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First Opium War - I: Trade Deficits and the Macartney Embassy - Extra History (Patreon)

Published:
2016-06-17 18:40:50
Edited:
2018-05-15 02:49:33
Imported:
2022-01

Content

The stage gets set for the first Opium War, as trade between China and Britain grows tense.

Files

First Opium War - I: Trade Deficits and the Macartney Embassy - Extra History

The British Empire's grasp on the Americas was slipping right at the time when they needed those resources most. The massive amounts of tea they imported from China had created a huge trade deficit, but the Chinese were reluctant to let any Europeans trade outside of the Canton port strictly controlled by the Hong. So Britain sent a formal embassy led by Earl George Macartney. Support us on Patreon! http://bit.ly/EHPatreon --- (Episode details below) Grab your Extra Credits gear at the store! http://bit.ly/ExtraStore Subscribe for new episodes every Saturday! http://bit.ly/SubToEC Learn about the disastrous Macartney Embassy that tried and failed to improve British trade relations with China: http://bit.ly/28Ro4B1 Play games with us on Extra Play! http://bit.ly/WatchEXP Talk to us on Twitter (@ExtraCreditz): http://bit.ly/ECTweet Follow us on Facebook: http://bit.ly/ECFBPage Get our list of recommended games on Steam: http://bit.ly/ECCurator ____________ In 1792, Great Britain had just come out of an expensive war that cost them their control over many of their colonies in North America. Other wars had also cost them their access to the silver mines of South America, which had been helping fund so much of their trade with the Qing Dynasty of China. European traders all wanted greater access to China, but the Emperor was wary of letting outsiders too far into his country and kept them all penned up at the port of Canton, which was strictly regulated by the Hong business group. A flourishing blackmarket trade grew, but Britain wanted more. One trader, acting on his own initiative, grew bold enough to approach Beijing and attempt to get a hearing over his trade grievances, but the Chinese considered this a huge breach of protocal and an offense to the Emperor. Britain had to do something, however: they imported over 10 million pounds of tea each year, equal to 10% of the government's annual spending, and the fact that China did not have anywhere near as great an interest in British products meant that they were running an enormous trade deficit they could no longer sustain. The Crown appointed an official envoy, Earl George Macartney, with orders to end the Canton system, establish an embassy, and acquire rights to an island that would be under British control in the same way that the Porutuguese controlled Macao. The mission failed spectacularly. Although Macartney got permission to sail north and meet the Qianlong Emperor in his summer palace at Jehol, he refused to perform the traditional kowtow which was required upon meeting the Emperor. He presented gifts from the British court, but the Chinese interpreted these gifts as tribute, not trade enticements, and decided they had no need for nor interest in what he offered. Since he failed to get them to agree to any of his three requests, Britain wanted to find another way to address the trade imbalance with China. Soon, this would lead them to start bringing in opium. ____________ ♪ Get the intro music here! http://bit.ly/1EQA5N7 *Music by Demetori: http://bit.ly/1AaJG4H ♪ Get the outro music here! http://bit.ly/23isQfx *Music by Sean and Dean Kiner: http://bit.ly/1WdBhnm

Comments

Anonymous

That outro music.\

Anonymous
>>1991545

Even without any knowledge of Chinese Culture that may have another significance to it, the title of "Waning Moon" feels pretty appropriate.

Øyvind Wallentinsen

Mixed feelings about this. On the one hand it'll be hugely interesting, on the other hand it's such a terrible story.

Hasan Mahmood

Ah, the hilarity of miscommunication across language barriers. This should be fun.

Anonymous

I have to remind myself that this is a time where people had a different thought process on other cultures, races, religions, etc. And hindsight just makes me cringe at times like these.

Anonymous
>>1991659

That describes pretty much *every* story from history.

