The Second Opium War - History Matters (Short Animated Documentary) 

“Sir we are consuming too much tea!” “Bloody hell! Attack China!”

China: Most of our ships are so-called Junks. Britain: SEND THE BEHEMOTH. China: I hope you don't mean the HMS Nemesis. Britain: SEND THE NEMESIS.

Can't decide if "Thumb Screw Time" or "Be Better" is my favorite card.

British history is next. Make it happen. Edit: Forgot to say please

Please make the Taiping Rebellion next. It's so funny considering it was one of the most deadly conflicts in history and basically started because a guy believed he was jesus brother and told it to everyone.

Pablo Escobar: biggest drug lord to ever live. Britain: "France, hold my bloody Earl Grey"

I always adored the random "Russia got more of Manchuria for no reason" part of the Treaty of Beijing.

China: Makes tea Britain: _GIVE ME THE PLANT_

Proving that tea is the most addictive substance known to humans.

British Admiral : You see those junks Captain? British Captain : Yes sir British Admiral : I don't want to British Captain : Right away sir.

"Crap, we're losing this war terribly, we should sue for peace." "Sir, the diplomats have arrived to ratify the treaty you asked for." "Kidnap and torture them, that way the foreign powers will definitely not retaliate and wreck our shit like they've been doing for months."

A video on how Russia grew from the Duchy of Moscow to become the largest country in the world will be nice. Especially outlining all the treaties and victories that led to territorial expansion

Its genuinely wild that the opium war was actually about forcing an addictive substance on China to mitigate the cost of Britains crippling tea addiction. Its like finding out that the drug dealer down the street is slinging dope because he is utterly addicted to speciality coffee and he just *needs* to get a higher quality conical burr grinder that his day job isn't paying for.

To summarise - The Brits got hooked on tea and decided they gonna get the Chinese hooked on opium

Buy our drugs 2 Electric Bugaloo

Can we get "The Opium must flow" on a mug please?

British Empire = *History Largest Drug Cartel* Edit: Thanks For 1.2k likes

China: *addicted to opium* Britain: *addicted to tea* Britain: Maybe we can work something out China: Nah man I'm going clean Britain: I wasn't asking >:D

Russia: Fights brutal wars all across Europe to expand into the largest country searching for warm waters Also Russia: gets given a ton of free land by Britain in Asia

Kidnapping and torturing the delegates was such an arrogant and short-sighted move, it really showed that the Dynasty had no possible contingency for meeting a power stronger than itself.

Stop teasing me with these short videos. I need more!!!

Britian literally went, "I'm joining the War Against Drugs! On the side of the Drugs!"

That the Chinese ships were called Junks is just so in line with the theme, I love it

I finally know how russia gained the territories around Vladivostok. Awesome channel

We want something about Chinese rebellion of 1900) 55 Tage-lang...

China was like the country you played in the game where you focused completely on economy and ignored military improvement. Then your smaller, more well armed neighbor declared war....

The British wars in Afghanistan would be a nice video.

China probably could have saved themselves a lot of pain if they just hadn't tortured and executed the envoys. Like there are so many times in history where that went horribly wrong. Just ask the Khwarezmid empire how that went for them.

A war fought for primarily economic means that Parliament rejected and did not want but the Prime Minister forced through anyway... hmmmm...

Are you guys planning on covering the Boxer Rebellion?

"A country brute force its way to get a drug market and the rest of powers claps at them, but a private does it and get arrested" - Pablo Escobar

I'm early, let me think of a joke Opium wars In Victoria2

1:36 I wonder if this is where we get the English word "junk" from

0:20 that border gore makes me sick

The war is also important as it led to a 'revolution' in China (I am hk so I do not know the English term), this was important as this was the start of China's modernization. Chinese official finally nsaw the power of the west and they are learning from them. Schools were built and factories were set up. Battleships were bought and new technology like train and telegram was in China.

A friend of my parents in the 1980s had inherited a bunch of old Chinese furniture and relics. Some of these were loot of the 2d Opium War.

The British were really dedicated to a war for drugs just to satisfy their tea addiction

You should do the defenestration of prague

Fighting combined brit navy and french navy, must have been terrifying

I love how the characters on the wall behind the emperor just say 'China' over and over again lol

So basically this war was *FOR* drugs not *AGAINST* drugs. Interesting...

