Second Opium War

1856–1860 war between British–French forces and China

"Arrow War" redirects here. For the Korean film, see War of the Arrows.

Second Opium War

Part of the Opium Wars

Palikao's bridge, on the evening of The Battle of Palikao, by Émile Bayard
| Date| 8 October 1856 - 24 October 1860

|

Location|

China

Result|  Allied victory (see § Aftermath)
Territorial
changes|

* Kowloon Peninsula and Stonecutters Island ceded to United Kingdom as part of Hong Kong
* Outer Manchuria ceded to Russian Empire

Belligerents

* United Kingdom
* France
* United States

* * *

Russia|  Qing dynasty
Commanders and leaders

* Queen Victoria
* Lord Palmerston
* Lord Derby
* Michael Seymour
* Charles Straubenzee
* James Grant
* Napoleon III
* Rigault de Genouilly
* Charles Montauban
* Franklin Pierce
* James Buchanan
* John C. Breckinridge
* Andrew Hull Foote
* Josiah Tattnall III

* * *

* Alexander II
* Alexander Chernyshyov
* Alexey Fyodorovich Orlov
* Philipp von Brunnow

* Xianfeng Emperor
* Prince Gong
* Ye Mingchen
* Sengge Rinchen

Strength

* British: 13,127[1]
* French: 7,000[2]

|  7,400 [citation needed]
(Eight Banners and Green Standard Army)
Casualties and losses

United Kingdom

* 134 killed, 642 wounded
* 3 gunboats sunk
* 3 gunboats grounded
* 1 launch destroyed
* 1 gunboat damaged[citation needed]

France

* 25+ killed, 146+ wounded[citation needed]

United States

* 11 killed, 23 wounded
* 2 sloops damaged
* 1 launch damaged[citation needed]

Qing dynasty

* 2,100–2,801 killed and wounded
* 2,100 captured
* 10+ forts captured
* 736 guns and artillery pieces captured
* 99–109+ war junks captured or destroyed[citation needed]

1 The U.S. was officially neutral, but later aided the British in the Battle of the Barrier Forts (1856) and the Battle of Taku Forts (1859).[3]

* v
* t
* e

Second Opium War

* 1st Canton
* French Folly Fort
* Bogue
* Barrier Forts
* Macao Fort
* Escape Creek
* Fatshan Creek
* 2nd Canton
* 1st Taku Forts
* 2nd Taku Forts
* 3rd Taku Forts
* Zhangjiawan
* Palikao

The Second Opium War (simplified Chinese: 第二次鸦片战争; traditional Chinese: 第二次鴉片戰爭), also known as the Second Anglo-Chinese War, the Second China War, the Arrow War, or the Anglo-French expedition to China, (simplified Chinese: 英法联军之役; traditional Chinese: 英法聯軍之役) [4][full citation needed] was a colonial war lasting from 1856 to 1860, which pitted United Kingdom, France, and the United States against the Qing dynasty of China.

It was the second major conflict in the Opium Wars, which were fought over the right to import opium to China, and resulted in a second defeat for the Qing dynasty and the forced legalisation of the opium trade. It caused many Chinese officials to believe that conflicts with the Western powers were no longer traditional wars, but part of a looming national crisis.[5]

In 1860, British and French troops landed near Beijing at the Taku Forts, where they had fought for control twice before, and fought their way into the city. Peace negotiations quickly broke down and the British High Commissioner to China ordered the foreign troops to loot and destroy the Imperial Summer Palace, a complex of palaces and gardens at which Qing Dynasty emperors handled affairs of state.

During and after the Second Opium War, the Qing government was also forced to sign treaties with Russia, such as the Treaty of Aigun and the Convention of Peking. As a result, China ceded more than 1.5 million square kilometres (0.58 million square miles) of territory to Russia in its north-east and north-west. With the conclusion of the war, the Qing government was able to concentrate on countering the Taiping Rebellion and maintaining its rule.[6] Among other things, the Convention of Peking ceded the Kowloon Peninsula to the British as part of Hong Kong.

## Names

[edit]

The terms "Second War" and "Arrow War" are both used in literature. "Second Opium War" refers to one of Britain's strategic objectives, legalizing the opium trade.[7] China's defeat also opened up all of China to British merchants, and exempted foreign imports from internal transit duties. "Arrow War" refers to the name of the vessel which became the starting point of the conflict.[8]

## Prelude

[edit]

The war followed on from the First Opium War. In 1842, the Treaty of Nanking granted an indemnity and extraterritoriality to Britain, the opening of five treaty ports, and the cession of Hong Kong Island. The failure of the treaty to satisfy British goals of improved trade and diplomatic relations led to the Second Opium War (1856–1860).[9] In China, the First Opium War is considered to have been the beginning of modern Chinese history.[10][11][12]

Between the two wars, repeated acts of aggression against British subjects led in 1847 to the Expedition to Canton which assaulted and took, by a coup de main, the forts of the Bocca Tigris resulting in the spiking of 879 guns.[13]: 501

## Outbreak

[edit]

The Illustrated London News print of the steamship Ly-ee-moon, built for the opium trade, c. 1859

The 1850s saw the rapid growth of Western imperialism. Some of the shared goals of the Western powers were the expansion of their overseas markets and the establishment of new ports of call. The French Treaty of Huangpu, and the American Wangxia Treaty, both contained clauses allowing renegotiation of the treaties after 12 years of being in effect. In an effort to expand its privileges in China, Britain demanded that the Qing authorities renegotiate the Treaty of Nanjing (signed in 1842), citing its most favoured nation status. The British demands included opening all of China to British merchant companies, the legalising of the opium trade, the exemption of foreign imports from internal transit duties, the suppression of piracy, the regulation of the coolie trade, permission for a British ambassador to reside in Beijing, and that the English-language version of all treaties takes precedence over the Chinese language one.[14][dead link]

### The Arrow Incident

[edit]

To give Chinese merchant vessels operating around treaty ports the same privileges accorded to British ships by the Treaty of Nanjing, British authorities granted the vessels British registration in Hong Kong. In October 1856, Chinese marines in Canton seized a cargo ship called the Arrow on suspicion of piracy, arresting twelve of its fourteen Chinese crew members. The Arrow, which had previously been used by pirates, was captured by the Chinese government and subsequently resold. It was then registered as a British ship and still flew the British flag at the time of its detention, though its registration had expired. Its captain, Thomas Kennedy, who was aboard a nearby vessel at the time, reported seeing Chinese marines pull the British flag down from the ship.[15] The British consul in Canton, Harry Parkes, contacted Ye Mingchen, imperial commissioner and Viceroy of Liangguang, to demand the immediate release of the crew, and an apology for the alleged insult to the flag. Ye released nine of the crew members but refused to release the other three.[citation needed]

### First Battle of Canton (1856)

[edit]

Main article: Battle of Canton (1856)

On 23 October, the British destroyed four barrier forts. On 25 October, a demand was made that the British be allowed to enter Canton. The next day, the British began to bombard the city, firing one shot every 10 minutes. Ye Mingchen issued a bounty on every British head taken. On 29 October, the Royal Navy blasted a hole in the poorly defended and inadequate city walls.[16] The troops entered Canton, with the flag of the United States being planted on the walls and residence of Ye Mingchen by James Keenan, the U.S. Consul.[17][page needed] Losses were three killed and 12 wounded. Negotiations failed and the city was bombarded. On 6 November, 23 war junks attacked and were destroyed.[18][better source needed] There were pauses for talks, with the British bombarding at intervals, causing fires. On 5 January 1857, the British returned to Hong Kong.[17][page needed]

On 3 March 1857, the British government lost a Parliamentary vote regarding the Arrow incident and what had taken place at Canton to the end of the previous year. This defeat led to a general election in April 1857 which increased the government's majority.[19][page needed]

In April, the British government asked the United States of America and Russia if they were interested in alliances, but both parties rejected the offer.[17][page needed] In May 1857, the Indian Mutiny became serious, and British troops destined for China were diverted to India.[13][page needed] which was considered the priority issue.[citation needed]

### Intervention of France

[edit]

The execution of the Paris Foreign Missions Society missionary Auguste Chapdelaine was the official cause of the French involvement in the Second Opium War.

