ABSTRACT
The Opium War is best characterized as a trade war, during which the Chinese tried and failed to use traditional military methods to counter Britain’s modern weaponry, strategy, and tactics. Near the end of the conflict, on 21 July 1842, a British naval squadron under the supreme command of Sir Henry Pottinger took the river city of Zhenjiang, strategically located near the junction of the Yangzi River and the Grand Canal, and moved into position to attack Nanjing (Nanking). The Manchu Emperor in Beijing, fearful that the Qing’s control over southern China might be cut, reluctantly agreed to negotiate for peace. The resulting thirteen-article Treaty of Nanjing was signed on 29 August 1842.
