceded sovereignty over Hong Kong ...
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Queen Victoria
Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previous British monarch and is known as the Victorian era. It was a period of industrial, political, scientific, and military change within the United Kingdom, and was marked by a great expansion of the British Empire. In 1876, the British Parliament voted to grant her the additional title of Empress of India. Victoria was the daughter of Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn (the fourth son of King George III), and Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. After the deaths of her father and grandfather in 1820, she was raised under close supervision by her mother and her comptroller, John Conroy. She inherited the throne aged 18 after her father's three elder brothers died without surviving legitimate issue. Victoria, a constituti ...
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Yishan (official)
Yishan (Manchu: ''I Šan''; 13 June 1790 – 30 June 1878), courtesy name Jingxuan, was a Manchu lesser noble and official of the Qing dynasty. He is best known for his failure to defend Guangzhou (Canton) from British forces during the First Opium War, and for signing the treaties of Kulja and Aigun with the Russian Empire in 1851 and 1858 respectively. Life Yishan was born in the Aisin Gioro clan, the imperial clan of the Manchu-led Qing dynasty, towards the end of the reign of the Qianlong Emperor. He was a great-great-grandson of Yunti, the Kangxi Emperor's 14th son and the first in line in the Prince Xun peerage. His great-grandfather, Hongchun (弘春; 1703–1739), once held the title of a ''junwang'' (second-rank prince) as " Prince Tai of the Second Rank" (多羅泰郡王). His family was under the Bordered Blue Banner of the Eight Banners. In 1821, after the Daoguang Emperor came to the throne, Yishan, then a fourth-grade noble was recruited to serve as a third-c ...
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Qishan (official)
Qishan (; 18 January 1786 – 3 August 1854), courtesy name Jing'an, was a Mongol nobleman and official of the late Qing dynasty. He was of Khalkha Mongol and Borjigit descent, and his family was under the Plain Yellow Banner of the Manchu Eight Banners. He is best known for negotiating the Convention of Chuanbi on behalf of the Qing government with the British during the First Opium War of 1839–42. Life Qishan was a Khalkha Mongol by birth and was from the Borjigit clan. His 7th generator ancestor Enggeder had led his followers to submit to the Qing Empire and received a hereditary first class marquis peerage in return. Qishan inherited the peerage from his ancestor. His father, Chengde (), served as a general in Hangzhou and ''dutong'' (都統; a military commander) in Rehe Province. In 1806, Qishan obtained the position of a ''yinsheng'' (蔭生; or ''shengyuan'' 生員) in the entry-level imperial examination and was recruited into the civil service as a ''yuanwai ...
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Lin Zexu
Lin Zexu (30 August 1785 – 22 November 1850), courtesy name Yuanfu, was a Chinese political philosopher and politician. He was the head of states (Viceroy), Governor General, scholar-official, and under the Daoguang Emperor of the Qing dynasty best known for his role in the First Opium War of 1839–42. He was from Fuzhou, Fujian Province. Lin's forceful opposition to the opium trade was a primary catalyst for the First Opium War. He is praised for his constant position on the "moral high ground" in his fight, but he is also blamed for a rigid approach which failed to account for the domestic and international complexities of the problem. The Emperor endorsed the hardline policies and anti-drugs movement advocated by Lin, but placed all responsibility for the resulting disastrous Opium War onto Lin. Early life and career Lin was born in Houguan (侯官; modern Fuzhou, Fujian Province) towards the end of the Qianlong Emperor's reign. His father, Lin Binri (), served as an offi ...
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Daoguang Emperor
The Daoguang Emperor (; 16 September 1782 – 26 February 1850), also known by his temple name Emperor Xuanxong of Qing, born Mianning, was the seventh Emperor of the Qing dynasty, and the sixth Qing emperor to rule over China proper, reigning from 1820 to 1850. His reign was marked by "external disaster and internal rebellion." These included the First Opium War and the beginning of the Taiping Rebellion which nearly brought down the dynasty. The historian Jonathan Spence characterizes the Daoguang Emperor as a "well meaning but ineffective man" who promoted officials who "presented a purist view even if they had nothing to say about the domestic and foreign problems surrounding the dynasty." Early years The Daoguang Emperor was born in the Forbidden City, Beijing, in 1782, and was given the name Mianning (). It was later changed to Minning () when he became emperor. The first character of his private name was changed from ''Mian'' to ''Min'' to avoid the relatively common ...
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Humphrey Fleming Senhouse
Captain Sir Humphrey Fleming Senhouse (29 June 1781 – 13 June 1841) was a British Royal Navy officer. He served in the Napoleonic Wars, War of 1812, and First Anglo-Chinese War. In China, he was the senior naval officer of the British fleet from 31 March 1841 until his death on board his flagship, HMS ''Blenheim'', in Hong Kong from fever contracted during the capture of Canton. Early life Senhouse was born on 29 June 1781 in Barbados, where he was baptised on 23 August 1781 in the Parish of Saint Philip, Barbados.Ride, Lindsay; Ride, May (1996). ''An East India Company Cemetery: Protestant Burials in Macao''. Hong Kong University Press. pp. 220–222. . He was the third son of William Senhouse (1741 – 1800) by the same's wife Elizabeth Ward Wood. William, who was a lieutenant in the Royal Navy, was Surveyor-General of Barbados and of the British Leeward Islands. Elizabeth was the daughter of Samson Wood, who was the Speaker of the Barbados Assembly. Senhouse's grandf ...