France joined the British action against China, prompted by complaints from their envoy, Baron Jean-Baptiste-Louis Gros, over the execution of a French missionary, Auguste Chapdelaine,[20] by Chinese local authorities in Guangxi province, which at that time was not open to foreigners.[21]

The British and the French joined forces under Admiral Sir Michael Seymour. In late 1857, a joint British and French army attacked and occupied Canton (today Guangzhou). A joint committee of the Alliance was formed. The Allies left the city governor at his post in order to maintain order on behalf of the victors. The British-French alliance maintained control of Canton for nearly four years.[citation needed]

The coalition then cruised north to briefly capture the Taku Forts near Tianjin in May 1858.[citation needed]

### Intervention of the US and Russia

[edit]

The United States and Russia sent envoys to Hong Kong to offer military help to the British and French, though in the end Russia sent no military aid.[14]

The U.S. was involved in a minor concurrent conflict during the war, though it ignored the UK's offer of alliance and did not coordinate with the Anglo-French forces. In 1856, the Chinese garrison at Canton shelled a United States Navy steamer,[18][better source needed] and the U.S. Navy retaliated in the Battle of the Pearl River Forts. The ships bombarded then attacked the river forts near Canton, taking them. Diplomatic efforts were renewed afterwards, and the American and Chinese governments signed an agreement for U.S. neutrality in the Second Opium War.[citation needed]

### Second battle of Canton (1857)

[edit]

Main article: Battle of Canton (1857)

The capture of Ye Mingchen after the fall of Canton

Throughout 1857, British forces began to assemble in Hong Kong, joined by a French force. In December 1857 they had sufficient ships and men to raise the issue of the non-fulfilment of the treaty obligations by which the right of entry into Canton had been accorded.[13]: 502 [better source needed] Parkes delivered an ultimatum, supported by Hong Kong governor Sir John Bowring and Admiral Sir Michael Seymour, threatening on 14 December to bombard Canton if the men were not released within 24 hours.[17][page needed] [22]

The remaining crew of the Arrow were then released, with no apology from Viceroy Ye Mingchen who also refused to honour the treaty terms. Seymour, Major General van Straubenzee and Admiral de Genouilly agreed the plan to attack Canton as ordered.[13]: 503 This event came to be known as the Arrow Incident and provided the alternative name of the ensuing conflict.[23][page needed]

British troops taking a fort in 1860

Though the British were delayed by the Indian Rebellion of 1857, they followed up the Arrow Incident in 1856 and attacked Guangzhou from the Pearl River. Viceroy Ye Mingchen ordered all Chinese soldiers manning the forts not to resist the British incursion. After taking the fort near Canton with little effort, the British Army attacked Canton.[citation needed]

The capture of Canton, on 1 January 1858,[17][page needed] a city with a population of over 1,000,000[24][page needed] by less than 6,000 troops, resulted in the British and French forces suffering 15 killed and 113 wounded. 200–650 of the defenders and inhabitants became casualties.[citation needed] Ye Mingchen was captured and exiled to Calcutta, India, where he starved himself to death.[25]

Meanwhile, in Hong Kong, there was a possible attempt to poison John Bowring and his family in January, known as the Esing Bakery incident. However, if it was deliberate, the baker who had been charged with lacing bread with arsenic bungled the attempt by putting an excess of the poison into the dough, such that his victims vomited sufficient quantities of the poison that they had only a non-lethal dose left in their system. Criers were sent out with an alert, preventing further injury.[26]

When known in Britain, the Arrow incident (and the British military response) became the subject of controversy. The British House of Commons on 3 March passed a resolution by 263 to 249 against the Government saying:

> That this House has heard with the concern of the conflicts which have occurred between the British and Chinese authorities on the Canton River; and, without expressing an opinion as to the extent to which the Government of China may have afforded this country cause of complaint respecting the non-fulfilment of the Treaty of 1842, this House considers that the papers which have been laid on the table fail to establish satisfactory grounds for the violent measures resorted to at Canton in the late affair of the Arrow, and that a Select Committee be appointed to inquire into the state of our commercial relations with China.[27][page needed]

In response, the Whig Prime Minister Lord Palmerston attacked the patriotism of the Whigs who sponsored the resolution, and Parliament was dissolved, causing the British general election of March 1857.[citation needed]

The Chinese issue figured prominently in the election, at which Palmerston won an increased majority, silencing the voices within the Whig faction who supported China. The new parliament decided to seek redress from China based on the report about the Arrow Incident submitted by Harry Parkes. The French Empire, the United States, and the Russian Empire received requests from Britain to form an alliance.[citation needed]

## Interlude

[edit]

### Treaties of Tianjin

[edit]

Signing of the Treaty of Tientsin in 1858

In June 1858, the first part of the war ended with the four Treaties of Tientsin (Tianjin), to which Britain, France, Russia, and the U.S. were parties. These treaties opened 11 more ports to Western trade. The Chinese initially refused to ratify the treaties.

The major points of the treaty were:

1. Britain, France, Russia, and the U.S. would have the right to establish diplomatic legations (small embassies) in Beijing (a closed city at the time)
2. Ten more Chinese ports would be opened for foreign trade, including Niuzhuang, Tamsui, Hankou, and Nanjing
3. The right of all foreign vessels including commercial ships to navigate freely on the Yangtze River
4. The right of foreigners to travel in the internal regions of China, which had been formerly banned
5. China was to pay an indemnity of four million taels of silver to Britain and two million to France.[28]

### Treaty of Aigun

[edit]

On 28 May 1858, the separate Treaty of Aigun was signed with Russia to revise the Chinese and Russian border as determined by the Nerchinsk Treaty in 1689. Russia gained the left bank of the Amur River, pushing the border south from the Stanovoy mountains. A later treaty, the Convention of Peking in 1860, gave Russia control over a non-freezing area on the Pacific coast, where Russia founded the city of Vladivostok in 1860.[29]

## Second phase (1858–1860)

[edit]

### Three battles of Taku Forts

[edit]

Cousin-Montauban leading French forces during the 1860 campaign Looting of the Old Summer Palace by Anglo-French forces in 1860 Ruins of the "Western style" complex in the Old Summer Palace, burnt down by Anglo-French forces

On 20 May, the British were successful at the First Battle of Taku Forts, but the peace treaty returned the forts to the Qing army.[citation needed]

In June 1858, shortly after the Qing imperial court agreed to the disadvantageous treaties, hawkish ministers prevailed upon the Xianfeng Emperor to resist Western encroachment. On 2 June 1858, the Xianfeng Emperor ordered the Mongol general Sengge Rinchen to guard the Taku Forts (also romanized as Ta-ku Forts and also called Daku Forts) near Tianjin. Sengge Rinchen reinforced the forts with additional artillery pieces. He also brought 4,000 Mongol cavalry from Chahar and Suiyuan.[citation needed]

The Second Battle of Taku Forts took place in June 1859. A British naval force with 2,200 troops and 21 ships, under the command of Admiral Sir James Hope, sailed north from Shanghai to Tianjin with newly appointed Anglo-French envoys for the embassies in Beijing. They sailed to the mouth of the Hai River guarded by the Taku Forts near Tianjin and demanded to continue inland to Beijing. Sengge Rinchen replied that the Anglo-French envoys might land up the coast at Beitang and proceed to Beijing but he refused to allow armed troops to accompany them to the Chinese capital. The Anglo-French forces insisted on landing at Taku instead of Beitang and escorting the diplomats to Beijing. On the night of 24 June 1859, a small group of British forces blew up the iron obstacles that the Chinese had placed in the Baihe River. The next day, the British forces sought to forcibly sail into the river, and shelled the Taku Forts. Low tide and soft mud prevented their landing, however, and accurate fire from Sengge Rinchen's cannons sank four gunboats and severely damaged two others. American Commodore Josiah Tattnall III, though under orders to maintain neutrality, declared "blood is thicker than water", and provided covering fire to protect the British convoy's retreat. The failure to take the Taku Forts was a blow to British prestige, and anti-foreign resistance reached a crescendo within the Qing imperial court.[30]

Once the Indian Mutiny was finally quelled, Sir Colin Campbell, commander-in-chief in India, was free to amass troops and supplies for another offensive in China. A 'soldiers' general', Campbell's experience of casualties from disease in the First Opium War led him to provide the British forces with more than enough materiel and supplies, and casualties were light.[31]

The Third Battle of Taku Forts took place in the summer of 1860. London once more dispatched Lord Elgin with an Anglo-French force of 11,000 British troops under General James Hope Grant and 6,700 French troops under General Cousin-Montauban. They pushed north with 173 ships from Hong Kong and captured the port cities of Yantai and Dalian to seal the Bohai Gulf. On 3 August they carried out a landing near Beitang (also romanized as "Pei-t'ang"), some 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) from the Taku Forts, which they captured after three weeks on 21 August.[citation needed]

Southern Chinese laborers served with the French and British forces. One observer reported that the "Chinese coolies", as he called them, "renegades though they were, served the British faithfully and cheerfully... At the assault of the Peiho Forts in 1860 they carried the French ladders to the ditch, and, standing in the water up to their necks, supported them with their hands to enable the storming party to cross. It was not usual to take them into action; they, however, bore the dangers of a distant fire with great composure, evincing a strong desire to close with their compatriots, and engage them in mortal combat with their bamboos."[32][better source needed]

### Burning of the Old Summer Palaces

[edit]

After taking Tianjin on 23 August 1860, the imperial emissary and word arrived that the British had kidnapped the prefect of Tianjin. Parkes was arrested in retaliation on 18 September.[33] Also captured were a number of British and French officers, Sikh soldiers, and a journalist from The Times. Parkes and the others were imprisoned, tortured, and interrogated.[34][page needed]

The prisoners had been tortured by having their limbs bound with rope until their flesh was lacerated and became infected with maggots, and by having dung and dirt forced into their throats. Several were executed by beheading, their corpses fed to animals. Captured coolies who had worked for the allies were buried up to their necks and left to dogs.[34][page needed]

British taking Beijing

The Anglo-French forces clashed with Sengge Rinchen's Mongol cavalry on 18 September at the battle of Zhangjiawan before proceeding toward the outskirts of Beijing for a decisive battle in Tongzhou (also romanized as Tungchow).[35] On 21 September, at Baliqiao (Eight Mile Bridge), Sengge Rinchen's 10,000 troops, including the elite Mongol cavalry, were annihilated after doomed frontal charges against concentrated firepower of the Anglo-French forces. The French army arrived at the Summer Palace outside Beijing on 6 October, followed by the British a day later.[34]: 276

With the Qing army devastated, the Xianfeng Emperor fled the capital and left behind his brother, Prince Gong, to take charge of peace negotiations. Xianfeng first fled to the Chengde Summer Palace and then to Rehe Province.[36] Anglo-French troops began looting the Summer Palace[37] (Yiheyuan) and Old Summer Palace (Yuanmingyuan) immediately (as they were full of valuable artwork).[38]

After the release of Parkes and the surviving prisoners on 8 October, the extent of their mistreatment became apparent. The destruction of the Forbidden City was discussed, as proposed by Lord Elgin, to discourage the Qing Empire from using kidnapping as a bargaining tool, and to exact revenge on the mistreatment of their prisoners.[39][page needed] However, an attack on Beijing was ruled out, as this had already been presented as threat for other terms. Elgin decided on burning the Summer Palace. In a letter, he explained that the burning of the palace was the punishment "which would fall, not on the people, who may be comparatively innocent, but exclusively on the Emperor, whose direct personal responsibility for the crime committed is established"[40]

On 18 October, British soldiers burnt the Old Summer Palace, the French refusing to assist. The razing of the buildings took two days, with imperial property in the vicinity also destroyed.[34]: 282 Most accounts say that the Old Summer Palace was burnt for three days and three nights.

## Awards

[edit]

This section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (January 2022) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

|

Second China War Medal, with Taku Forts 1860 bar. French medal of the China Campaign ("Médaille de la Campagne de Chine"), 1861, in the Musée de la Légion d'Honneur. The Chinese characters inscribed on the ribbons read 'Beijing'.

Both Britain (Second China War Medal) and France (Commemorative medal of the 1860 China Expedition) issued campaign medals. The British medal had the following clasps: China 1842, Fatshan 1857, Canton 1857, Taku Forts 1858, Taku Forts 1860, Peking 1860.

## Aftermath

[edit]

Main article: Convention of Peking

Qing flag seized by Anglo-French forces. The flag reads "親兵第五隊右營": Bodyguard, fifth squadron, right battalion (unit types are approximate), Les Invalides.

