The Treaty of Nanjing and the Opium War

In 1842, China was forced to sign the Treaty of Nanjing after its defeat by the British in First Opium War The war that broke out when the Chinese government decided to ban the smuggling and trade of opium began when Western demand for luxury Chinese goods created a trade imbalance between China and Britain. European silver began to flow into China, and to correct this imbalance, the British East India Company began cultivating opium in Bengal and allowed British merchants to smuggle it into China illegally. The influx of drugs reversed the trade balance and emptied the Chinese markets of silver, in addition to the dangerous increase in the number of opium addicts in the country. This prompted the Chinese to attack British ships and confiscate their cargo of opium. Great Britain responded by sending its warships to attack Chinese ports and occupy Hong Kong Island. After suffering successive defeats, China was forced to accept humiliating conditions imposed on it by Britain.

Nanjing Treaty Medal

Following the British colonial victory, this commemorative medal was minted in Hong Kong to mark the signing of the Nanjing Convention. It reflects an immense amount of British arrogance, clearly evident in the design of the reverse, where we see the British lion humiliatingly mounted on the Chinese dragon. This is the characteristic of the colonizer in every time and place, but nothing lasts forever, and with the passage of time, the old lion will lose its fangs, and the dragon will rise to turn the balance of power upside down…

For more similar topics, you can browse the Arab collector's website through the Link the next: