The First and Second Opium wars were two conflicts that took place in the 19th century between the British Empire and China regarding the control of the opium trade.
UK used smuggling techniques, in order to introduce illegaly large quantities of opium in China. In fact, UK ended up becoming the major supplier in Chinese territories through these techniques. These conflicts weakened the Qing's dinasty that had to direct their trade to different territories after the confrontation.