On 24 October, the emperor's brother, Prince Gong, conceded to the allied demands, the emperor having fled to Chengde on 22 September. British and French troops entered Beijing, where the Treaty of Tientsin was ratified by the Convention of Peking.[34]: 283–284

At the time,[nb 1] the largest encyclopedia ever compiled in world history was the 1408 Ming Dynasty Yongle Encyclopedia, most of which was looted or destroyed by foreign soldiers during the sack of Beijing, leaving only 3.5 percent surviving volumes today.[41][page range too broad][42] The British, French and—thanks to the schemes of Ignatiev—the Russians were all granted a permanent diplomatic presence in Beijing (something the Qing Empire resisted to the very end as it suggested equality between China and the European powers). The Chinese had to pay 8 million taels to Britain and France. Kowloon was ceded to the British owned Hong Kong. The opium trade was legalized and Christians were granted full civil rights, including the right to own property, and the right to evangelize.[citation needed]

The content of the Convention of Beijing included:

1. China's signing of the Treaty of Tianjin
2. Opening Tianjin as a trade port
3. Cede No.1 District of Kowloon (south of present-day Boundary Street) to Britain
4. Freedom of religion established in China
5. British ships were allowed to carry indentured Chinese to the Americas
6. Indemnity to Britain and France increasing to 8 million taels of silver apiece
7. Legalization of the opium trade

Two weeks later, Ignatiev forced the Qing government to sign a "Supplementary Treaty of Peking", which ceded the Maritime Provinces east of the Ussuri River (forming part of Outer Manchuria) to the Russians, who went on to found the port of Vladivostok between 1860 and 1861.[citation needed] The Anglo-French victory was heralded in the British press as a triumph for British Prime Minister Lord Palmerston, which made his popularity rise to new heights. British merchants were delighted at the prospects of the expansion of trade in the Far East. Other foreign powers were pleased with the outcome too, since they hoped to take advantage of the opening-up of China.[citation needed]

The defeat of the Qing army by a relatively small Anglo-French military force (outnumbered at least 10 to 1 by the Qing army) coupled with the flight (and subsequent death) of the Xianfeng Emperor, and the burning of the Summer Palace, was a shocking blow to the once powerful Qing Empire. "Beyond a doubt, by 1860 the ancient civilization that was China had been thoroughly defeated and humiliated by the West."[43] After the war, a major modernization movement, known as the Self-Strengthening Movement, began in China, and several institutional reforms were initiated.[citation needed] As the Qing government became increasingly obligated to pay indemnities and protect Westerners following its loss in the Second Opium War and given the Unequal Treaties, resistance to Qing rule increased.[44]: 181

The opium trade incurred intense opposition from the later British Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone.[45] As a member of Parliament, Gladstone called it "most infamous and atrocious", referring to the opium trade between China and British India in particular.[46] Gladstone was fiercely against both of the Opium Wars, was ardently opposed to the British trade in opium to China, and denounced British violence against Chinese.[47] Gladstone lambasted it as "Palmerston's Opium War" and said that he felt "in dread of the judgments of God upon England for our national iniquity towards China" in May 1840.[48] Gladstone made a famous speech in Parliament against the First Opium War,[49][50] criticising it as "a war more unjust in its origin, a war more calculated in its progress to cover this country with permanent disgrace".[51] His hostility to opium stemmed from the effects of the drug upon his sister Helen.[52] Due to his disgust at the First Opium War, brought on by Palmerston, Gladstone was initially reluctant to join the government of Robert Peel, but did so in 1841.[53]

Seven awards were made of the Victoria Cross, all for gallantry shown on 21 August 1860 by soldiers of the 44th Regiment of Foot and the 67th Regiment of Foot at the Battle of Taku Forts (1860) (see List of Victoria Cross recipients by campaign)

## Battle honours

[edit]

Médaille de la Campagne de Chine, as Awarded to a member of the 101st Infantry

The following regiments fought in the campaign:

* British and Empire
* Cavalry Brigade
* 1st King's Dragoon Guards
* Probyn's Sikh Horse (5th Horse – Pakistan)
* Fane's Mahratta Cavalry (19th Lancers – Pakistan)
* Infantry
* 1st Regiment of Foot (Scots – 2nd Battalion)
* 2nd Regiment of Foot (Queen's)
* 3rd Regiment of Foot (Buffs)
* 8th Regiment of Punjab Infantry (Punjab Regiment – 6th Battalion – Pakistan)
* 15th Ludhiana Sikhs (Sikh Regiment – 2nd Battalion – India)
* 19th Punjaub Infantry (Punjab Regiment – 5th Battalion – Pakistan)
* 23rd Punjab Pioneers (Sikh Light Infantry – India)
* 31st Regiment of Foot (Huntingdonshire)
* 44th Regiment of Foot (East Essex)
* 60th Regiment of Foot (King's Royal Rifles)
* 67th Regiment of Foot (South Hampshire)
* 99th Regiment of Foot (Lanarkshire)
* Royal Marines
* Artillery
* Royal Artillery
* Engineers
* Royal Engineers, no. 8 company
* Madras Sappers and Miners (Indian Army Corps of Engineers)
* French
* Cavalry
* Spahis
* Infantry
* fr:101e régiment d'infanterie
* 102e Régiment d'Infanterie de Ligne
* US
* Naval
* USS San Jacinto

## See also

[edit]

* China portal
* History portal
* British Empire portal
* France portal

* China–United Kingdom relations
* Imperialism in Asia
* Nian Rebellion
* Miao Rebellion (1854–73)
* Dungan Revolt (1862–77)
* Panthay Rebellion
* History of Beijing
* History of opium in China
* Taiping Rebellion

## References

[edit]

### Notes

[edit]

1. ^ until being surpassed by Wikipedia in 2007[citation needed]

### Citations

[edit]

