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Historical events of the late Qing Dynasty
A total of 18 entries 7661 read
Jia Dao is in decline
The decline of jiadao refers to the decline of the Qing dynasty after qianlong, the government of the government has been corrupted, the armament is in ruin, and the national treasury is empty. In the twenty-second year of Daoguang (1842), the Qing Dynasty was defeated in the First Opium War with Britain, which opened the prelude to the invasion of China by Western colonialism, and the country's power further declined.
The First Opium War
The beginning of Modern Chinese History
Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement
Peasant revolt war at the end of the Qing Dynasty
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The amendment failed
Erkin: British Plenipotentiary The culprit in the burning of the Yuanmingyuan
After the First Opium War, the Western capitalist powers invaded China one after another. However, they are not satisfied with the privileges and interests they have already gained, and deliberately step up their violations of China's sovereignty and engage in economic plunder.
In 1854, the Treaty of Nanking expired twelve years. The British misinterpreted the provisions of the Sino-US "Wangxia Treaty" that trade and sea surface paragraphs could be slightly changed after twelve years, invoked most-favored-nation treatment, and proposed to the Qing government a comprehensive revision of the Treaty of Nanking. The main contents are: opening up trade throughout China, legalizing the opium trade, exempting import and export goods from sub-tariffs, and foreign envoys stationed in Beijing. France and the United States have also separately demanded that the treaty be amended. The Qing government refused, and the negotiations were fruitless. In 1856, the Treaty of Wangxia expired for twelve years. The United States, with the support of Britain and France, once again put forward a request for a comprehensive revision of the treaty, but it was still rejected by the Qing government. As a result, the Western powers were determined to launch a new war of aggression against China.
After the Taiping Rebellion broke out in 1851, the great powers saw this as a good time to step up their efforts to extract benefits from China. After the First Opium War, xenophobic activities among the people of Guangdong occurred from time to time. At that time, Ye Mingchen, the governor of Liangguang and minister of trade and commerce of the five ports, adopted a tacit attitude and ignored all foreign complaints.
The world situation
Between 1853 and 1856, the Crimean War broke out between the Ottoman Empire (1299-1922), Britain, France and Russia. Tsarist Russia was defeated and turned to the East in an attempt to compensate for its losses by invading China. The British and French victories were able to transfer more troops to China. The United States, on the other hand, has actively expanded outward and adopted a policy of colluding with Britain and France to invade China.
In 1857, there was a great national uprising in India, and after the defeat, India completely became a British colony. Seeing Britain's success in the East, France also began to seek colonies in Indochina.
fuse
The Yaro Incident
The British side depicted Chinese's rough behavior on the Alor
In October 1856, the British colonialists used the "Yarrow Incident" to create a pretext for war. The Yarrow was a Chinese vessel that had been registered with british authorities in Hong Kong for smuggling convenience, but had expired. On October 8, the Guangdong Marine Division arrested several pirates and suspected sailors on the "Yaro", which was supposed to be a purely Chinese internal affair and had nothing to do with the British. However, the British acting consul in Guangzhou, Pasha Li, under the instructions of The British Minister in China and the Governor of Hong Kong, Bao Ling, sent a letter to Ye Mingchen, the Governor of Qing liangguang, saying that the "Yaluo" was a British ship, fabricating that the Chinese soldiers had insulted the British flag flying on the ship, demanding that those arrested be returned and apologizing. Ye Mingchen argued on the basis of reason, had a tough attitude, and did not compensate or apologize, but only promised to release people. On October 23, 1856, the British army began to operate, and within three days, the forts inside the Tiger Gate were occupied. On the 27th, British ships shelled the city of Guangzhou. On the 29th, the British army invaded the city, plundered the Guangzhou Governor's Office and withdrew. In December, the Foreign Company Washikan was destroyed and reduced to ashes. A British mail ship sailing from Guangzhou to Hong Kong was hijacked. In January 1857, the British army burned thousands of houses near foreign companies, and later withdrew from the Pearl River river due to insufficient troops to wait for reinforcements.
