The Second Opium War - History Matters (Short Animated Documentary)

[@rohanpreis6883]

“Sir we are consuming too much tea!” “Bloody hell! Attack China!”

[@ericcloud1023]

Sir out tea reserves are dangerously low! At this rate there will need to be rationing on afternoon tea... Duke: send in the fleet!!!!

[@karensmanager6340]

Britannia: "it seems im too early in history for mexican drug cartels, *looks at camera* its free real estate" _proceeds to sell opium to china like there ain't tomorrow_

[@baltulielkungsgunarsmiezis9714]

Or alternetly the english could start gathering their own tea. Out of teas that my people can not grow in out lands we only use black tea and green tea a lot, but we could easily go back to home grown teas if we could not get any foreign ones.

[@jimtaylor294]

@@baltulielkungsgunarsmiezis9714 Ultimately we Brit's solved the issue not with arms & war, but with sticky fingers. Several individuals snuck Tea plants out of China, where they were used to set up plantations in India, Ceylon, East-Africa... and others. That said this led to vastly different blends than in China, due to different preferences in the UK & elsewhere. It is worth noting though that various plants native to the UK can be used to make Tea, such as the now humble but once more venerated Dandelion. (which paradoxically can also be used to make Coffee)

[@baltulielkungsgunarsmiezis9714]

@@jimtaylor294 "It is worth noting though that various plants native to the UK can be used to make Tea" Why is that?

[@johannesnoe7129]

Please make the Taiping Rebellion next. It's so funny considering it was one of the most deadly conflicts in history and basically started because a guy believed he was jesus brother and told it to everyone.

[@korakys]

Chinese Communist Jesus, in the 1850s, 10s of millions died, and hardly anyone knows about it (although I expect most of the people who watch this channel would have heard of it).

[@aaronmarks9366]

Apparently it was the bloodiest conflict of the entire 19th century

[@reinatr4848]

@@korakys It'll be less if it was NOT in China (huge population)

[@JonatasAdoM]

@@korakys Nope, never heard of it. The closest thing for most people would be the boxer rebellion

[@JonatasAdoM]

@@reinatr4848 Just like any war in Russia is bound to be bloody

[@Rudero3]

I always adored the random "Russia got more of Manchuria for no reason" part of the Treaty of Beijing.

[@JackHankeAnd]

Was it just a way of mending fences with Russia after the Crimean War? It does seem like it would have helped with that.

[@mrbibs350]

Giving territory to Russia was a way of weakening China, not rewarding Russia. They were the only local power and the best check on China available.

[@thanhhoangnguyen4754]

@@mrbibs350 Also the Russian at the time was also on drugs for finding a water port that doesn't froze.

[@Rudero3]

@@JackHankeAnd No, Russia attacked China while it was busy with the Nian and Taiping Rebellions and just took the territory and forced the Treaty of Aigun on the Chinese. They stole the first half in 1858 with the Aigun one, and then the other part of Manchuria they stole in 1860 with the Treaty of "Peking." Idk where the English got that word out of Beijing, it's clearly a fucking J but I digress.

[@Rudero3]

@@mrbibs350 Russia did apply their traditional tactic of "the territory we want is currently fighting an internal issue, our enemy is down. Kick them and steal part of their territory" and the Qing were too busy dealing with the Taiping Rebellion, which killed more people than any single war at that point in history, only to be outdone by WW1. With that said, disclaimer, the Mongol Conquests killed like 200 million people...over the course of over 100 years, so the Taiping is the SINGLE war I meant.

[@Elongated_Muskrat]

Proving that tea is the most addictive substance known to humans.

[@boilerforsale3941]

Implying brits are humans

[@boilerforsale3941]

@iuvenis animo implying I have anything to do with roaches

[@boilerforsale3941]

@iuvenis animo Vienna is austrian

[@boilerforsale3941]

@iuvenis animo we're arguing on the internet none of us are

[@ryanxm3237]

Hungarian Memer Austro-Hungarian Empire?

[@adeptkhristossilvae2601]

Pablo Escobar: biggest drug lord to ever live. Britain: "France, hold my bloody Earl Grey"

[@IndustrialParrot2816]

i am going to make a video called countryballs: the opium wars

[@Weisior]

Deja Vu Ive just been in this place before

[@aleksandarvil5718]

Britain: "Hold my ale."*

[@dboy2462]

Are the Spanish also drug dealers for stablishing their tobacco monopoly in the Philippines?

[@imawaffle148]

@@aleksandarvil5718 hold my opium poppies*

[@animeyahallo3887]

British Admiral : You see those junks Captain? British Captain : Yes sir British Admiral : I don't want to British Captain : Right away sir.

[@ThatFreakingGinger]

This is my favourite comment😆

[@HuggableLoveablePlushies]

Top-tier comment. Nobody can tell me otherwise.

[@thesambo22]

I see this comment on like every youtube video to the point where it’s just cringe now

[@geilleadh4852]

Unbelievable coal

[@richardthomas5362]

Junks. I know they are apparently what the Chinese called their large ships but in English "junk" has another meaning. Apparently, they were just junk going up against ironclads.