1. ^ Frontier and Overseas Expeditions from India. Volume 6. Calcutta: Superintendent Government Printing. 1911. p. 446.
2. ^ Wolseley, G. J. (1862). Narrative of the War with China in 1860. London: Longman, Green, Longman, and Roberts. p. 1.
3. ^ Magoc, Chris J.; Bernstein, David (2016). Imperialism and Expansionism in American History. Volume 1. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO. p. 295\. ISBN 978-1-61069-430-8.
4. ^ Michel Vié, Histoire du Japon des origines a Meiji, PUF, p. 99\. ISBN 2-13-052893-7.
5. ^ Canada, Asia Pacific Foundation of. "The Opium Wars in China". Asia Pacific Curriculum. Retrieved 28 November 2021.
6. ^ "The Second Opium War". Historic UK. Retrieved 28 November 2021.
7. ^ Bickley, Gillian (19 April 2018). "Young American's first-hand account of second opium war". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
8. ^ He, Tao. "British Imperialism in China | Guided History". Boston University. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
9. ^ Tsang, Steve (2007). A Modern History of Hong Kong: 1841–1997. I.B. Tauris. p. 29\. ISBN 978-1-84511-419-0.
10. ^ "China's Road to Modernity: from Empire to Republic (1817-1949) (Hao Gao)". www.gale.com. Retrieved 10 October 2023.
11. ^ ""The Opium War" labeled as the beginning of modern China's history of humiliation". Ebrary. Retrieved 10 October 2023.
12. ^ Wu, Jihan (1 October 2018). "The Opium War and the Opening of China | World History". Retrieved 10 October 2023.
13. ^ a b c d Porter, Maj Gen Whitworth (1889). History of the Corps of Royal Engineers Vol I. Chatham: The Institution of Royal Engineers.
14. ^ a b "Opium Wars". www.mtholyoke.edu. Archived from the original on 19 October 2017. Retrieved 4 September 2018.
15. ^ Hanes & Sanello 2004, pp. 176–77.
16. ^ "Canton, China". 1920.
17. ^ a b c d e Wong, J. Y. (2002). Deadly Dreams: Opium and the Arrow War (1856–1860) in China. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-52619-7.
18. ^ a b "Bombardment at Canton". Morning Journal. 19 January 1857. p. 3.
19. ^ Rallings, Colin; Thrasher, Michael, eds. (2000), British Electoral Facts 1832–1999, Ashgate
20. ^ David, Saul (2007). Victoria's Wars: The Rise of Empire. London: Penguin Books. pp. 360–361. ISBN 978-0-14-100555-3.
21. ^ Hsü 2000, p. 206.
22. ^ Hevia 2003, pp. 32–33.
23. ^ Tsai, Jung-fang. [1995] (1995). Hong Kong in Chinese History: community and social unrest in the British Colony, 1842–1913. ISBN 0-231-07933-8
24. ^ "The Anglo-French Occupation of Canton, 1858–1861" (PDF). Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch.
25. ^ Hsü 2000, p. 207.
26. ^ John Thomson 1837–1921, "Chap on Hong Kong", Illustrations of China and Its People (London, 1873–1874)
27. ^ Speeches on Questions of Public Policy by Richard Cobden
28. ^ Ye Shen, Shirley; Shaw, Eric H. "The Evil Trade that Opened China to the West" (PDF). p. 197\. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 December 2011. Retrieved 21 September 2014.
29. ^ "About Vladivostok". forumvostok.ru. Retrieved 22 April 2024.
30. ^ Hsü 2000, pp. 212–213.
31. ^ Greenwood, ch. 12
32. ^ China: Being a Military Report on the North-eastern Portions of the Provinces of Chih-li and Shan-tung, Nanjing and Its Approaches, Canton and Its Approaches: Together with an Account of the Chinese Civil, Naval and Military Administrations, and a Narrative of the Wars Between Great Britain and China. Government Central Branch Press. 1884. p. 28.
33. ^ Albert H. Yee (1989). A People Misruled: Hong Kong and the Chinese Stepping Stone Syndrome. API Press. p. 59.
34. ^ a b c d e Hibbert, Christopher (1988). The Dragon Wakes. Penguin Book. ISBN 0-14-006646-2.
35. ^ Hsü 2000, pp. 214–215.
36. ^ Hsü 2000, p. 215.
37. ^ E. W. R. Lumby, "Lord Elgin and the Burning of the Summer Palace." History Today (July 1960) 10#7 pp 479–480.
38. ^ M'Ghee, Robert. (1862). How we got to Pekin: A Narrative of the Campaign in China of 1860, pp. 202–216.
39. ^ Endacott, G. B.; Carroll, John M. (2005) [1962]. A biographical sketch-book of early Hong Kong. Hong Kong University Press. ISBN 978-962-209-742-1.
40. ^ Elgin, James Earl of (2018). Letters and Journals of James, Eighth Earl of Elgin. [Place of publication not identified]: Outlook Verlag. p. 343\. ISBN 978-3-7340-5487-7.
41. ^ "Encyclopedias and Dictionaries". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 18 (15th ed.). 2007. pp. 257–286.
42. ^ "An Encyclopedia Finished in 1408 That Contained Nearly One Million Pages". 6 April 2011.
43. ^ Hsü 2000, p. 219.
44. ^ Driscoll, Mark W. (2020). The Whites Are Enemies of Heaven: Climate Caucasianism and Asian Ecological Protection. Duke University Press. doi:10.2307/j.ctv1931h82. ISBN 978-1-4780-1016-6. JSTOR j.ctv1931h82. S2CID 229542406.
45. ^ Kathleen L. Lodwick (2015). Crusaders Against Opium: Protestant Missionaries in China, 1874–1917. University Press of Kentucky. p. 86\. ISBN 978-0-8131-4968-4.
46. ^ Pierre-Arnaud Chouvy (2009). Opium: Uncovering the Politics of the Poppy. Harvard University Press. p. 9\. ISBN 978-0-674-05134-8.
47. ^ Dr Roland Quinault; Dr Ruth Clayton Windscheffel; Mr Roger Swift (2013). William Gladstone: New Studies and Perspectives. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. p. 238\. ISBN 978-1-4094-8327-4.
48. ^ Ms Louise Foxcroft (2013). The Making of Addiction: The 'Use and Abuse' of Opium in Nineteenth-Century Britain. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. p. 66\. ISBN 978-1-4094-7984-0.
49. ^ William Travis Hanes; Frank Sanello (2004). Opium Wars: The Addiction of One Empire and the Corruption of Another. Sourcebooks, Inc. p. 78\. ISBN 978-1-4022-0149-3.
50. ^ W. Travis Hanes III; Frank Sanello (2004). The Opium Wars: The Addiction of One Empire and the Corruption of Another. Sourcebooks. p. 88\. ISBN 978-1-4022-5205-1.
51. ^ Peter Ward Fay (2000). The Opium War, 1840–1842: Barbarians in the Celestial Empire in the Early Part of the Nineteenth Century and the War by which They Forced Her Gates Ajar. Univ of North Carolina Press. p. 290\. ISBN 978-0-8078-6136-3.
52. ^ Anne Isba (2006). Gladstone and Women. A&C Black. p. 224\. ISBN 978-1-85285-471-3.
53. ^ David William Bebbington (1993). William Ewart Gladstone: Faith and Politics in Victorian Britain. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. p. 108\. ISBN 978-0-8028-0152-4.

### Sources

[edit]

* Hanes, William Travis; Sanello, Frank (2004). Opium Wars: The Addiction of One Empire and the Corruption of Another. Sourcebooks. ISBN 978-1-4022-0149-3.
* Hevia, James Louis (2003). English lessons: the pedagogy of imperialism in nineteenth-century China. Durham: Duke University Press. ISBN 978-0-8223-3188-9.
* Hsü, Immanuel C. Y. (2000). The Rise of Modern China. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-512504-7.
* Dilip K. Basu (November 2014). "Copyright: Chinese Xenology and the Opium War: Reflections on Sinocentrism". The Journal of Asian Studies. 73: 927–940. doi:10.1017/S002191181400103X. S2CID 163105671.

## Further reading

[edit]

* Bickers, Robert A. (2011). The scramble for China: foreign devils in the Qing empire, 1800–1914. London: Allen Lane. ISBN 978-0-7139-9749-1.
* Beeching, Jack. The Chinese Opium Wars (1975), ISBN 0-15-617094-9
* Chan, May Caroline. "Canton, 1857." Victorian Review 36.1 (2010): 31–35.
* Fairbank, John King. Trade and Diplomacy on the China Coast: The Opening of the Treaty Ports, 1842-1854 (1953)
* Greenwood, Adrian (2015). Victoria's Scottish Lion: The Life of Colin Campbell, Lord Clyde. UK: History Press. p. 496\. ISBN 978-0-7509-5685-7.
* Leavenworth, Charles S. The Arrow War with China (1901) online free.
* Henry Loch, Personal narrative of occurrences during Lord Elgin's second embassy to China 1860, 1869.
* Lovell, Julia (2011). Opium War. London: Picador. ISBN 978-0-330-53785-8.
* Ringmar, Erik (2013). Liberal Barbarism: The European Destruction of the Palace of the Emperor of China. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-1-137-03160-0.
* Spence, Jonathan D. (2013). The search for modern China. New York: Norton. ISBN 978-0-393-93451-9.
* Wong, J. Y. (1998). Deadly dreams: opium, imperialism, and the Arrow War (1856–1860) in China. Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-55255-9.
* Wong, J. Y. "Harry Parkes and the 'Arrow War' in China," Modern Asian Studies (1975) 9#3 pp. 303–320.
* Wong, John Yue-wo. Deadly dreams: Opium and the Arrow war (1856–1860) in China (Cambridge UP, 2002).

## External links

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Second Opium War.