The Father Horse Incident
The killing of Shapredena (Malai, pictured) was one of the triggers
In order to expand the war of aggression, the British government appointed the former Governor-General of Canada, Erkin, as plenipotentiary in March 1857 to lead a naval and army army to China, and at the same time made a request to the French government for a joint army. Previously, France was negotiating with the Qing government with the "Ma Shenfu Incident" (also known as the "Xilin Teaching Case"). The so-called "Father Ma Incident" refers to the fact that the French Catholic priest Ma Lai violated the Sino-French Whampoa Treaty and entered the Chinese mainland on his own. However, in February 1856, Ma Lai was executed by Zhi County, Xilin County, Guangxi Province, without sending the captured French to the French consulate in accordance with his treaty obligations. In 1857, the French government used this as an excuse to appoint Groy as plenipotentiary and join forces with Britain to invade China. In addition, although Britain and France united with the United States, the United States only supported it diplomatically. Russian diplomatic representatives, who had earlier entered Beijing as guardians of the Orthodox Order, later appeared as mediators to take advantage of the opportunity.
process
The course of the Second Opium War can be divided into the "First Anglo-French Battle" and the "Second Anglo-French Battle". The first Anglo-French Battle was from the outbreak of war in 1856 to the signing of the Treaty of Tianjin in 1858 when the Coalition army arrived in the waters near Tianjin, and the second Battle of the Anglo-French Coalition army was from the outbreak of the first Battle of Dagukou in 1858 to the signing of the Treaty of Beijing in 1860.
Battle of Canton
Qing cavalry in the Battle of Zhangjiawan
In 1856, under the pretext of the Guangdong Marine Division, the Guangdong Marine Division captured the pirates on the Chinese ship "Yaluo" in Huangpu, Guangzhou, and sent troops to attack Guangzhou. Under the pretext that the French Catholic priest Ma Lai was killed in Xilin, Guangxi, France also sent troops to invade China.
In December 1856, more than 5,600 British and French invading troops (including 1,000 French troops) assembled at the mouth of the Pearl River to prepare for a major attack. American Minister Lehillian and Russian Minister Putiating also arrived in Hong Kong and conspired with Britain and France to invade China. On December 12, Erjin and Ge Luo issued ultimatums to Ye Mingchen limited to 10 days. At this time, the Qing government was making all-out efforts to suppress the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and the Twist army uprising, coupled with the "difficulty of paying rice", and adopted the policy of "stopping the troops as the most important" against foreign invaders. Ye Mingchen faithfully carried out the policies of the Qing government and did not fight and defend. On 28 December, the Anglo-French forces shelled Canton and landed on the city. Du Tonglai Cun, Qianzong Deng Anbang and other troops stubbornly resisted, and the next day they were lost. The Inspector of Guangdong, Bai Gui, and the General of Guangzhou, Mukdene, surrendered, and under the supervision of the "Joint Forces Committee" headed by Pasha Li, they continued to hold their original posts for the enemy to drive. Ye Mingchen was captured and sent to Calcutta, India. During the occupation of Guangzhou by the invading forces, the local people waged an indomitable anti-imperialist struggle. The righteous people near Guangzhou set up a regiment training bureau in Foshan Town, gathered tens of thousands of people, and insulted and killed the enemy. Patriots in Hong Kong, Macao and other countries also went on strike in protest.
In March 1858, the envoys of the four countries went to Shanghai together. He Guiqing, the governor of Liangjiang, demanded that they return to Guangdong. However, the envoys of the four countries decided to assemble warships and go north to Tianjin. Arrived at the mouth of the White River in mid-April.
The First Battle of Takukou
In April 1858, the envoys of Britain, France, Russia, and the United States led ships to the outside of Dagukou one after another, and sent a note to the Qing government, asking that the minister plenipotentiary be appointed to negotiate within six days. The notes from Russia and the United States also expressed their willingness to act as "mediators." On the one hand, the Xianfeng Emperor ordered the Qing army to fortify Tianjin and Dagu, and on the other hand, he sent the governor Tan Tingxiang, who was directly subordinate to him, as the minister of Chincha, to Negotiate in Dagu, and pinned his hopes on the so-called "mediation" of the Russian and American ministers. The British and French aggressors did not have the sincerity to negotiate, but only used this delay to step up military preparations. On May 20, 1858, the British and French troops shelled the Tagu Fort, and the Qing troops stationed at the forts rose up to fight back and fight the enemy. However, Tan Tingxiang and others had no fighting spirit, abandoned the defense and fled, and the fort facilities were poor, isolated and helpless, and Dagu fell. On the 26th, the Anglo-French army went up the White River, invaded the outskirts of Tianjin, and threatened to attack Beijing. On June 13, the Qing government hurriedly sent another university scholar Guiliang and the official Shangshu Hua Shana as ministers of Chincha and rushed to Tianjin to negotiate peace. Under the threat and intimidation of the British and French aggressors, Guiliang and others signed the "Tianjin Treaty" with Russia, Britain, France, and the United States.