Lin Zexu

Empires

Britain forces China to open ports to the opium trade after Chinese officials destroy British-owned opium stocks. China's defeat in 1842 leads to the Treaty…

• 1839 CE

  First Opium War begins

  Britain forces China to open ports to the opium trade after Chinese officials destroy British-owned opium stocks. China's defeat in 1842 leads to the Treaty of Nanking—the first of many "unequal treaties" that humiliate the Qing Dynasty.