鸦片战争_综合百科

鸦片战争(Opium Wars)

两场贸易的战争（西元1839～1842年，西元1856～1860年），第一次鸦片战争发生於中国与英国之间；第二次鸦片战争（又称为亚罗战争﹝Arrow War﹞，或英法战争）则是中国与英法联盟交战。从历史的观点来看，中国认为西方无法在贸易上提供中国感兴趣的事物。因此如果西方国家渴求中国的物品，他们必须支付给中国强势货币。英国为抵销这种单向的货币流通，决定非法输入中国人热衷购买的鸦片。当中国试图阻止这种行径时，战争爆发。英国获胜後，战後签订的南京条约对中国不啻一大打击。第二次鸦片战争导源於列强胁迫中国签订让出更多特权的天津条约。当中国拒绝签署这项条约，列强攻陷北京，皇帝的夏宫遭焚毁。引发鸦片战争的深刻原因来自双方的傲慢自大。中国自视为世界的中心，周边的国家只能卑屈地前来通商。英国和西方则认为中国落後，所以可以力胁迫。亦请参阅Canton system、East India Co.、Lin Zexu。

English version：

Opium Wars

Two trading wars (1839-42, 1856-60), the first between China and Britain and the second (also called the Arrow War or Anglo-French War) between China and a British-French alliance. Historically, China believed that the West had nothing of interest to offer in trade; if Western nations desired Chinese goods, they had to pay for them in hard currency. To offset this negative currency flow, the British took to the illegal importation of opium, which the Chinese population was eager to buy. When China tried to stop the practice, hostilities broke out. Britain triumphed, and the resultant Treaty of Nanjing was a blow to China. The second opium war resulted in the Treaty of Tianjin (Tientsin), which required further Chinese concessions. When China refused to sign the treaties, Beijing was captured and the emperor's summer palace burned. A deeper reason for the Opium Wars was mutual arrogance: China saw itself as the center of the world to which peripheral nations came humbly to trade; Britain and the West saw China as backward and therefore coercible. See also Canton system, British East India Co., Lin Zexu.

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