[@hoodclassicsofcalifornia]

China: Makes tea Britain: _GIVE ME THE PLANT_

[@moritamikamikara3879]

No _Britain_ that's an ORDER! Britain: sir, give me the plant

[@FranciscoMendez-pl7in]

Well china send no. The British empire: put fire on there capital

[@adamkerman475]

Wall-E reference nice

[@kentguiller]

Britain: Give me the plant China: No Britain: **Angry Cursing British Noises**

[@aleksandarvil5718]

@@kentguiller China: *Has some random isle near mouth of Pearl River/Zhujiang/Canton River* Great Britain: _GIVE ME THE ISLE!_

[@ondank]

Its genuinely wild that the opium war was actually about forcing an addictive substance on China to mitigate the cost of Britains crippling tea addiction. Its like finding out that the drug dealer down the street is slinging dope because he is utterly addicted to speciality coffee and he just *needs* to get a higher quality conical burr grinder that his day job isn't paying for.

[@nkl7345]

Lmao and he morally knows the dope he's slinging is worse than any coffee addiction

[@orhblin]

China only wanted to trade in pure silver, and Great Britian never had enough afterit lost it's vital American colonies. Britian was willing to trade in other things but the Chinese refused, thinking of Great Britain like any other tributary that was beneath them. The opium in question was produced and sold in india, but it made its way into China through smugglers. The smugglers paid in Chinese silver and so the British could trade with China again, mainly they wanted tea. The Chinese figured this out of course so, war.

[@benc.3128]

@@orhblin yeah, and then China got slapped around by the Brits, and complained that the treaty was “unfair” like a child That’s the whole point of a peace treaty, and when you got slapped that hard in a war you dont get good terms

[@426mak]

@@benc.3128 And Britain had no choice but to give back Hong Kong in 1997 to the militarily stronger China but that does not stop them bitching about it.

[@GGYGYU-es1dj]

@@benc.3128 I dunno, getting fucking invaded because you wanted to stop a drug trade then have a very one sided treaty forced on you doesn't make it any less "unfair" as you would put it.

[@adamweishaupt3733]

"Crap, we're losing this war terribly, we should sue for peace." "Sir, the diplomats have arrived to ratify the treaty you asked for." "Kidnap and torture them, that way the foreign powers will definitely not retaliate and wreck our shit like they've been doing for months."

[@sisophon1982]

Nice job cooling down the tension, Qing.

[@thunderbird1921]

Here's another fact the video left out: A major reason France allied with Britain and joined this war was because China executed a French Christian missionary. The French government under Napoleon III was FURIOUS and declared this as justification for joining in the war. Basically, China managed to enrage TWO of Europe's most powerful empires.

[@mrbisshie]

Yeah, when they did that I was confused. It's like they wanted to purposely anger the other side that just completely destroyed them in battle even more. I swear someone did something similar to the Mongols, and got their country destroyed and salted.

[@supernt7852]

@@thunderbird1921 and when your government is doing so bad, umm... It's revolution time

[@thunderbird1921]

@@supernt7852 What a nice brother this Chinese emperor was (to Prince Gong)! "Hey bro, listen, I started this huge war and tortured the adversaries' diplomats. They're coming here to get revenge and well, I'm in danger. So I'm fleeing town, you handle them, okay? See ya!"

[@BeWe1510]

That the Chinese ships were called Junks is just so in line with the theme, I love it

[@emaarredondo-librarian]

The Wikipedia article about the ship has a section devoted to its name's etymology. It appears to be phonetic, but not from a Chinese word.

[@andyigwe7119]

A video on how Russia grew from the Duchy of Moscow to become the largest country in the world will be nice. Especially outlining all the treaties and victories that led to territorial expansion

[@thomasgoldthorpe1158]

Basically they kept moving the border east and saying 'this is Russia now, everyone cool?' and everyone was cool because it was mostly barren wasteland that barely anybody lived in and nobody else wanted

[@looinrims]

Mongols attack Everything sucks Russians say “fuck this shit from happening again” Russia incorporates Siberia

[@雷-t3j]

@@thomasgoldthorpe1158 And because they were doing the same thing as the Americans; disappearing the natives

[@rashakor]

@@雷-t3j You mean the British. Americans learnt from the best in the business.🤣

[@masterdeetectiv9520]

@@rashakor british only controlled the 13 colonies, the westward expansion is all america

[@Hannibal953able]

Stop teasing me with these short videos. I need more!!!

[@hakeemzahardi9207]

Time for war with History Channel

[@Techno963]

Can we get "The Opium must flow" on a mug please?

[@manubishe]

Add to that some HM artwork and I'm ordering 2

[@anton_s1]

The spice must flow

[@mikescott7530]

THE TEA MUST FLOW 🫖☕️

[@hcat226]

Buy our drugs 2 Electric Bugaloo

[@internuf5754]

Hasbro: buy our drugs Oh i mean toysssss

[@jimtaylor294]

Buy Indian drugs*... technically. Nowdays India supplies far more of our Tea than China.

[@mikicerise6250]

@@jimtaylor294 We don't know much about that in continental Europe, we drink Latin American coffee while importing Indian computer programming tutorials on KZbin. ;)

[@Real_Iron_Smith]

Kidnapping and torturing the delegates was such an arrogant and short-sighted move, it really showed that the Dynasty had no possible contingency for meeting a power stronger than itself.

[@user-su6js9po4l]

to be fair if china came to your country, wrecked havoc by selling opium to your citizens and took your land and murdered your people by invading your country, wouldnt you want to do the same?

[@looinrims]

China is a pretty chauvinistic society and always has been, similar to Russia and France

[@Vivenk88]

​@@looinrimsYou seriously think the issue is with Chinese society here? Britain basically did drug trade here, do you support it?

