What if~The Qing Dynasty won the Opium Wars?

The war on drugs is one of those unusual battles that took place around the world, making sure that the masses stay healthy and not get addicted to these terrible substances, but even then they somehow do.

But, this battle against these dangerous substances isn't nearly as terrible or as controversial as the one that happened in the mid and late 19th centuries in the Qing Dynasty (modern-day China) when the British began trading a drug known as *Opium*. Now, before I get to the real history about the trading of Opium. I have to talk about some scientific applications about the drug.

Now, what is Opium anyway? Well, it's a powdery substance that comes from the Poppy Flower Pod, you may have eaten a Poppy Seed Bagel in your time. Well, when you eat this stuff chances are nothing is going to happen to you. But it's when you smoke it is when the whole fun begins (okay, not fun), the effects of smoking Opium enhance the lobes of your brain which affects pleasure and relaxation. Now it may sound fun after all, but here is something that is.......not so fun. You get physically addicted to it (like as if you smoke tobacco).

However, it was the extent of the Opium addiction in the Qing Dynasty as well as the Qing Government's crackdown on the banning of the drug that sparked not just one but \*two\* (that's right, \*two\*) wars over this lucrative commodity. But what if in an alternate reality that the Qing Dynasty won these Opium Wars? Well, this is what this page will try to cover, but first (and as usual) some real history. Just scroll down to the "What if?" category if you just want to read about the Alternate scenario.

## Real History

### First Opium War

The Qing Dynasty won over the Ming Dynasty in the early 17th century. The Qing Dynasty was mostly a Xenophobic society with the Xenophobic Manchus ruling. But by the mid 18th century, they formed some (uneasy) trade agreements with the nations in Europe, especially Great Britain who the Qing Dynasty allowed to set up a trade town in Canton in the southern part of the nation.

The British were very interested in trading in the commodities of the Qing Dynasty, which included Tea and Silk. But the Qing Dynasty wasn't interested in anything the British had and told the British traders that if they wanted the Dynasty's goods, they need to pay in Silver.

This is where the British looked all over their widely spread empire (and even in Mexico) to find large amounts of silver so they can trade with the Qing Dynasty.

For several years, the British paid in Silver for the Qing Dynasty's goods. However, they then ran into a problem and that is they were running out of silver to pay for the goods.

This is when the British turned to their own *East Indian Company* that suggested they try the commodity known as Opium in hopes that it'll better the chances for the British to stay in the Qing Dynasty and trade.

When the British introduced Opium to the Qing Court, they at first agreed to let the British trade this for the Qing Commodities.

Ever since the beginning of the use of Opium in the Qing Dynasty, nearly 25 Million Chinese were addicted to the drug, and Opium Dens sprouted up all over the Qing Dynasty like weeds (no pun intended).

The addiction to Opium in the Qing Dynasty was so extensive, that even the Manchu court became addicted, including the Daoguang Emperor who would ironically criminalize the use of the drug.

The Daoguang Emperor also hired a strong man named *Lin Zexu* to go all over the Qing Dynasty and bring an end to the usage of Opium. He closed down Opium Dens and even confiscated personal Opium pipes.

He even had Opium de-purified with Lime and Salt and dumped the drug into either nearby rivers or oceans.

Lin Zexu even went to the extent of writing a personal letter to Queen Victoria, and it states:

*"We find that your nation is around 60 or 70 thousand Li*(the Chinese equivalent of miles) *from the Qing Dynasty. Yet there are barbarian ships that strive to come here to trade with us for the purpose to make a profit. The Wealth of our Dynasty is used to profit these Barbarians. That is to say that, the great profit made by these barbarians is all taken from the rightful share of our Dynasty. By what right do they in return use this poisonous drug to injure the people of our land? Eventhough the barbarians may not necessarily intend to do them harm, yet in coveting profit to an extreme, they have no regard for harming others. So, I have to ask, where is your conscience?"*

This letter never reached the Queen, instead it was published in a British newspaper called *The Times of London*.

Zexu even took one more step further and even barred British merchants to sell Opium and abide by the laws of the Qing Court or face the penalty of death.

