Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Tables
- List of Figures
- Poem by the late Mr Qin Esheng
- Foreword by Professor Wang Gungwu
- Foreword by Professor C. A. Bayly
- Preface
- Part I The confusion of imperialism
- Part II The pretext for imperialism
- Part III The personalities of imperialism
- Part IV The rhetoric of imperialism
- Part V The mechanics of imperialism
- Part VI The economics of imperialism
- Part VII The dynamics of imperialism
- Chronology of major events
- Word list
- Abbreviations
- Bibliography
- Index
Part VII - The dynamics of imperialism
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 29 September 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Tables
- List of Figures
- Poem by the late Mr Qin Esheng
- Foreword by Professor Wang Gungwu
- Foreword by Professor C. A. Bayly
- Preface
- Part I The confusion of imperialism
- Part II The pretext for imperialism
- Part III The personalities of imperialism
- Part IV The rhetoric of imperialism
- Part V The mechanics of imperialism
- Part VI The economics of imperialism
- Part VII The dynamics of imperialism
- Chronology of major events
- Word list
- Abbreviations
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
The final decision to wage war on China was made in London. The pivotal consideration was to make the Chinese government legalize the contraband opium trade and to expand legitimate British trade in China. A peaceful means to this end having been rejected by the Chinese authorities three months earlier, the British government resorted to violence. This was the ultimate origin of the Arrow War. Why has it been so difficult to come to this conclusion? –the dynamics of imperialism, so dynamic that it has proved exceedingly hard to track down, in the words of Professor Wang Gungwu, ‘the beast’. Let us now condense these findings to see how we have come to pinpoint the real origins of the war and if we have provided a logical framework within which to explain this phenomenon.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Deadly DreamsOpium and the Arrow War (1856–1860) in China, pp. 455 - 456Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1998