* Works related to China and the Attack on Canton at Wikisource

* v
* t
* e

Damage, destruction and looting of cultural heritage

Human-
caused|

| By location|

* Afghanistan
* Destruction of art
* Canada
* Monuments removed in 2020–2022
* Bangladesh
* Bangabandhu Memorial Museum
* China
* Destruction of the Four Olds
* Iran
* Disappeared statues in Tehran, 2010
* Iraq
* Archaeological looting
* Destruction of Mosul Museum artifacts
* Ireland
* Destruction of country houses, 1919–1923
* Israel
* Destruction of the Shrine of Husayn's Head
* Kosovo
* Destruction of Albanian heritage
* Destruction of Serbian heritage
* Middle East
* Damage in 21st-century conflicts
* Nigeria
* Benin Bronzes
* Palestine
* Destruction of cultural heritage during the 2023 Israeli invasion of Gaza
* Saudi Arabia
* Destruction of early Islamic heritage sites
* Spain
* Missing landmarks
* Syria
* Damage in the Syrian civil war
* Ukraine
* Demolition of monuments to Lenin
* Damage in the 2022 Russian invasion
* List of damaged sites from 2022 Russian invasion
* United Kingdom
* 20th-century destruction of country houses
* Demolished buildings and structures in London
* Churches destroyed in the Great Fire of London and not rebuilt
* Churches in the City of London
* Public art formerly in London
* United States
* Artwork damaged or destroyed in the September 11 attacks

|

By type|

* Attacks on museums
* Destruction of cultural heritage by the Islamic State
* Destroyed libraries
* Grave robbery
* Body snatching
* Landmarks destroyed or damaged by climate change
* Museums destroyed by war
* Napoleonic looting
* List
* Stolen and missing Moon rocks
* Tallest voluntarily demolished buildings

World War II|

* Art theft and looting
* Restitution claims
* Works by Vincent van Gogh
* Libraries
* Looting of Poland
* Destruction of Warsaw
* Nazi plunder

Natural|

* Library damage in the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake

* Archaeological looting
* Art destruction
* Book burning
* Iconoclasm
* Lost artworks
* Looted art
* Vandalism of art

* v
* t
* e

Qing dynasty topics

History|

| Early

(1616-1683)

* Jurchen unification
* Later Jin
* Seven Grievances
* Later Jin invasion of Joseon
* Qing invasion of Joseon
* Transition from Ming to Qing
* Battle of Shanhai Pass
* Great Clearance
* Battle of Penghu
* Revolt of the Three Feudatories

|

High Qing

(1683-1799)

* Sino-Russian border conflicts
* Dzungar–Qing Wars
* Chinese expedition to Tibet (1720)
* Chinese Rites controversy
* Ten Great Campaigns
* Miao Rebellion (1735–1736)
* Lhasa riot of 1750
* Revolt of the Altishahr Khojas
* Afaqi Khoja revolts
* Sino-Burmese War
* Lin Shuangwen rebellion
* Battle of Ngọc Hồi-Đống Đa
* Sino-Nepalese War
* Miao Rebellion (1795–1806)
* White Lotus Rebellion

19th century

(1801-1900)

* Eight Trigrams uprising of 1813
* First Opium War
* Dogra–Tibetan war (Sino-Sikh war)
* Taiping Rebellion
* Nian Rebellion
* Red Turban Rebellion (1854–1856)
* Small Swords Society
* Miao Rebellion (1854–1873)
* Nepal–Tibet War (1855–1856)
* Panthay Rebellion
* Second Opium War
* Punti–Hakka Clan Wars
* Amur Annexation
* Self-Strengthening Movement
* Tongzhi Restoration
* Dungan Revolt (1862–1877)
* Mudan incident
* Tianjin Massacre
* Margary Affair
* Japanese invasion of Taiwan (1874)
* Northern Chinese Famine
* Qing reconquest of Xinjiang
* Sino-French War
* Sikkim expedition
* Jindandao incident
* First Sino-Japanese War
* Gongche Shangshu movement
* Dungan Revolt (1895–1896)
* Hundred Days' Reform
* Third plague pandemic
* Boxer Rebellion
* Red Lanterns
* Eight-Nation Alliance
* Declaration of war

20th century

(1901-1912)

* Late Qing reforms
* British expedition to Tibet
* 1905 Batang uprising
* Preparative Constitutionalism
* 1909 Parliamentary election
* 1909 Provincial Assembly elections
* Chinese expedition to Tibet (1910)
* Manchurian plague
* Railway Protection Movement
* 1911 Revolution
* Wuchang Uprising
* Xinhai Lhasa turmoil
* Mongolian Revolution of 1911
* 1911 Revolution in Xinjiang
* Imperial Edict of the Abdication of Puyi
* Articles of Favourable Treatment
* Manchu Restoration

Government|

* Emperor
* List
* Family tree
* Advisory Council
* Amban
* Consultative Bureau
* Cup of Solid Gold
* Dates of establishment of diplomatic relations
* Da-Qing Bank
* Deliberative Council
* Diplomatic missions
* Flag of the Qing dynasty
* Grand Council
* Great Qing Legal Code
* Imperial Clan Court
* Imperial Commissioner
* Imperial Household Department
* Lifan Yuan
* Ministry of Posts and Communications
* Nine Gates Infantry Commander
* Provincial governor
* Provincial military commander
* Principles of the Constitution (1908)
* Royal and noble ranks of the Qing dynasty
* Ejen
* Administrative divisions
* Viceroys
* Zhili
* Shaan-Gan
* Liangjiang
* Huguang
* Sichuan
* Min-Zhe
* Liangguang
* Yun-Gui
* Three Eastern Provinces
* Zongli Yamen

Military|

* Beiyang Army
* Eight Banners
* Ever Victorious Army
* Green Standard Army
* Imperial Guards
* Firearm Battalion
* Peking Field Force
* New Army
* Hushenying
* Shuishiying
* Wuwei Corps
* Yong Ying
* Chu Army
* Huai Army
* Xiang Army
* Navy

Special regions|

* Inner Asia
* Manchuria
* Mongolia
* Administrative divisions
* Tibet
* Golden Urn
* List of ambans
* Xinjiang
* Timeline
* General of Ili
* Taiwan
* Guest House of Imperial Envoys

Palaces &
mausoleums|

* Chengde Mountain Resort
* Forbidden City
* Hetu Ala
* Mukden Palace
* Old Summer Palace
* Summer Palace
* Eastern Qing tombs
* Western Qing tombs
* Fuling Mausoleum
* Zhao Mausoleum (Qing dynasty)
* Imperial Tombs of the Ming and Qing Dynasties

Society &
culture|

* Booi Aha
* Changzhou School of Thought
* Complete Classics Collection of Ancient China
* Dibao
* Economy
* performance criticism
* Four Wangs
* History of Ming
* Kangxi Dictionary
* Kaozheng
* Literary inquisition
* Manchu Han Imperial Feast
* Peiwen Yunfu
* Pentaglot Dictionary
* Qing official headwear
* Qing poetry
* Complete Tang Poems
* Queue
* Researches on Manchu Origins
* Sacred Edict of the Kangxi Emperor
* Shamanism during the Qing dynasty
* Islam during the Qing dynasty
* Complete Library of the Four Treasuries
* Annotated Bibliography

