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Educational Affiliation Introduction The Opium Wars refer to two wars fought in the 19th century between Imperial China and Britain initially, then the combined forces of Britain and France with the support of Russia and the United States. The Western powers emerged victorious while China, as the vanquished party, signed treaties favoring the West. The war’s name is somewhat a misnomer. Although the opium trade triggered the wars, Eastern and Western civilizations fought in the wars for other issues deeper than opium like free trade (Allingham, 2006).
Background to the Wars
China was the richest and most populous nation in ...