[@looinrims]

@@Vivenk88 who said that? We’re talking about the geopolitical situation of the Chinese emperor and the arrogance one of their actions Is it okay for you to commit war crimes by torturing and killing diplomats?

[@kaymarx9677]

@@Vivenk88 Two things can be bad at once. And more than the violence against the diplomats being morally good or bad, it was stupid.

[@josephcola9662]

Britian literally went, "I'm joining the War Against Drugs! On the side of the Drugs!"

[@savioblanc]

To summarise - The Brits got hooked on tea and decided they gonna get the Chinese hooked on opium

[@zhouwu]

The odd thing is, today, the Brits are still hooked on tea, but Chinese today have found anything to do with Opium distasteful. Conclusion: Chinese tea is more addictive than British Opium. How does that work?

[@Jin-Ro]

@@zhouwu It's the source of British superpowers. No Tea, no Empire.

[@zhouwu]

@@Jin-Ro you gotta be kidding me. No bloody way. You mean we Chinese allowed the British empire to happen? Now that's a load of bull. Gotta be the gunpowder the Mongols took from us, and turned fireworks into cannons, which then got translated in the West into muskets, then rifles and guns, which then came back and costed us two Opium wars and Hong Kong, but now... Uh.... Somehow... We're buying up all the land that used to be lands of British supremacy, and dominating the academic world and infiltrating into the business world. Would this bloody world please make up its mind about who exactly is taking advantage of whom? Are we Chinese the winners or the losers of this whole enterprise? It feels like the British and the other European powers did all the dirty work, the Americans are paying in human lives and tax payer money, just to give us Chinese the peace and infrastructure to kind of quietly take over the world, because it's pretty much our technology adapted by the outsiders which got it all up and running. And the Western city construction is far more robust than ours, and the quality of life is higher. Is this a scam or something? I thought we were supposed to be the victims of history, not the victors. Chinese English literacy is exceedingly high, due to our academic traditions. Did God just randomly stack things in our favour or something? I guess He did send the Coronavirus to Wuhan to even things out a little. But it might just end up shaking our past its best before date government up so that they can either shape up or go home, so that's helpful for us as well. Did somebody enter into the universe some overpowered cheat code or something? This doesn't seem right at all!

[@elbucho8867]

Zhou Wu ?

[@karensmanager6340]

its a meme everyone jokes about british getting soo obsessed over tea chill and take opium, relax deep breaths exhale

[@seanlogan7912]

Russia: Fights brutal wars all across Europe to expand into the largest country searching for warm waters Also Russia: gets given a ton of free land by Britain in Asia

[@AdityaSingh-lp5rp]

Russia*controls almost all of the ice ports in eurasia* Also russia*continues conquering countries looking for warm water ports*

[@robjones1328]

@CK Lim lol

[@whatifgodisjustlegs3344]

@@robjones1328 so they don't froze

[@jimtaylor294]

We Brit's are quite generous... but Russia was almost unilatterally a rival at the time, now known as 'The Great Game'.

[@mrbisshie]

Yup, and unlike everyone else, Russia still holds the land(Vladivostok) they got from China. I wonder if that's still a sticking point in China/Russia relations, or did China stop caring ages ago?

[@kiriseraph9674]

China: *addicted to opium* Britain: *addicted to tea* Britain: Maybe we can work something out China: Nah man I'm going clean Britain: I wasn't asking >:D

[@sampuatisamuel9785]

Not so: Britain loved tea which cost a fortune in silver but China had no desire for anything the West had to offer. That is up until the British traders started bringing in opium..

[@liamcastillo2902]

America and Russia was addicted to not giving a crap

[@watching99134]

Your timeline is messed up, China became addicted to opium because Britain wanted to balance out its trade imbalance so began giving it away free at first like a dealer; they weren't simultaneous.

[@marseldagistani1989]

@@watching99134 wasn't Opium sold also in Qing China, but at a higher price?

[@aleksandarvil5718]

British Empire = *History Largest Drug Cartel* Edit: Thanks For 1.2k likes

[@CataciousAmogusevic]

lol

[@fulcrum2951]

lol

[@adambuffoli5917]

lol

[@bobsemple9281]

Before we know trump will build a wall around the channel

[@mdokuch96]

Well, technically - yes, it is not even a joke.

[@andriyg1244]

We want something about Chinese rebellion of 1900) 55 Tage-lang...

[@dylanmartin7604]

Ja, das war ein gut 33 tage lang.

[@therensdns31415]

Lol wie ihr versucht Deutsch zu sprechen

[@HigHrvatski]

The British wars in Afghanistan would be a nice video.

[@concept5631]

HrvsatskiHig Absolutely.

[@atem_yg]

I finally know how russia gained the territories around Vladivostok. Awesome channel

[@amstonger]

Yeah even me too... Meaning any chinese drive to super power would surely want that territory back fully.

[@watching99134]

@@amstonger Especially as the Russian population continues to decline (and Siberia has never been densely populated compared to the European part).

[@ronblack7870]

kings of russia were cousins to british kings so they got included in deals.

[@OliverCovfefe]

Are you guys planning on covering the Boxer Rebellion?

[@mrbisshie]

It always amused me how all the great powers can get together and bond over fucking with China.