Treaties

* Treaty of Kyakhta (1727)
* Treaty of Nerchinsk
* Unequal treaties
* Boxer Protocol
* Burlingame Treaty
* Chefoo Convention
* Convention Between Great Britain and China Respecting Tibet
* Convention for the Extension of Hong Kong Territory
* Convention of Peking
* Convention of Tientsin
* Li–Lobanov Treaty
* Sino-Portuguese Treaty of Peking
* Treaty of Aigun
* Treaty of the Bogue
* Treaty of Canton
* Treaty of Kulja
* Treaty of Nanking
* Treaty of Saint Petersburg (1881)
* Treaty of Shimonoseki
* Treaty of Tarbagatai
* Treaty of Tientsin
* Treaty of Wanghia
* Treaty of Whampoa

Currency|

| Coinage|

* Zhiqian
* Kangxi Tongbao
* Qianlong Tongbao
* Hongqian
* Great Qing Copper Coin
* Great Qing Gold Coin

|

Paper money|

* Great Qing Treasure Note
* Hubu Guanpiao
* Banknotes of the Da Qing Bank

Other topics|

* Aisin Gioro
* Anti-Qing sentiment
* Canton System
* Chuang Guandong
* Draft History of Qing
* History of Qing (People's Republic)
* Imperial hunt of the Qing dynasty
* Legacy of the Qing dynasty
* Manchu people
* Names of the Qing dynasty
* New Qing History
* Timeline of late anti-Qing rebellions
* Treaty ports
* Willow Palisade

* v
* t
* e

Armed conflicts involving the Armed Forces of the United States

Listed chronologically

Domestic|

* Shays' Rebellion
* Whiskey Rebellion
* Fries's Rebellion
* Turner's Rebellion
* Mormon War
* Dorr Rebellion
* Bleeding Kansas
* Utah War
* Harpers Ferry raid
* American Civil War
* American Indian Wars
* Brooks–Baxter War
* Range War
* Hamburg riot
* Lincoln County War
* Johnson County War
* Coal Creek War
* Homestead strike
* Pullman Strike
* Colorado Coalfield War
* Red Summer
* Battle of Blair Mountain
* Tulsa riot
* Bonus Army
* Puerto Rican revolts
* 1960s ghetto rebellions
* Kent State shootings
* 1992 Los Angeles riots
* 2020 racial unrest
* 2021 U.S. Capitol attack

Foreign|

* American Revolutionary War
* American-Algerian War (1785-1795)
* Quasi-War
* First Barbary War
* War of 1812
* Second Barbary War
* First Sumatran expedition
* Second Sumatran expedition
* Ivory Coast expedition
* Mexican–American War
* First Fiji expedition
* Second Opium War
* Second Fiji expedition
* Formosa Expedition
* Korean Expedition
* Spanish–American War
* Philippine–American War
* Boxer Rebellion
* Banana Wars
* Border War
* World War I
* Russian Civil War
* World War II
* Korean War
* Bay of Pigs Invasion
* Vietnam War
* Dominican Civil War
* Invasion of Grenada
* Lebanese Civil War
* Invasion of Panama
* Gulf War
* Somali Civil War
* Intervention in Haiti
* Bosnian War
* Kosovo War
* War in Afghanistan
* Iraq War
* War in North-West Pakistan
* First Libyan Civil War
* War against the Islamic State
* Iraq
* Syria
* Cameroon
* Libya
* Yemeni civil war

Related|

* Conflicts in the U.S.
* Wars involving the U.S.
* Timeline of U.S. military operations
* List of the lengths of United States participation in wars
* Territorial evolution
* Military history
* History of the Central Intelligence Agency
* Casualties of war
* Peace movement
* List of anti-war organizations
* Conscientious objector
* Cold War
* War on terror
* War crimes

* v
* t
* e

Colonial conflicts involving the English/British Empire

17th
century|

* Ireland (1593–1603)
* Virginia (1609–46)
* Swally (1612)
* Ormuz (1622)
* Saint Kitts (1626)
* Quebec (1628)
* Pequot War (1634–38)
* Irish Rebellion (1641)
* Confederate War (1641–53)
* Cromwellian conquest of Ireland (1649–53)
* Acadia (1654–67)
* Anglo-Spanish War (1654–60)
* Jamaica (1655–1739)
* 1st Tangier (1662)
* 2nd Tangier (1664)
* King Philip's War (1675–78)
* Child's War (1686–90)
* Siam (1687)
* Williamite War (1688–91)
* King William's War (1688–97)
* Ghana (1694–1700)

18th
century|

* Queen Anne's War (1702–13)
* Tuscarora War (1711–15)
* Yamasee War (1715–17)
* Father Rale's War/Dummer's War (1722–25)
* War of Jenkins' Ear (1740–42)
* King George's War (1744–48)
* Carnatic Wars (1746–63)
* Nova Scotia (1749–55)
* French and Indian War (1754–63)
* Seven Years' War (1756–63)
* Bengal War (1756–65)
* Anglo-Cherokee War (1758–61)
* Jamaica (1762)
* Anglo-Spanish War (1762–63)
* Pontiac's War (1763–66)
* Regulator Movement in North Carolina (1765–71)
* First Carib War (1769–73)
* Rohilkhand (1773–74)
* Lord Dunmore's War (1774)
* American Revolutionary War (1775–83)
* First Anglo-Maratha War (1775–82)
* Second Anglo-Mysore War (1779–84)
* Gold Coast (1781–82)
* Assam (1786)
* Australian frontier wars (1788–1934)
* Nootka Sound (1789)
* Third Anglo-Mysore War (1789–92)
* Cotiote (Wayanad) War (1793–1806)
* Rohilkhand (1794)
* Cape Colony (1795)
* Jamaica (1795–96)
* Grenada (1795–96)
* Ceylon (1795)
* Kandyan Wars (1796–1818)
* Irish Rebellion (1798)
* Malta (1798–1800)
* Fourth Anglo-Mysore War (1798–99)
* Dwyer's guerrilla campaign (1799–1803)
* Polygar Wars (1799–1805)

