On June 28, 1840, the First Opium War broke out.

In 1840, the British government sent troops to invade China under the pretext of "protecting the ports of commerce". In June, the British fleet reached the sea of Guangzhou, which was heavily defended under the leadership of Lin Zexu, so that the British army had no chance to take advantage of the situation; they attacked Xiamen, which was also repulsed. Later, the British took advantage of Zhejiang defense is empty, captured Dinghai, and coastal north to capture the Tianjin seaport Dagu. The Qing government was foreign guns and cannons scared out of their wits, Lin Zexu dismissed and sent the main surrender of the Governor of Zhili Qishan instead of Lin Zexu to Guangdong as Minister of the Imperial Household.

In February 1841, British troops took advantage of Qishan's withdrawal of war preparations, captured the Humen of Guangzhou, and in May captured Mudcheng, the Sifang Fortress, and shelled Guangzhou. in August, the British expanded the war of aggression and captured Xiamen. The next year, the British attacked downstream along the Yangtze River, captured Wusong in June, captured Zhenjiang in July, and invaded Nanjing.

The corrupt Qing government surrendered to the invaders on bended knee, and in August 1842, signed the humiliating Treaty of Nanjing. Since then, the imperialists stepped up their military, political, economic and cultural aggression, control and plunder of China, causing the gradual disintegration of China's feudal society, which had lasted for thousands of years, into a semi-colonial and semi-feudal society.

The trigger

In July 1839, the Lam Wai Hei case occurred in Tsim Sha Tsui village in Kowloon. British sailors were drunk and disorderly in the village and killed a villager, Lam Wai Hei. The Lam Wai Hei case became the trigger for the Opium War.

Early in August 1839, the news of China's smoking ban reached Britain, the British Parliament debated the issue, and under the influence of Queen Victoria, military action was finally approved by a vote of 271 to 262. October 1, the British Cabinet made a decision to "send a fleet to the China Sea".

In February 1840, the British government appointed Yi Lü and Yi Lü as plenipotentiaries, and Yi Lü as the commander-in-chief of the British forces invading China. in April, the British Parliament formally passed a resolution to start the war and sent troops to invade China. In June of the same year, more than 40 British ships and 4,000 soldiers led by YiLu arrived at the sea of China, marking the official start of the First Opium War.

It can also be said that Lin Zexu's anti-smoking campaign was the direct cause of the outbreak of the Opium War. The root cause was that after the Industrial Revolution, Britain was determined to open the door of China by force in order to seize the source of raw materials and the consumer market and to carry out a policy of colonial expansion.

The above references? China's military network - June 28, 1840 The First Opium War broke out