The First Opium War

The First Opium War was a chorological series of engagements between the United Kingdom and China. The initiation of this war between the super powers began when China attempted to step in a suppress the opium trade. This suppression lit a fire under the United Kingdom because the United Kingdom was participating in the illegal exportation of opium from India to China since the beginning of the 18^th century. From this, the addiction rates in China skyrocketed causing China’s economy and social wellbeing to ultimately deplete at an exponentially fast rate. During the Spring of 1839, the Chinese government managed to seize copious amounts of opium from British traders. In 1840, United Kingdom decided to send a task force to Hong Kong China with orders to occupy and attack the city. The UK government continued these attacks for Chinese forces for an entire year. In 1842, the UK government and Chinese government decided to make amends and created the Treaty of Nanjing which ultimately ended the violent wars between the two super powers. The theme of drug addiction, specifically opium within The Tenant of Wildfell Hall is extremely prevalent. In several passages of the novel, Arthur Huntington is oftentimes described be addicted to opium in excess and the addiction is credited as one of his reasons of declination.

Brontë, Anne, and Margaret Lane. The Tenant of Wildfell Hall ; Agnes Grey. Dent, 1980.

“Opium Wars.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., www.britannica.com/topic/Opium-Wars.

Taiping Rebellion

One of the deadliest conflicts in human history, this civil war in China during the Qing dynasty cost tens of millions of lives.  It resulted in widespread famine and was a major "push" factor in Chinese emigration--often through coercive indentured labor schemes--to other parts of the world.  It also involved a bizarre, millenarian cult, with a leader who claimed to be the brother of Jesus Christ.

Anna Leonowens

Anna Leonowens accepted an invitaiton from the consul in Singapore, Tan Kim Ching, to teach the children and wives of the King of Siam.  She lived and worked in Bangkok from 1862-187 as a teacher and then the king's language secretatry.

In 1870, she published The English Governess at the Siamese Court.

Dissolution of the Samurai Class

In the years leading up to and following 1873, the government of Japan worked to gradually dissolve the Samurai class. The government at this point in Japan’s history was working to unite the upper and lower classes and create a system where all were equal, sentiments displayed in the Meiji Restoration’s Charter Oath, a sort of founding document for the new government. So, the government began to merge ex-Samurai into the rest of society. They did so at times with incentives, such as providing lots of opportunities for ex-Samurai to find employment in government projects like land reclamation and the railway industry. They also did so at times with mandates, such as abolishing their pension system, preventing them from carrying swords, discontinuing old styles of Samurai garb, and making rulings to end their once-held legal privileges. While many were able to adjust to their new way of life, many found their new lives a poor trade for what they once had. But hey, what could a group of highly trained, proud men who were suddenly stripped of their entire identity possibly do in retribution? Oh, wait . . .

Sources:

• “The Charter Oath (of the Meiji Restoration), 1868.” Columbia University Asia for Educators
• Harootunian, Harry. “The Progress of Japan and the Samurai Class, 1868-1882.” Pacific Historical Review 28, no. 3 (1959): 255-266. doi: 10.2307/3636470.

Japanese Invasion of Taiwan and Subsequent Colonization

The 1895 Japanese invasion of Taiwan heralded a period of colonial rule that lasted until 1945.

US Dominance in the Philippines

Following the Spanish-American War in 1898, the Philippines declared independence.  This sparked a bloody war (1899-1902), as the US sought to gain control of the terrority, which had been ceded to them by the Spanish.  This was one of the first "guerrilla" conflicts in modern history.