Anonymous

There are a lot more wrinkles too. Like how China had massive economic problems including severe unemployment in a number of sectors and protectionism was seen as a way of keeping people employed and from rebelling. Which was important given that China was in the middle of one of the largest rebellions in its history and had just come out of a brutal power struggle at court. This was in addition to the fact that China had clocks, the Qianlong emperor himself had acquired a large amount for his fancy new rokoko palace, they also had telescopes and various forms of carts and carriages. They didn't have steam engines and their gun and naval technology was notably worse, but the technological marvels shown weren't that marvelous. Not just that, institutional knowledge of how to interact with the Chinese existed in Europe and should be relatively accessible. The Jesuit Order had been active in China for more than a century, frequently holding priced positions at the imperial court, they were the architects of the Qianlong Emperor's rokoko palace for example, and while this was more in the Catholic parts of Europe, you could probably manage to get some consultation if you suggested that it would benefit other European countries as well and if not, it was probably stealable. The 18th century had also been a time of great interest in China in continental Europe with most European castles having a pagoda or Chinese pavilion, as well as most European political writers and philosophers favoring China as a foil for conditions in Europe. There were even postal maps of China to help address letters properly, they're the origins of odd romanizations like Peking and Canton, both of which predate Wade-Giles, the first official romanization of written Chinese. As a final wrinkle is the Qianlong Emperor himself. The man was old. He was 81 at the time and had been emperor for 57 of those years. A lot of sinologists and historians of philosophy posits that the European idea of China as stagnant was an effect of his long reign just as Europeans started learning about China. He was also known as being stubborn, rash and willful, even to his advisors who lamented a lot of his actions, such as "improving" some of the greatest classics of Chinese painting with his own calligraphy. On top of all this, he had just lost his favorite protegé and advisor to palace intrigue and according to members of the Chinese court at the time, was quite despondent for the rest of his life. If the British had come five years earlier, things might have been a lot different. China was in a much less precarious position, instead it would have been at the very zenith of its power following massive conquests, and the emperor was personally much more engaged and had had a young, vigorous advisor who might have been of questionable skill, but wasn't inclined to stick with the desires for stability of the eunuchs and old literati. Perhaps they would have listened. Particularly if Macartney had done the homework that was accessible in Europe and had maybe stopped at the Jesuit mission in Shanghai for a few pointers.

Anonymous

Wonderful video - thank you!

ExtraCredits
>>1992263

Christina, this was fantastic. I'm going to copy-paste all of it for James in Lies; I don't know what's currently on his radar to discuss there but having these points listed out can only help. Are the Opium Wars a favorite topic of yours?

Andreas Monitzer

The last word could have been delivered better, otherwise a great episode and I'm really looking forward to the rest of this series!

Anonymous

You know, I just realized something a little into the video. Some things about how the Chinese run their trade haven't changed at all. The Chinese government since Deng Xiaoping allow only a few cities to operate with free trade such as Shanghai and Hong Kong (now I realize how it got its name). As much as the reigning Communist Party doesn't want to admit it, they have more in common with the old Imperial government than they realize.

Anonymous

This is so exciting! Thank you for this series, I can't wait for the next episode!

Anonymous
>>1992713

Actually, I think they are very aware of just how alike the current structure is with the old. Day to day life for most people didn't really change much between regimes.

Anonymous

hears a hint if your looking for walpole in the First opium war the order of the bath well Sr. William Parker sir. Charles Elliot his brother sir. George Elliot sir James Baker & Hugh Gough the 1st viscount of Gough where all members.

Anonymous

Such a shame how the effects of this and the second Opium war reverberated to effect one of the most esteemed martial arts masters, the Wing Chun grandmaster Yip Man. If only Opium was not readily available to someone of his social class, maybe he would have lived longer.

Anonymous

Amazing! Thank you

Anonymous

How many wars and conflicts have started because one side simply refused to understand the other side's position or both were unable to out of ignorance and/or arrogance? Both China and Britain suffered from having strong and yet brazenly stupid people at their heads: Corrupt eunuchs and arrogant lords, both firmly convinced that they were right and everyone else was wrong. Botch China and Britain essentially took their economic ideology too far: China wanted to protect its trade at all costs and Britain wanted open trade at all costs and no side was intent on giving in. The use of subersive tactics and trickery was basically inevitable.

