Timeline of the Second Opium War (Arrow War)

  • February 1856

    A French missionary is killed in Guangxi, in the interior of China.

  • October 8, 1856

    Chinese officials board a British-registered ship, the Arrow, which is docked in Canton (Guangzhou), a treaty port (one of the limited number of ports in China where British merchants are allowed to trade). They arrest several crew members of Chinese ethnicity and allegedly lower the British flag. The Chinese crew members are later released.

  • October 23, 1856

    Great Britain, which has been looking for an excuse to go to war so it can force China into granting more concessions that further extend British trading rights, responds to the Arrow incident by sending a warship up the Pearl River estuary and attacking Canton. Fighting between Chinese and British troops ensues. France, using the excuse of the French missionary murdered in February 1856, later decides to join Great Britain in the conflict, also in the hopes of forcing concessions from the Chinese.

  • December 1856

    Tensions escalate after the Chinese burn foreign factories (warehouses) in Canton.

  • December 28, 1857

    After a delay, the British and French attack the Chinese and quickly capture Canton.

  • May 16, 1858

    Treaty of Aigun: Treaty between Russia and China delineating spheres of control for the two countries in the Manchuria region and stipulating that only Russian and Chinese vessels would be permitted to navigate the Amur, Ussuri, and Sungari (Songhua) rivers. The treaty was not ratified by China at the time.

  • May 20, 1858

    The British and French capture the Dagu (Taku) forts on the Hai (Peiho) River, near Tianjin (Tientsin), forcing the Chinese into negotiations.

  • June 1858

    The Treaties of Tianjin are signed, signaling an end to the hostilities. China grants several concessions to Great Britain and France, including allowances for the opening of more ports in China, foreign travel in the interior of China, freedom of movement for Christian missionaries, and residences in Beijing (China’s capital) for Western envoys. The United States and Russia are also granted the same concessions. China, however, does not ratify the treaties, in spite of having signed them.

  • November 8, 1858

    Further negotiations between the British and Chinese in Shanghai legalize the importation of opium.

  • June 25, 1859

    British-led forces, escorting British and French diplomats en route to Beijing, try to sail pass the Dagu forts even though they are refused passage by the Chinese. Fighting breaks out and hostilities resume. The British-led forces suffer heavy casualties and are driven back.

  • August 1860

    British and French troops destroy the forts at Dagu. They then proceed upriver.

  • October 1860

    British and French troops capture Beijing and burn the emperor’s Summer Palace.

  • October–November 1860

    China signs the Beijing Convention, which ends the Second Opium War. The Beijing Convention consists of three individual treaties that China signs, with Great Britain (October 24), France (October 25), and Russia (November 14). The previously negotiated treaties with France and Great Britain at Tianjin are accepted by China, which then grants the same rights to other countries too. China also gives Great Britain the southern part of the Kowloon Peninsula adjacent to Hong Kong. China accepts the terms of the Treaty of Aigun with Russia and grants Russia jurisdiction over other areas as well.

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