[@thunderbird1921]

@@mrbisshie Early 20th Century China was occupied by more countries than post-World War II Germany. Insane. There's a comical scene from the movie 55 Days at Peking where 6 of the national anthems are playing simultaneously across the city to start the day.

[@ynnalyl6195]

@@thunderbird1921 there is even a game in roblox about that

[@mythicalrp5642]

@@mrbisshie so that justifies their current antagonistic stance against the west. understandable

[@wizard680]

1:36 I wonder if this is where we get the English word "junk" from

[@Matt_J98]

wizard680 I was asking myself the same thing lol. Gonna research that

[@arthas640]

It wouldnt surprise me. The Chinese had a laughably backwards navy, even by compared to their much smaller neighbors. The Korea "turtle ships" of the 16th century were actually better then the Chinese Junks of the 19th century

[@unifieddynasty]

@@arthas640 After the 1400s Treasure Fleet, China became more isolationist and focused more on land expansion. Thus the most powerful navy in the world at the time was replaced by wars in Southeast Asia and Manchuria and Mongolia, and the renovation of the Great Wall and Beijing. The normal definition of 'junk' is from Middle English, meaning 'old rope', itself derived from Latin. The ship definition of 'junk' is from Portuguese, derived from Javanese, meaning 'seafaring ship'.

[@arthas640]

@@unifieddynasty was their treasure fleet the best in the world? It was big, both by tonnage and the size of many of the ships but most of those were short distance ships, essentially giant barges that were designed as transports for cargo and men, pleasure craft for dignitaries and officials, or as command and control. They werent any good for long distance travel or even really outfitted for combat other than some existing warships likely used as escorts to deter pirates. From what I've read I haven't seen any mentions of cannons, armor, or weapons aside from the melee weapons and bows used by the soldiers on board, which backs up the idea the only sea combat theyd expect were pirates. Most of the large ships main have descriptions of how many men and horses they carried but make no mention of cannons. As the later Japanese attempted invasion of Korea in the 1500s showed a few small well armed ships with cannons can beat alot of poorly defended ships armed with melee troops and archers. In the case of the Chinese treasure fleet, which were gigantic and unwieldy, thatd be especially true since smaller and more agile ships with cannons could punch holes in them and stay out of range of their archers and boarding parties. The galleys used across the Mediterranean come to mind, since they were pretty maneuverable, and carracks might be agile enough to pull it off but they're not too fast.

[@unifieddynasty]

@@arthas640 Spin it any way you like, but these ships travelled all the way from China to Africa and they were undefeated despite engaging in multiple conflicts. They were clearly veterans of battle and they were victorious. Just quickly glancing over wikipedia, I found that these ships did in fact have many cannons on board. Moreover, ships relying primarily on embarked soldiers, aka marines, are still capable warships. As far as historical records are concerned, your downplaying of the treasure ships does not change the fact that they were still the best navy in the world at the time.

[@ThePrinceofParthia]

A war fought for primarily economic means that Parliament rejected and did not want but the Prime Minister forced through anyway... hmmmm...

[@bificommander]

All because the couldn't get enough of an imported dark liquid.

[@Rowlph8888]

@@bificommander He's making an analogy comparatively with the Iraq war and Tony Blair

[@nikolay4101-s7r]

I'm early, let me think of a joke Opium wars In Victoria2

[@themarc6500]

*8TH OPIUM WAR*

[@user-hv6gi9ux6z]

@@themarc6500 14th opium war

[@sleepingkirbo2393]

200th opium war

[@MichusubPl]

ISP intensifies

[@hanselsihotang]

A.K.A Easy Money Dispenser war. Seriously, attacking China is a staple income for any nations I played that's at least upper-Secondary Power.

[@bericdakeyras7167]

Fighting combined brit navy and french navy, must have been terrifying

[@Rowlph8888]

For sure, especially to China, who was literally 200 years behind in technology

[@Chadius_Thundercock]

You’d think after the mongols they’d learn to not kill envoys, then they fucking tortured and beheaded them lmao. They had it coming

[@sway12435]

You should do the defenestration of prague

[@090giver090]

all three of them!

[@JonatasAdoM]

Because we need a word for the act of throwing someone out the window.

[@ladasodaexplains3355]

Stephen Way it was literally 3 people who were threw out of the window

[@sway12435]

LadaSoda Explains lol and this episode was just Britain forced China to buy opium. There’s more to it than that

[@mdokuch96]

@@JonatasAdoM and that is why I love Czechs. They are cool with such a serious approach to things.

[@tomfrazier1103]

A friend of my parents in the 1980s had inherited a bunch of old Chinese furniture and relics. Some of these were loot of the 2d Opium War.

[@ejbattlelord6436]

Amazing what where they?

[@u2-tv899]

🤨 💭 Hmmm Oooh lord🤦‍♂️!… Any story about about Western nations invading Asia, Africa, America, Middle East, Pacific, etc… always excruciating… Afterwards, they’d send Priests into that territory to continue spread their evil spirits… Western civilization acting like world police officers but they’re the robbers, thieves, criminals, etc…

[@Mere-Lachaiselongue]

@@ejbattlelord6436 a bunch of old Chinese furniture and relics

[@ejbattlelord6436]

@@Mere-Lachaiselongue 2 years later and that still doesnt answer my question :/

[@justinlo3799]

The war is also important as it led to a 'revolution' in China (I am hk so I do not know the English term), this was important as this was the start of China's modernization. Chinese official finally nsaw the power of the west and they are learning from them. Schools were built and factories were set up. Battleships were bought and new technology like train and telegram was in China.