Though I wouldn’t support what the Europeans did with China but I am also disappointed with China for closing trade and stopped progressing for a couple thousand years. After this, they are still the same. Rather than progressing the way Japan did negotiating for better modern military training, laws, courts, new philosophy, freedoms and progressing society. They are still the same in the 1930s

2:22 'They felt their opinions were justified' I mean, yeh.

its like torturing and killing diplomatic envoys pisses the people who sent them off. go figure.

he attacc he protecc but most importantly he sell china opium and cracc

Could you do the War of Jenkin's Ear? Besides having a funny name, it's one of the more serious but largely forgotten conflicts of the 18th century. It also saw a larger naval armada than the Spanish one of 1588, but this time assembled by the British to attack Spanish Caribbean ports.

Britain: Hits Pipe *What if we like declared a war for drugs instead of against them? The US: *Is My war a joke to you?

Opium must flow... Honestly, I still couldn't figure whether Brits are the Atreides or the Harkonnens of this story...

Oh yes, the 19th century, when Britain collectively decided "I'm going to be a dick to literally the entire planet".

0:30 I wasn't expecting to see a Dune reference in this video, but here we are.

Oh boy...China's Century of Humiliation.

I think a good video topic could be about the Berlin Airlift. It was the starting path to the Cold War, and not many people know about the event.

Burn of Summer Palace is just a word today. But it was like burning the British Museum, National Library and Buckingham at the same time (or Versailles, Louvres Museum and Bibliothèque Nationale, for French). For no conceivable military reason but pure loot and destruction of art.

Tea for Opium Seems legit.

I managed to avoid all of this playing China in Victoria 2 and unities the country in 1850. No Boxers, no Taiping, no nothing.

So basically Britain has taking over or fought in every country

"Thamas Bowlby, journalist for The Times and the other captives were held at Tungchow and tortured, sometimes to death, over several days. Constricting ligatures were applied to their bodies; as they dried, they tightened. Those who cried out for water had dirt poured into their mouths. Bowlby died on 22 September."

This sound like something america would do right now... except... with oil ofc

Go back to 10 minutes

Europe: loots China China 150 years later: _its our turn_

“Buy our heroin.” “No?” “You’re evil, prepare to die.”

Can you make one long video (like the one you made for Mongolia) for the 100 years of shame for China? It is a very interesting topic and is one of the major reason why China suffered during WW2 and the civil war between the Commonest and Nationalist in China resulting in the spilt Taiwan and China

Thank you for covering the SECOND opium war i was so tired of hearing about the FIRST opium war Keep up good video's!

You know you're early when the video has "no views".

3:25 It was also about the idea that you can't just capture and execute peaceful trade negotiators.

Britain: I wanna trade with ya :) China: aw shit, here we go again.

1:01 Hit like if you had a Simpsons flashback.

Could you do the Swedish empire next

Could you do a video on the Taiping rebellion, please.

Imma get a bunch of reply’s. 69

Lord Palmerston? I prefer Pitt the Elder

Tea is so addictive it changed the entire aim of a war campaign

Do the 3 caliphates history (Rashidun, Umayyad and Abbasids)

I'd really like to see you do one of these on the Boxer Rebellion.

It bears mentioning that Japan was laboring under the Unequal Treaties at about the same time, after the U.S. forced Japan to allow their citizens to enter and trade at Shimoda and Hakodate in 1853, and allow a U.S. consul to be stationed in Shimoda. Things quickly got worse, ultimately leading to the overthrow of the Shogunate and the Meiji Restoration.

Kidnapping the negotiaters of the winning team. What can go wrong?

Going back through History Matters archives, watching this and the Tyrone Biggums voice pops in my head: "And THAT... was the first time I _beat another country into submission_ for opium; but it _wouldn't be the last!"_

Sir, they killed most of the envoys after torturing them! Earl of Elgin: Ah screw it, just burn ‘em all! But, sir- Earl of Elgin: I said burn ‘em all!!!