Of course, this was known to British merchants who became infuriated. One of the Opium traders *Charles Elliot* then embargoed the Qing Dynasty and even withdrew from canton.

In March of 1839, the First Opium War began. A few months later, the First Battle of Chuenpee began after the British Merchant Ship named *Royal Saxon* came into Canton in defiance of the Embargo, and even after warning shots from a British War Ship, a Chinese ship came to aid it, and the British War Ship fired on the Chinese ship, sinking it and killed 15 of its crew on board. Then, a man named *Henry John Temple*(AKA *Lord Palmerston*) ordered the British Fleet to capture the mouth of the Pearl River.

In 1841, the British were able to not just re-capture Canton but also create other ports such as Hong Kong. Later that year, the British then wanted to seize control of China's biggest river: the *Yangtze*. They sail up to the Chinese city of *Shanghai*and went into the Yangtze River until they reached the city of Nanjing. There, the Qing Dynasty surrendered and signed *The Treaty of Nanjing*in August of 1842. Allowing the British to establish more trade ports.

### Second Opium War

It would be another 15 years before this would be re-hashed.

Shortly after the British victory in the First Opium War, the native Han people in the Qing Dynasty, resentment arose against the Qing Court (consisting of Manchus) which would in some ways lead to the *Taiping Rebellion*.

The Taiping Rebellion was also a religious revolt led by *Hong Xiuquan.*They fought the Qing Soldiers and were able to capture the cities of Nanjing and Shanghai.

During this time, the British who won the first Opium War wanted more.

First, they wanted to open more ports and be in more areas of the Qing Dynasty instead of the 5 ports they already established as part of the agreement in the Treaty of Nanjing.

They also wanted the Qing Dynasty to de-criminalize Opium.

Last, they wanted to establish an embassy, in Beijing.

The Qing Dynasty also was having a hard time keeping the western powers at bay. Almost all of the powerful European nations such as Britain, France, and even America and Russia also wanted to trade with the Dynasty.

In the early, stages, the British and the Qing exchange fire, it wouldn't be long until the Americans did the same, and then agreed with the Qing Dynasty to remain neutral.

Then, several Qing Soldiers seized a merchant ship called the *Arrow* in the former British trade port of Canton. The British were quick to contact *Ye Mingchen*, a Viceroy of the Qing province of Liangguang demanding their release, but Mingchen only released 9 of the 12 crew members of the Arrow. Though, the British didn't initially declare war due to an uprising in India.

The French also got into the action when the Dynasty publically executed a French Priest in the Qing Dynasty: *Auguste Chapdelaine*.

In 1857, the British eventually invaded Canton after dealing with the Indian Uprising. They demanded the other 3 crew members of the Arrow.

The Qing Dynasty did release the other members but refused the British Navy to enter Canton, this is when both the British and the French decided to take the port town by force. The Qing Dynasty lost the port town.

A year later, the British and the French began their campaign to take the Qing capital of Beijing. But there was one thing standing between them and the capital: something called the *Taku Forts*. The British and French's first attempts were successful, but according to the signing the *Treaty of Tianjin*, they gave the forts back to the Qing Soldiers, though there would be a second attempt a year later only this time the Qing Dynasty would hold their positions with the British and French failing, and to have the Americans save them, breaking the neutrality agreement they made with the Dynasty.

Then on July 30 in the year 1860, the British and the French were to merge and take the small town of Beitang and try to outflank the Forts, the ground forces took the fort while the Navy destroyed its artillery. The forts were destroyed and the way to Beijing was cleared.

Just 4 months later, both the British and the French were in Beijing. The Qing Emperor fled and the Summer Palace was burned. This forced the Qing Dynasty to ratify another re-vised form of the Treaty of Tianjin and give in to the West's demands. During the wars, however, the Dynasty also had to give up parts of Manchuria (the Manchu's ancestral lands) to Russia

This would mark the beginning of the end for the Qing Dynasty, though the good news is that it also helped China modernize. Of course, this would also cause a series of uprisings, leading to the Xinhai Revolution in 1911 and the rise of a provisional government. Of course, you can read about that part of Chinese history here.