[@hiyukelavie2396]

China was on the brink of the Industrial Revolution during the Song dynasty It got cut short by the Mongol invasion

[@Tom_Cruise_Missile]

@@hiyukelavie2396 yeah, no. They were advanced, but not anywhere remotely close to that advanced. I get being patriotic, but extreme historical revisionism in the name of patriotism isn't a good thing.

[@Knudsen_Hernandez]

Its just revolution actually. Unless you mean a take over of the government without a war, then its a coup d'etat.

[@bioemiliano]

@@Knudsen_Hernandez I suppose he was referring to the name used for this specific event, just like this war it's called the '2nd Opium War'

[@jerolvilladolid]

China was like the country you played in the game where you focused completely on economy and ignored military improvement. Then your smaller, more well armed neighbor declared war....

[@watching99134]

It's a little more complicated than that (decentralized warlords held power for a variety of reasons for one.)

[@greyscaleb1537]

The Quing dynasty was absolutely massive, they had numerous administrative difficulties that makes them more of investing hard on "stability" than economy.

[@madgavin7568]

And if corruption were a thing in the game, it would go on completely unchecked.

[@justalonesoul5825]

China absolutely didnt "ignore" military. They were outleveled by barely one step of technology, and a large Brit experience of putting other countries into slavery for the well-being of Britain elite and middle class. Britain was absolutely not "the smaller neighbour". It was the empire dominating the world with a Navy that no country could rivalize with until the late 1930's.

[@F14thunderhawk]

youre implying China invested into Economy, Infrastructure, Military, or Technology. it didnt. it took Gunpowder traveling down the silk road for centuries for firearms to become not just glorified amusements to actual viable combat technology. and once it got to Europe it really took off. then Europe trying to find a solution to their Pepper, Tea, and Nutmeg addictions that crashed them into north america and caused them to accidentally stabilize India. And Guns were so popular as currency everywhere that Japan stole blueprints for guns, set up their own industry, and at one point had more guns then the rest of the planet combined. Meanwhile their immediate neighbor, china, still was using pike squares.

[@Livestreamlurker]

China probably could have saved themselves a lot of pain if they just hadn't tortured and executed the envoys. Like there are so many times in history where that went horribly wrong. Just ask the Khwarezmid empire how that went for them.

[@vladsnape6408]

Yes, even the Mongols had a very strict policy of respecting ambassadors and envoys. They would burn a city to the ground and kill all the inhabitants if this policy was not strictly adhered to.

[@VengefulLeprechauns]

@A Potato The mongols destroyed the empire, killed millions of people, and captured and then killed the Khwarezmid emperor by pouring molten gold over his head.

[@flippedturtle4739]

@@VengefulLeprechauns Ahh.... so he got the Viseryes treatment

[@SoulCrapper]

@@flippedturtle4739 Thats probably what inspired that scene. Those guys are basically Mongols anyway.

[@VengefulLeprechauns]

@x x It’s the other way around. Viseryes’ execution by thinly veiled stand-ins for Mongolian horsemen was quite obviously inspired by this event. George RRRRR Martin stole all the best scenes in his books from actual history.

[@aaronmarks9366]

Could you do the War of Jenkin's Ear? Besides having a funny name, it's one of the more serious but largely forgotten conflicts of the 18th century. It also saw a larger naval armada than the Spanish one of 1588, but this time assembled by the British to attack Spanish Caribbean ports.

[@mikicerise6250]

That's the one where Jenkins displayed his disembodied ear before the British Parliament, right? ;)

[@aaronmarks9366]

@@mikicerise6250 That's right! Which is a detail that History Matters would definitely have fun with ;)

[@aarona3411]

I love how the characters on the wall behind the emperor just say 'China' over and over again lol

[@Casiuss666]

But in simplified Chinese, which is a bit anachronistic :P

[@mastrorick]

"A country brute force its way to get a drug market and the rest of powers claps at them, but a private does it and get arrested" - Pablo Escobar

[@Chadius_Thundercock]

Saying this war is about drug dealing is such a oversimplification

[@mastrorick]

@@Chadius_Thundercock which one?

[@Dekker95]

I'd really like to see you do one of these on the Boxer Rebellion.

[@pridelander06]

0:30 I wasn't expecting to see a Dune reference in this video, but here we are.

[@TensileStrength]

I hope future videos that take place in the desert will have a worm in the back ground

[@misterkrazy8401]

I think a good video topic could be about the Berlin Airlift. It was the starting path to the Cold War, and not many people know about the event.

[@090giver090]

Extra History already did a good episode about that

[@misterkrazy8401]

@@090giver090 i've seen the video, and you are right. They talk about alot of details in the Berlin Airlift. But considering it isn't known as well unlike other events, such as the Cuban Missile Crisis, I thought it would be a good suggestion.

[@quanghuyvo6112]

@@090giver090 haha that is one of the wost ep they ever make with a lot misinfomation and full off western bullshit

[@varanidstudios7928]

Tea is so addictive it changed the entire aim of a war campaign

[@fdny4891]

Absolutely my new favorite channel

[@underconstruction6436]

The British were really dedicated to a war for drugs just to satisfy their tea addiction

[@DonnellGreen]

Thank you for covering the SECOND opium war i was so tired of hearing about the FIRST opium war Keep up good video's!