Anonymous

I recently learned that China's opium addiction destroyed a lot of their social structure and had decimating effects on their population. But I had absolutely no idea it got started because each side failed to understand what the other really wanted in the first place. Hey, that's still happening today! Just ask anyone about their ex...

Jim McGeehin

One of the big things about silver was that Great Britain had since moved from the silver standard to the gold, meaning that while Great Britain had gold reserves to back its economy, silver was not as plentiful in the British Empire. So when the Chinese mandated payment in silver, the British had to purchase silver, causing further expense for the British. And silver was desperately needed in China. While in the 1770's, the Emperor had overseen a great treasury surplus, government officials had become increasingly corrupt in his later reign, embezzling more and more money as they kept seeing success in their smaller endeavors. In one infamous example, when Grand Secretary Heshen was finally brought up and executed on charges of corruption, he was found to have personal wealth that was estimated at a decade-and-a-half of imperial revenue. His chief butler alone had approximately a quarter million taels. The Emperor's own lavish lifestyle helped contribute, and by the time of this story, what had been a rampantly successful national economy was incredibly troubled, dependent on protectionism out of fear that greater trade would cause peasant unrest that would tax their army, who had spent much blood and treasure putting down an earlier rebellion.

Anonymous

I can still remember doing my History Presentation on the Imperialism of the British, primarily in the 1800s, and the Opium wars was a major talking point for it. Wish this video set was out then but at least on the bright side I was able to use one of the Zulu videos for my South Africa portion. -- Nonetheless I'm happy to see this series of events being shown :D

Jessica Cheeri

I'm glad you brought up the letter from the Qianlong Emperor to King George III. I remember reading that years ago in a history class and it's always struck me as being an interesting document. The First Opium War really started a century of near constant war in China with both internal and external forces; I wonder how much of it would have happened if it weren't for opium

ExtraCredits
>>1994502

As you seem to be a fan of his, I'm guessing you've watched the movie (Ip Man) - but in case you haven't, check it out! I'd be interested to know what you thought of it, either way.

ExtraCredits
>>1994951

It only gets worse from here. There's a moment when it looks like two people will succeed at de-escalating the situation, but then... other egos get involved.

Anonymous
>>1995714

In addition to this, China was going through both a population explosion and the general expansion of the economy that tends to happen over time in politically stable countries, demanding more currency to keep the economy afloat. There's also the simple fact that a silver standard in China is a very bad idea since one of the few metals not really present in China, even at its greatest size in the late 18th and early 19th century, was silver, meaning that China always needed to import the stuff to keep the currency going.

ExtraCredits
>>1995931

Did you really use one of our Zulu videos as part of a class presentation? <3 That's wonderful! Glad we could help, even if we weren't able to help with the Opium Wars portion at that time. ;)

ExtraCredits
>>1996104

Probably some conflict would still have arisen because of the other stresses; opium itself became a big part of this only after the failed Macartney Embassy, and by that point Britain's insatiable thirst for tea pretty much guaranteed that they were going to need some kind of relationship with China. Without opium, though, the impact on the Chinese population would definitely have been... different. :\

Anonymous
>>1996104

Given that there was a huge rebellion in the west in the 1790s and the effects kept simmering until at least the 1870s, that was pretty much guaranteed. Much of unrest in Henan, Shandong and Hebei would probably have remained too, since economic trouble along the Grand Canal was very much an issue before the First Opium War. But the opium, the humiliation of the First Opium War and the destabilizing effects of the concessions certainly made things a lot worse. So did missionary activity, but that was in a really weird, roundabout way.

Anonymous

This is fascinating to me; I've heard of the Opium Wars but never knew any kind of details. I'm looking forward to seeing the rest of the series. :) At the risk of sounding petty, you did make one small mistake... Britain hadn't lost ALL of the colonies in North America. They still owned Upper and Lower Canada.

ExtraCredits
>>1997267

That's not petty, it was my mistake! I should have caught that in proofing, and I've been kicking myself since seeing it come up in the comments. Ah well. Here we go, Lies episode! -Soraya