## What if?

Oh boy, that was long. But nowhere comes your favorite question. What if the Qing Dynasty had won the Opium Wars? Well, because there were 2 separate wars. I'm going to split it into 2 alternate scenarios, one where the Dynasty won the first, and another where they won the second.

### Scenario 1~The Dynasty won the First Opium War.

Now, both of these alternative scenarios are very unlikely to happen because the Qing Dynasty was underdeveloped and primitive compared to the industrial might of the west. But for the sake of both of these scenarios, let's say they won.

Now the Qing Dynasty couldn't have defeated the British at sea, that is because the power of the British Navy far surpassed that of anything used by the Qing Dynasty. But the Dynasty did had one advantage over the British and that is they had an army that vastly outnumbered the British, so let's say that the Qing Dynasty's military hijacked the British Warships when they entered the Yangtze, and killed every crew member on board those ships. Allowing the Dynasty to go on the offensive and conquer Canton. With a Dynasty victory, little will change. Of course, Opium will still be criminalized and the British will have no choice but to give in to the demands and listen to the Manchu Court's laws or end their trade altogether.

Let's say that the British chose to stay and trade under the new rules set by the Manchu Court.

In our reality, the British traded with the Qing Dynasty under rules known as the *Canton System* (after the British port town). Which holds a lot of restrictions where the British traders only stay in Canton for a certain amount of time a year, they also weren't allowed to learn Chinese, nor were they allowed to bring their families with them, and were banned from going anywhere else in the Qing Dynasty. The Treaty of Nanjing that ended the first Opium War did away with this system and allowed the British to trade in other parts of the Dynasty as well as having the privilege to speak Chinese and bring their families, but were still banned from venturing anywhere else in the Qing Dynasty.

But, in this alternate reality, the Qing Dynasty won the first war, so the Canton System would more than likely still be in effect.

In this alternate reality, the Qing Dynasty could also deal with the *Taiping Rebellion* much better than they did in our reality. The Taiping Rebellion went on during the Second Opium War and one of the main reasons why the Dynasty lost. But with the Dynasty victory in the first war, the Rebellion would either fail faster than it did in our reality or not exist at all.

Now, remember, we are talking about an extremely Xenophobic Dynasty here, so can the Qing Dynasty go the way of Tokugawa Japan? Well, they could, but only if certain situations apply. If the British cause more trouble for the Dynasty, they might as well isolate the Dynasty. Even if they did, it is unlikely that it'll last for long as the industrial powers of the west would eventually give the Manchu Court an ultimatum, and the Qing Dynasty couldn't fight a war against the industrial might of the west.

It could be possible that the Qing Dynasty would be forced to fight a war that they have no chance at winning, so they would have to make some kind of compromise at some point.

### Scenario 2~The Qing Dynasty won the Second Opium War

Let's say the Qing Dynasty still lost the First Opium War and had to negotiate a deal with the British. But as the British demanded more, they could also either defeat the British and the French at either Canton or the British-French alliance failed to bring down the Taku Forts and never invade Beijing.

Now, not much would change with a Dynasty victory in the second war, though the Dynasty could last longer and into the 20th century at least up until the 1910s or 1920s.

But, one thing that can be generally assumed is that the Qing Dynasty wouldn't last for very long in any of these alternate scenarios. Since the Qing Dynasty was a Xenophobic society, it was behind the rest of the world in especially technology, and couldn't compete with a western nation when it came to the military. One thing is for sure is that a lot of the zealous western nations were closing in on the Dynasty on virtually all sides with Britain, France, Russia, and the USA all wanting to trade with the Dynasty. There were also rebellions (like the Taiping Rebellion) that wish for reform and to usurp the Manchu from the ruling court. Even if a Dynasty victory resulted from any of the Opium Wars, the west would've won eventually, either allowing or even forcing them to modernize and head into the 20th century.

Well, that is all for this long page. What do you think would happen if the Qing Dynasty won either of the Opium Wars? Please check out My Games Wiki and My Movies Wiki. Until next time, this is Johnny OTGS signing out.