The First Opium War wasn’t just about drugs it was about trade, empire, and clashing worldviews. This video explores why Britain went to war with China in 1839, using opium as leverage to force ...

While synthetic opioids like fentanyl are a relatively new class of drugs, opium has a long destructive history in trade wars and warfare, beginning with the First Opium War of 1839-42.

The result was the “First Opium War,” in which Britain won a resounding victory. As a consequence, Chinese ports were forcibly opened to British trade, including the opium trade.