Big mistake with the torture thing. What the hell were they thinking?

the british empire: the most opressive empire of all of history, yet the one that saved the world

@History Matters TY. i added better subtitles. I hope someone reviews them before Sep 28th 2020 which is when YT's 'discontinuing Community contributions', (i.e. unpublished subtitles made by the community will go in the bin & from then on, only uploaders can add subtitles.) If not, please can they be added? Here they are: 0:00:00.000,0:00:03.380 1856 and Britain is unhappy with China. 0:00:03.380,0:00:07.540 The reason for this was that China, having recently been defeated in the previous Opium War, 0:00:07.540,0:00:10.520 was supposed to give concessions to Britain which it had yet to do. 0:00:10.520,0:00:16.300 Another issue was that British consumption of tea was so great that Britain was operating a huge trade deficit with China. 0:00:16.300,0:00:21.140 The only thing salvaging British finances was the continued sale of opium into China from British India. 0:00:21.140,0:00:26.940 Another problem was that China was currently dealing with the Taiping Rebellion, whose leaders kept destroying opium wherever they found it. 0:00:26.940,0:00:31.920 The sale of opium into China was vital for balancing Britain's finances and so it had to keep flowing. 0:00:31.920,0:00:36.900 In late 1856, the governor of Canton, Yi Mingchen, impounded a Chinese-operated ship 0:00:36.900,0:00:40.600 that he believed was committing piracy or, at least, was working on behalf of the rebels. 0:00:40.600,0:00:46.300 1 problem though: the ship was registered in Hong Kong - now a British territory and, as a result, the British were furious. 0:00:46.300,0:00:52.180 Frankly, the British consul to China, Harry Parkes, was itching for another war there because he wanted to make a name for himself. 0:00:52.180,0:00:57.600 Yi offered to give the sailors back but Britain said 'no' and sailed the Royal Navy up the Pearl River and shelled Canton. 0:00:57.600,0:01:00.720 Back in Britain, Parliament was fiercely against any war with China, 0:01:00.720,0:01:03.420 but the Prime Minister, Lord Palmerstone, was very much for it. 0:01:03.420,0:01:09.320 Parliament voted against any further action, mostly because of the outbreak of a major mutiny in India in 1857. 0:01:09.320,0:01:11.300 As a result, Palmerstone called an election 0:01:11.300,0:01:15.840 and, after denouncing the Chinese as 'barbarians' to the British people, he won and so war it was. 0:01:15.840,0:01:19.340 An alliance was built with the French because they also wanted to trade with China; 0:01:19.340,0:01:23.100 but the Americans, after taking a fort in late 1856, declared their neutrality; 0:01:23.100,0:01:27.000 and Russia wanted nothing to do with it because they were still recovering from the Crimean War. 0:01:27.000,0:01:30.920 So the war in China, the 2nd Opium War, followed a similar path to the 1st: 0:01:30.920,0:01:36.780 the Royal Navy used their ironclad steam-powered warships to obliterate the Chinese wooden ships, called 'junks', wherever they met. 0:01:36.780,0:01:42.040 In late 1857, Anglo-French forces captured Canton and captured Yi, who was then imprisoned in India. 0:01:42.040,0:01:47.620 After this, the British and French navies made their way up the coast of China, harassing the defenders and smashing forts as they went. 0:01:47.620,0:01:52.420 The Chinese Emperor, the Xianfeng Emperor of the Qing dynasty, soon after opted to sue for peace. 0:01:52.420,0:01:55.020 The negotiations resulted in 'the Treaty of Tianjin', 0:01:55.020,0:01:59.980 which gave France, Russia, the US and Britain the right to trade and for their citizens to freely travel throughout China. 0:01:59.980,0:02:03.340 The US and Russia were allowed to get in on the action (despite not fighting) because 0:02:03.340,0:02:07.380 it meant that if China backed down on their agreements, it would risk retaliation from all 4 powers, 0:02:07.380,0:02:12.520 plus: Russia had just negotiated the transfer of this territory, and the Qing didn't want another front to fight on. 0:02:12.520,0:02:16.780 1 problem: when negotiators went to Beijing to ratify this truce in 1859, 0:02:16.780,0:02:19.040 they were kidnapped and tortured by the Chinese government. 0:02:19.040,0:02:24.380 This, for the British, was proof that their opinion of the Chinese as being 'little more than barbarians' was justified. 0:02:24.380,0:02:28.060 The commander of the British forces in China, the Earl of Elgin, was actually against the war, 0:02:28.060,0:02:32.380 but after the capture of the negotiators, he felt that he had to retaliate to protect Britain's honor. 0:02:32.380,0:02:36.900 The British and French then landed their forces in the North and captured many forts on the way to Beijing. 0:02:36.900,0:02:39.900 They soon clashed with a large Qing army at the Battle of Palikao. 0:02:39.900,0:02:44.280 This saw over a thousand Chinese casualties compared to about 50 on the Anglo-French side. 0:02:44.280,0:02:49.580 The Chinese had now lost the will to pursue the War, mostly because of, again, the ongoing Taiping Rebellion. 0:02:49.580,0:02:55.000 After the battle, the Emperor fled Beijing, leaving his brother, Prince Gong, to negotiate with the Europeans. 0:02:55.000,0:02:58.380 Anglo-French forces then moved on Beijing, which opened its gates to them, 0:02:58.380,0:03:00.880 after which, the most famous event of the War happened: 0:03:00.880,0:03:04.280 the Allied soldiers forced their way into and looted the Emperor's Summer Palace, 0:03:04.280,0:03:08.520 and when Elgin found out the Chinese had killed many of the envoys, he ordered it burned to the ground. 0:03:08.520,0:03:12.600 The Chinese then signed the 1860 'Treaty of Beijing' which did several things: 0:03:12.600,0:03:14.660 it confirmed the 1858 treaty, 0:03:14.660,0:03:16.720 increased the reparations that China would pay; 0:03:16.720,0:03:18.000 gave Russia more territory; 0:03:18.000,0:03:20.820 and also saw Britain gain slightly more land around Hong Kong. 0:03:20.820,0:03:25.360 Interestingly, this war is called the '2nd Opium War' but opium's role was largely secondary. 0:03:25.360,0:03:31.080 This time, it was about enforcing open trade and demonstrating to China that Europeans were now the dominant 1s in the region. 0:03:31.080,0:03:33.740 I hope you enjoyed this episode and thank you for watching, 0:03:33.740,0:03:38.420 and a special thanks to all of these patrons you see on screen for their generosity in supporting the show. 0:03:38.420,0:03:40.220 And a particularly special thanks to: 0:03:40.220,0:03:41.240 James Bissonette 0:03:41.240,0:03:42.120 Party Boy Co 0:03:42.120,0:03:43.020 Michael Reynolds 0:03:43.020,0:03:43.880 Gustav Swan 0:03:43.880,0:03:44.780 Winston K Wood 0:03:44.780,0:03:45.620 Skye Chappell 0:03:45.620,0:03:46.380 Adam Harvey 0:03:46.380,0:03:47.020 Gabe Ellery 0:03:47.020,0:03:49.520 and Azarka Flash