19th
century|

* Newfoundland (1800)
* Second Anglo-Maratha War (1803–05)
* Castle Hill convict rebellion (1804)
* Surinam (1804)
* Cape Colony (1806)
* Río de la Plata (1806–07)
* Egypt (1807)
* Froberg mutiny (1807)
* Santo Domingo (1808–09)
* Martinique (1809)
* Persian Gulf (1809)
* Guadeloupe (1810)
* Reunion (1810)
* Mauritius (1810)
* Seychelles (1810)
* Spice Islands (1810)
* Java (1810–11)
* Xhosa Wars (1811–79)
* USA (1812–15)
* Nepal (1814–16)
* Guadeloupe (1815)
* Cape Colony (1815)
* Algiers (1816)
* Third Anglo-Maratha War (1817–18)
* Persian Gulf (1819)
* Guiana (1823)
* Anglo-Ashanti wars (1824–1901)
* First Anglo-Burmese War (1824–26)
* Black War (Van Diemen's Land) (1828–32)
* Jamaica (1831–32)
* Malacca (1831–33)
* Lower Canada (1837–38)
* Upper Canada (1837–38)
* Aden Expedition (1839)
* Egyptian–Ottoman War (1839–41)
* First Anglo-Afghan War (1839–42)
* First Opium War (1839–42)
* New Zealand Wars (1845–72)
* First Anglo-Sikh War (1845–46)
* Río de la Plata (1845–50)
* Canton (1847)
* British Honduras (1847–1901)
* Ceylon (1848)
* Second Anglo-Sikh War (1848–49)
* Second Anglo-Burmese War (1852)
* Eureka Rebellion (1854)
* Åland War (1854–56)
* Anglo-Persian War (1856–57)
* Second Opium War (1856–60)
* Indian Rebellion (1857–59)
* Revolt of Rajab Ali (1857–58)
* Kagoshima (1863)
* Ambela campaign (1863–64)
* Shimonoseki (1864)
* Duar War (1864–65)
* Fenian Rebellion in Canada (1866–71)
* Abyssinia (1868)
* Manitoba (1870)
* Perak (1875–76)
* Anglo-Zulu War (1879)
* Second Anglo-Afghan War (1879–80)
* Basutoland (1880–81)
* First Boer War (1880–81)
* Mahdist War (1881–99)
* Anglo-Egyptian War (1882)
* Saskatchewan (1885)
* Third Anglo-Burmese War (1885)
* Central Africa (1886–89)
* Hazara (1888)
* Mashonaland (1890)
* Hunza–Nagar Campaign (1891)
* Anglo-Manipur War (1891)
* Pahang Uprising (1891–1895)
* Matabeleland (1893–94)
* North Borneo (1894–1905)
* Chitral Expedition (1895)
* Jameson Raid South Africa (1896)
* Anglo-Zanzibar War (1896)
* Matabeleland (1896–97)
* Benin Expedition (1897)
* Siege of Malakand (1897)
* First Mohmand campaign (1897–98)
* Tirah campaign (1897–98)
* Six-Day War (1899)
* Boxer Rebellion (1898–1901)
* Second Boer War (1899–1902)

20th
century|

* Somaliland (1900–20)
* West Africa (1901–02)
* Tibet expedition (1903–04)
* Bambatha Rebellion (1906)
* Maritz rebellion (1914–15)
* Tochi (1914–15)
* Nyasaland (1915)
* Nigeria (1915)
* Peshawar (1915)
* Mohmand (1916–17)
* Quebec (1917)
* Nigeria (1918)
* Third Anglo-Afghan War (1919)
* Waziristan campaign (1919–20)
* Iraqi Revolt (1920)
* Malabar rebellion (1921)
* Kurdistan (1922–24)
* Transjordan (1923)
* Pink's War (1925)
* Ikhwan revolt (1927–30)
* Tirah (1930–31)
* Barzani revolt (1931–32)
* Second Mohmand campaign (1935)
* Arab revolt in Palestine (1936–39)
* Waziristan campaign (1936–39)
* Ethiopia (1943)
* Jewish revolt in Palestine (1944–48)
* Indochina (1945–46)
* Indonesia (1945)
* Sarawak (1946–50)
* Malayan Emergency (1948–60)
* Kenya Emergency (1952–60)
* Oman (1954–59)
* Cyprus Emergency (1955–59)
* Suez Crisis (1956)
* Oman (1962–76)
* Brunei (1962)
* Sarawak (1962–90)
* Malaysia (1962–66)
* Aden (1963–67)
* Falklands (1982)

* v
* t
* e

French colonial conflicts

16th century|

| North America|

* South Carolina (1562)
* Florida (1562–65)
* Florida (1568)

|

South America|

* Brazil (1531)
* Brazil (1555–67)
* Brazil (1590–04)

|

17th century|

| Africa|

* Morocco (1629)
* Senegal (1659–77)
* Djidjelli (1664)
* Algiers (1682)
* Algiers (1683)
* Algiers (1688)

|

Americas|

* Beaver Wars (1609–1701)
* Brazil (1612–15)
* North America (1627–29)
* West Indies (1635–59)
* Carib Expulsion (1660)
* Texas (1685–89)
* King William's War (1689–97)
* Santo Domingo (1691)

|

Asia|

* Siam (1687–90)

|

18th century|

| Africa|

* West Africa (1758–63)
* Morocco (1765)

|

Americas|

* Queen Anne's War (1702–13)
* Chickasaw Wars (1721–52)
* Dummer's War (1721–25)
* Natchez revolt (1729)
* King George's War (1744–48)
* Nova Scotia (1749–55)
* French and Indian War (1754–60)
* North America (1778–83)
* Caribbean (1778–83)
* Haitian Revolution (1791–1804)
* Santo Domingo (1795–1809)

|

Asia|

* Burma–France relations (1729–56)
* India (1746–48)
* India (1749–54)
* India (1756–63)
* Vietnam (1777–1820)
* East Indies (1778–83)
* East Indies (1793–1801)
* Egypt and Syria (1798–1801)

|

19th century|

| Africa|

* Indian Ocean (1809–11)
* Algeria (1830–47)
* Algeria (1835–1903)
* Morocco (1844)
* Salé (1851)
* French conquest of Senegal (1854)
* Tunisia (1881)
* Madagascar (1883)
* Ivory Coast (1883–98)
* First Franco-Dahomean War (1890)
* Second Franco-Dahomean War (1892–94)
* Second Madagascar expedition (1895)
* Menalamba rebellion (1895-1903)
* Voulet–Chanoine Mission (1898–1900)

|

Americas|

* West Indies (1804–10)
* Río de la Plata (1838–40)
* Mexico (1838–39)
* Argentina–Uruguay (1845–50)
* Intervention in Mexico (1861–67)

|

Asia & Pacific Ocean|

* Moluccas (1810)
* Java (1811)
* Philippines (1844–45)
* Tourane (1847)
* Franco-Tahitian War (1844–47)
* Tourane (1856)
* French conquest of Vietnam
* Cochinchina Campaign (1858–62)
* North Vietnam (1873–74)
* Tonkin Campaign (1883–86)
* Sino-French War (1884–85)
* North Vietnam (1886–96)
* Second Opium War (1860)
* Japan (1863–64)
* Korea (1866)
* Leewards War (1888–97)
* Franco-Siamese crisis (1893)

|

20th century|

| Africa|

* Wadai War (1906–11)
* Casablanca (1907)
* Morocco (1911–12)
* Zaian War (1914–21)
* Volta-Bani War (1915–16)
* Kaocen revolt (1916–17)
* Rif War (1920–26)
* Kongo-Wara rebellion (1928–31)
* Malagasy Uprising (1947–48)
* Tunisian independence (1952–56)
* Algerian War (1954–62)
* Cameroon War (1955–64)
* Suez Crisis (1956)
* Ifni War (1957–58)
* Bizerte crisis (1961)

|

Asia|

* Boxer Rebellion (1901)
* Holy Man's Rebellion (1901–36)
* Vietnam (1916)
* Vietnam (1917–18)
* Vietnam (1918–21)
* Syria (1919–21)
* Cilicia (1920–21)
* Syria (1925–27)
* Vietnam (1930)
* Vietnam (1930–31)
* Vietnam (1940)
* Franco-Thai War (1940–41)
* Indochina (1945)
* South Vietnam (1945–46)
* First Indochina War (1946–54)

|

Pacific|

* Ouvéa cave hostage taking (1988)

|

Authority control databases: National |

* Israel
* United States
* Japan

|

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template
*[c.]: circa