[@LeRoiEnJaune]

Going back through History Matters archives, watching this and the Tyrone Biggums voice pops in my head: "And THAT... was the first time I _beat another country into submission_ for opium; but it _wouldn't be the last!"_

[@AncientAccounts]

Britain: Hits Pipe *What if we like declared a war for drugs instead of against them? The US: *Is My war a joke to you?

[@al-uc7cb]

stop

[@tulsatrash]

Obviously.

[@killr1234567]

So basically this war was *FOR* drugs not *AGAINST* drugs. Interesting...

[@johny16G]

well, depending on your allegiance.

[@eouzcuemarz3114]

killr1234567 Sort of...😁

[@Erik-ko6lh]

It was about Silver.

[@benitomussolini5927]

*D R U G S*

[@toddharig8142]

The war for drugs, not to be confused with the war on drugs.

[@kaulquapil6280]

Love the new format!

[@gengis737]

Burn of Summer Palace is just a word today. But it was like burning the British Museum, National Library and Buckingham at the same time (or Versailles, Louvres Museum and Bibliothèque Nationale, for French). For no conceivable military reason but pure loot and destruction of art.

[@RoachChaddjr]

It was burnt down in retaliation of the cruelty inflicted on British captives. Also, many artefacts in the Palace were taken before it was burnt down, the video even states it.

[@gengis737]

@@RoachChaddjr Correction: in retaliation of the cruelety inflicted on British captives, the British and French burned to the ground the equivalent of British Museum, National Library and Buckingham at the same time (or Versailles, Louvres Museum and Bibliothèque Nationale, for French) and plundered what was not burn. French-Spanish war of 1808-1814 was the cruelest in Europe of 19th century, but nobody burned the Prado, the Escorial nor the Library of Indias. What was done in China was pure barbary.

[@thewayfarer8849]

Tea for Opium Seems legit.

[@rojumiller665]

Thank you for making this only 4 minutes

[@Johann_Gambolputty_of_Ulm]

Opium must flow... Honestly, I still couldn't figure whether Brits are the Atreides or the Harkonnens of this story...

[@flybeep1661]

Really? Either you have no idea about the role of opium at that time or you have no idea about Dune....or both.

[@Johann_Gambolputty_of_Ulm]

@@flybeep1661 Nowhere I did say their role was similar, mate. That was just a fun with the words and playing on (pop)culture reference, to picture how uninterupted flow of a single substance can be a casus belli for a proper war.

[@jandevries1300]

Yes, another video. Great content. Anyway can you make a video about the glorious revolution? Ps. Love your vids.

[@MilesBellas]

"Thamas Bowlby, journalist for The Times and the other captives were held at Tungchow and tortured, sometimes to death, over several days. Constricting ligatures were applied to their bodies; as they dried, they tightened. Those who cried out for water had dirt poured into their mouths. Bowlby died on 22 September."

[@alwaysdisputin9930]