man the brits were/are badass muthafuckas

"Thumb Screw Time" 😁😂😂 Best Sign Ever 😁😏

Please make the Boshin War (1868-1869) How did Japan became a modern nation after defeating the Bakufu and suppressing the rebellions against their former imperial factions (Tosa, Chōshū, Saga and Satsuma)

the amount of wars britain waged across the globe just so they could drink tea is hilarious, i can't even be mad at the empire

And this my children is why the Chinese can't chill nowadays...

I love that China's background is a sign reading "China China China China China China"

1:50 I let my google translate app read what was on the. I guess it's appropriate for the situation :D

Gave Chinese territory to Russia. I'm sure that's going to become a real thing sometime in the near future.

Imperial China: **bans opium and execute some random Christian missionary** British Empire; 2nd French Empire: *"You Know The Rules. And So Do I."*

China: The next time you bring Opium over here, you better bring an army! Britain: *Brings Opium AND an Army* China:

The opium wars are truly in the top of the ugliest parts of British history.

Most likely this will go unnoticed, but China will never forget and when they need to justify their actions this will be used

~Chinese Emperor does something incredibly foolhardy, shortsighted and dumb~ How very Taoist in it's reliability and repeatability.

Yes, another video. Great content. Anyway can you make a video about the glorious revolution? Ps. Love your vids.

Well no wonder China is the way it is today

It’s no wonder they developed nuclear weapons after all of this

Now, it's one thing for the chinese to call european invadors who sell drugs "barbaric", but for the british to attack another empire that doesn't want them to sell drugs on their land and then calling THEM "barbaric"? The audacity!

Please make a video about the 1989 Romanian Revolution.

In some how, the opium wars were like Colombia invading the US to secure the market for the Cali Cartel.