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Sir William Parker, 1st Baronet, Of Shenstone
Admiral of the Fleet Sir William Parker, 1st Baronet, GCB (1 December 1781 – 13 November 1866), was a Royal Navy officer. As a captain's servant he took part in the Battle of The Glorious First of June in June 1794 during the French Revolutionary Wars and, as a captain, he participated in the capture of the French ships ''Marengo'' and ''Belle Poule'' at the action of 13 March 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. He was detached on an independent command on the Tagus in September 1831 with a mission to protect British interests during the Portuguese Civil War. As Commander-in-chief of the East Indies and China Station, he provided naval support at various actions between 1841 and 1842 during the First Opium War. Appointed Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet in February 1845, he was briefly (for a week) First Naval Lord in the First Russell ministry from 13 July 1846 to 24 July 1846 but gave up the role due to ill health before returning to his command with the Mediterranea ...
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Henry Pottinger
Lieutenant-General Sir Henry Pottinger, 1st Baronet (; 3 October 1789 – 18 March 1856) was an Anglo-Irish soldier and colonial administrator who became the first Governor of Hong Kong. Early life Henry Pottinger was born at his family estate of Mount Pottinger in Ballymacarrett, County Down, Ireland, on 3 October 1789. He descended from the Pottingers of Berkshire, an old English family with a branch that settled in Ireland in the 17th century. He was the fifth son of Eldred Curwen Pottinger and his wife Anne. They had three daughters and eight sons. His nephew was also named Eldred Pottinger. Henry attended the Belfast Academy until the age of 12. In 1803, he left for India to join the East India Company's maritime service, but in the following year joined the Company's military service as a cadet instead. He studied local languages in Bombay and became an assistant teacher. On 18 September 1806, he was made an ensign and promoted to lieutenant on 16 July 1809.Broadfoot ...
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Hugh Gough, 1st Viscount Gough
Field Marshal Hugh Gough, 1st Viscount Gough, (3 November 1779 – 2 March 1869) was an Irish officer of the British Army. After serving as a junior officer at the seizure of the Cape of Good Hope during the French Revolutionary Wars, Gough commanded the 2nd Battalion of the 87th (Royal Irish Fusiliers) Regiment of Foot during the Peninsular War. After serving as commander-in-chief of the British forces in China during the First Opium War, he became Commander-in-Chief, India and led the British forces in action against the Marathas defeating them decisively at the conclusion of the Gwalior Campaign and then commanded the troops that defeated the Sikhs during both the First Anglo-Sikh War and the Second Anglo-Sikh War. Early career Born the son of Lieutenant Colonel George Gough and Letitia Gough (née Bunbury) of Lisnavagh, Gough was commissioned into the Limerick Militia on 7 August 1793. He transferred to a locally raised regiment on 7 August 1794 and, having been promoted ...
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James Bremer
Sir James John Gordon Bremer (26 September 1786 – 14 February 1850) was a Royal Navy officer. He served in the Napoleonic Wars, First Anglo-Burmese War, and First Anglo-Chinese War. In China, he served twice as commander-in-chief of British forces. Born in Portsea, Portsmouth, Bremer joined the Royal Naval College as a student in 1797. While serving in the East Indies, he became commander of in 1807. He was promoted to captain in 1814 and was nominated a CB the following year. After becoming commander of HMS ''Tamar'', he was sent to Melville Island, Australia, in 1824 to establish a colony. Under his leadership, the north coast of Australia from 129° to 135° longitude was claimed as British territory. He also led the Battle of Berbera in 1827. Bremer served twice as commander-in-chief of British forces in the First Anglo-Chinese War from 1839 to 1841. During the war, he took formal possession of Hong Kong Island for the United Kingdom in 1841. He was made a KCB the ...
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George Elliot (Royal Navy Officer, Born 1784)
Admiral Sir George Elliot (1 August 1784 – 24 June 1863) was a Royal Navy officer who served during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, and the First Opium War. Elliot was born to influential and distinguished family that included several powerful politicians and diplomats. After entering the navy at an early age he served through several of the decisive battles of the French Revolutionary Wars, seeing action at Genoa, Hyères, and Cape St Vincent and under Nelson at the Nile and Copenhagen. He had graduated to his own commands by the outbreak of the Napoleonic Wars, being described by Nelson as one of the best officers in the navy, and served with distinction in the Mediterranean and in the East Indies, where he took part in the Invasion of Java. Left without significant employment after the end of the wars with France, Elliot took up politics, with the support of the Duke of Clarence and his relatives already in government office. Elliot briefly represented Ro ...
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