@History Matters TY. i added better subtitles. I hope someone reviews them before Sep 28th 2020 which is when YT's 'discontinuing Community contributions', (i.e. unpublished subtitles made by the community will go in the bin & from then on, only uploaders can add subtitles.) If not, please can they be added? Here they are: 0:00:00.000,0:00:03.380 1856 and Britain is unhappy with China. 0:00:03.380,0:00:07.540 The reason for this was that China, having recently been defeated in the previous Opium War, 0:00:07.540,0:00:10.520 was supposed to give concessions to Britain which it had yet to do. 0:00:10.520,0:00:16.300 Another issue was that British consumption of tea was so great that Britain was operating a huge trade deficit with China. 0:00:16.300,0:00:21.140 The only thing salvaging British finances was the continued sale of opium into China from British India. 0:00:21.140,0:00:26.940 Another problem was that China was currently dealing with the Taiping Rebellion, whose leaders kept destroying opium wherever they found it. 0:00:26.940,0:00:31.920 The sale of opium into China was vital for balancing Britain's finances and so it had to keep flowing. 0:00:31.920,0:00:36.900 In late 1856, the governor of Canton, Yi Mingchen, impounded a Chinese-operated ship 0:00:36.900,0:00:40.600 that he believed was committing piracy or, at least, was working on behalf of the rebels. 0:00:40.600,0:00:46.300 1 problem though: the ship was registered in Hong Kong - now a British territory and, as a result, the British were furious. 0:00:46.300,0:00:52.180 Frankly, the British consul to China, Harry Parkes, was itching for another war there because he wanted to make a name for himself. 0:00:52.180,0:00:57.600 Yi offered to give the sailors back but Britain said 'no' and sailed the Royal Navy up the Pearl River and shelled Canton. 0:00:57.600,0:01:00.720 Back in Britain, Parliament was fiercely against any war with China, 0:01:00.720,0:01:03.420 but the Prime Minister, Lord Palmerstone, was very much for it. 0:01:03.420,0:01:09.320 Parliament voted against any further action, mostly because of the outbreak of a major mutiny in India in 1857. 0:01:09.320,0:01:11.300 As a result, Palmerstone called an election 0:01:11.300,0:01:15.840 and, after denouncing the Chinese as 'barbarians' to the British people, he won and so war it was. 0:01:15.840,0:01:19.340 An alliance was built with the French because they also wanted to trade with China; 0:01:19.340,0:01:23.100 but the Americans, after taking a fort in late 1856, declared their neutrality; 0:01:23.100,0:01:27.000 and Russia wanted nothing to do with it because they were still recovering from the Crimean War. 0:01:27.000,0:01:30.920 So the war in China, the 2nd Opium War, followed a similar path to the 1st: 0:01:30.920,0:01:36.780 the Royal Navy used their ironclad steam-powered warships to obliterate the Chinese wooden ships, called 'junks', wherever they met. 0:01:36.780,0:01:42.040 In late 1857, Anglo-French forces captured Canton and captured Yi, who was then imprisoned in India. 0:01:42.040,0:01:47.620 After this, the British and French navies made their way up the coast of China, harassing the defenders and smashing forts as they went. 0:01:47.620,0:01:52.420 The Chinese Emperor, the Xianfeng Emperor of the Qing dynasty, soon after opted to sue for peace. 0:01:52.420,0:01:55.020 The negotiations resulted in 'the Treaty of Tianjin', 0:01:55.020,0:01:59.980 which gave France, Russia, the US and Britain the right to trade and for their citizens to freely travel throughout China. 0:01:59.980,0:02:03.340 The US and Russia were allowed to get in on the action (despite not fighting) because 0:02:03.340,0:02:07.380 it meant that if China backed down on their agreements, it would risk retaliation from all 4 powers, 0:02:07.380,0:02:12.520 plus: Russia had just negotiated the transfer of this territory, and the Qing didn't want another front to fight on. 0:02:12.520,0:02:16.780 1 problem: when negotiators went to Beijing to ratify this truce in 1859, 0:02:16.780,0:02:19.040 they were kidnapped and tortured by the Chinese government. 0:02:19.040,0:02:24.380 This, for the British, was proof that their opinion of the Chinese as being 'little more than barbarians' was justified. 0:02:24.380,0:02:28.060 The commander of the British forces in China, the Earl of Elgin, was actually against the war, 0:02:28.060,0:02:32.380 but after the capture of the negotiators, he felt that he had to retaliate to protect Britain's honor. 0:02:32.380,0:02:36.900 The British and French then landed their forces in the North and captured many forts on the way to Beijing. 0:02:36.900,0:02:39.900 They soon clashed with a large Qing army at the Battle of Palikao. 0:02:39.900,0:02:44.280 This saw over a thousand Chinese casualties compared to about 50 on the Anglo-French side. 0:02:44.280,0:02:49.580 The Chinese had now lost the will to pursue the War, mostly because of, again, the ongoing Taiping Rebellion. 0:02:49.580,0:02:55.000 After the battle, the Emperor fled Beijing, leaving his brother, Prince Gong, to negotiate with the Europeans. 0:02:55.000,0:02:58.380 Anglo-French forces then moved on Beijing, which opened its gates to them, 0:02:58.380,0:03:00.880 after which, the most famous event of the War happened: 0:03:00.880,0:03:04.280 the Allied soldiers forced their way into and looted the Emperor's Summer Palace, 0:03:04.280,0:03:08.520 and when Elgin found out the Chinese had killed many of the envoys, he ordered it burned to the ground. 0:03:08.520,0:03:12.600 The Chinese then signed the 1860 'Treaty of Beijing' which did several things: 0:03:12.600,0:03:14.660 it confirmed the 1858 treaty, 0:03:14.660,0:03:16.720 increased the reparations that China would pay; 0:03:16.720,0:03:18.000 gave Russia more territory; 0:03:18.000,0:03:20.820 and also saw Britain gain slightly more land around Hong Kong. 0:03:20.820,0:03:25.360 Interestingly, this war is called the '2nd Opium War' but opium's role was largely secondary. 0:03:25.360,0:03:31.080 This time, it was about enforcing open trade and demonstrating to China that Europeans were now the dominant 1s in the region. 0:03:31.080,0:03:33.740 I hope you enjoyed this episode and thank you for watching, 0:03:33.740,0:03:38.420 and a special thanks to all of these patrons you see on screen for their generosity in supporting the show. 0:03:38.420,0:03:40.220 And a particularly special thanks to: 0:03:40.220,0:03:41.240 James Bissonette 0:03:41.240,0:03:42.120 Party Boy Co 0:03:42.120,0:03:43.020 Michael Reynolds 0:03:43.020,0:03:43.880 Gustav Swan 0:03:43.880,0:03:44.780 Winston K Wood 0:03:44.780,0:03:45.620 Skye Chappell 0:03:45.620,0:03:46.380 Adam Harvey 0:03:46.380,0:03:47.020 Gabe Ellery 0:03:47.020,0:03:49.520 and Azarka Flash

[@lurtz101]

Please continue the British history series!!!

[@gunnerjensen5998]

Can't decide if "Thumb Screw Time" or "Be Better" is my favorite card.

[@Volcano4981]

T H U M B S C R E W T I M E

[@Michael-mh2tw]

2:22 'They felt their opinions were justified' I mean, yeh.

[@George-real]

0:20 that border gore makes me sick

[@iapetusmccool]

* laughs in Holy Roman Empire *

[@Michael-mh2tw]

3:25 It was also about the idea that you can't just capture and execute peaceful trade negotiators.

