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Opium Wars
The Opium wars began when China attempted to stop Britain from illegally smuggling opium from India to China. Britain was not granted free trade with China but wanted money so very larger amounts of opium were being smuggled into China. China fought with Britain from 1839 to 1842 when Britain was declared the winner. At the end of the war Britain gained a large amount of money and control of Hong Kong in the Treaty of Nanjing -
Sepoy Rebellion
The Sepoy Rebellion was launched by sepoys (Indian warriors) against Britain. The Sepoys were subdued within the year by the British military. The rebellion lead to parliament tightening control of India to prevent future rebellions -
Suez Canal
The Suez canal is the canal that connects the Red Sea to the Mediteranean Sea through Egypt. The canal allowed for much faster travel to India because there was no longer a need to travel all the way around Africa. The Suez Canal was primarily funded by France but soon after completion Britain took over so they could access India more easily for Opium smuggling. -
Open Door Policy
Countries in Europe were fighting over trading rights with China and breaking China up intop sections but the US was too far away to claim any land in China so they proposed the open door policy. They policy allowed for equal trade between China and the rest if the world without dividing China into trading sections -
Boer War
The Boers, Dutch settlers in Africa, started the war with Britain because they disagreed with the way Britain was dividing their land. The war lasted from October 1899 to May 1902 ending with the great treck. The British won the war forcing over 1000 boers to leave their homes in Southern Africa to escape the British -
Boxer Rebellion
Beijing had been split into different sections different groups of people and on November 2nd a group from the Chinese section of Beijing laid seige to the European section as a sign of protest. The Chinese governmentb let the seuge happen and did not attempt to intervene forcing Europeans to come in and settle the situation on their own. -
Revolution of 1911
The Revolution of 1911 occured when a group of Chinese in favor of a more modern, independent republic rebelled against the Qing dynasty. The Chinese rebellion worked. They managed to destroy the dynastic cycle and end the Qing dynasty in favor of a new democracy