[@taskfroce80th95]

Can you make one long video (like the one you made for Mongolia) for the 100 years of shame for China? It is a very interesting topic and is one of the major reason why China suffered during WW2 and the civil war between the Commonest and Nationalist in China resulting in the spilt Taiwan and China

[@vladimirchylik6754]

China: Most of our ships are so-called Junks. Britain: SEND THE BEHEMOTH. China: I hope you don't mean the HMS Nemesis. Britain: SEND THE NEMESIS.

[@andpat1432]

Love the Dune reference at 0:31

[@OGrApZikA]

he attacc he protecc but most importantly he sell china opium and cracc

[@migwella9086]

Could you do the Swedish empire next

[@redred7289]

Could you do a video on the Taiping rebellion, please.

[@oliversherman2414]

I love your channel keep up the great stuff!!!!!

[@pacificostudios]

It bears mentioning that Japan was laboring under the Unequal Treaties at about the same time, after the U.S. forced Japan to allow their citizens to enter and trade at Shimoda and Hakodate in 1853, and allow a U.S. consul to be stationed in Shimoda. Things quickly got worse, ultimately leading to the overthrow of the Shogunate and the Meiji Restoration.

[@businessashusual]

If you visit the old summer palace, to say that they’re still pissed about it would be an understatement.

[@silviaromano9182]

Britain: I wanna trade with ya :) China: aw shit, here we go again.

[@mikicerise6250]

Taiping rebels: "That opium is un-Christian! Destroy it!" Christian superpowers: "LOL no."

[@croweater6814]

Surely we need a vid on the boxer rebellion

[@CreamTheEverythingFixer]

"This is your Empire NOT on drugs" *Fire consumes the Summer Palace*

[@michaelfisher7170]

I sit, watch the video, sip my iced tea and think...."This was unnecessary."

[@firefox3249]

British history is next. Make it happen. Edit: Forgot to say please

[@Protoman85]

I hope you'll do a video on the boxer rebellion later on

[@michaelwoll9349]

"Thumb Screw Time" 😁😂😂 Best Sign Ever 😁😏

[@bificommander]

I'm partial to "Soon", when accompanied by the proper glare.

[@justinwolf7490]

I like “fire time” when they burned down the palace too.

[@smu1geee]

i like the oversimplified video of the bucket war in the holy roman empire. I'm intregued and would like to know more!

[@angrymidgetwithayoyo]

You know you're early when the video has "no views".

[@yog-sothothery5720]

Love the dune reference.

[@olivervorasarn3247]

Please make the Boshin War (1868-1869) How did Japan became a modern nation after defeating the Bakufu and suppressing the rebellions against their former imperial factions (Tosa, Chōshū, Saga and Satsuma)

[@Deltaflot1701]

1:50 I let my google translate app read what was on the. I guess it's appropriate for the situation :D

[@MechWarrior894]

I managed to avoid all of this playing China in Victoria 2 and unities the country in 1850. No Boxers, no Taiping, no nothing.

[@RyanEglitis]

Proving that the only drug war you can win is a war FOR drugs.

[@oenrn]

Oh yes, the 19th century, when Britain collectively decided "I'm going to be a dick to literally the entire planet".

[@Rowlph8888]

Not really, try from 1600+ Don't forget The East India company, pre-colonial America, the Caribbean, Australia, et cetera, starting way before the 19th century

[@ChrisCrossClash]

Well you have to be a dick to become the biggest empire in History.

[@ElladanKenet]

Official: Sir, they're STILL dumping the opium Palmerstone: SWIGGITY SWOOTY

[@youtubeuser1820]

Do the 3 caliphates history (Rashidun, Umayyad and Abbasids)

[@Roter_Oktober]

Love your Videos!

[@ThePostalGril]

the amount of wars britain waged across the globe just so they could drink tea is hilarious, i can't even be mad at the empire

[@d0fabur5st82]

Europe: loots China China 150 years later: _its our turn_

[@Rahm-Umbra]

China is nothing without Western market

[@brycewalker3726]

And how are they going to do that with their pitiful military?

[@AndrewPonti]

I think "Prince Gong" is an amazing name!

[@thunderbird1921]

What a nice brother the emperor was! "Hey bro, listen, I started this huge war and tortured the opponents' diplomats. They're coming here to get revenge, and well, I'm in danger. So, I'm fleeing the city, you handle them, okay? See ya!"

[@stc2828]

@@thunderbird1921 Funny, since the Chinese at that time still had huge ego and believed the invading foreigners are the real barbarians and deserved no right.

[@IsaiahRichards692]

Sir, they killed most of the envoys after torturing them! Earl of Elgin: Ah screw it, just burn ‘em all! But, sir- Earl of Elgin: I said burn ‘em all!!!

[@GodConsciousness]

Oh boy...China's Century of Humiliation.

[@rockstar450]

Just stumbled across this I fucking love your channel

[@_bulldogzrl_9471]

bring back ten minute videos

[@iamspamus8784]

Good one. You need a Taiping Rebellion one!!!

[@state_song_xprt]

I love that China's background is a sign reading "China China China China China China"

[@Mike-mc3ty]

1:30 the royal navy didn’t have ironclads. The British only built HMS Warrior in 1860

[@Gabriel-ip6me]

Ah, ironclads, hard drugs and free trade. Those were the days...

[@egegezici]

hope u will cover the boxer rebellion sometime

[@youtubeaccount6539]

“Buy our heroin.” “No?” “You’re evil, prepare to die.”

[@TheHoagie13]

*_"Happy Birthday Big Brother!!! [Eric H.]"_*