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Prologue

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Battle for Beijing, 1858–1860
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Abstract

How Anglo–Chinese hostilities grew from 1834 – the end of the East India Company’s monopoly on Britain’s Canton trade – to the First Opium War of 1839–1842. Even after that, London grew increasingly impatient with Chinese obstruction at Canton and failure to treat Britain as a diplomatic equal. By 1857 Britain and France turned their attention more fully to the Far East and to minor hostilities at Canton.

There is a separate note on the importance of linguistic misunderstandings between the two sides.

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Gelber, H. (2016). Prologue. In: Battle for Beijing, 1858–1860. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-30584-4_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-30584-4_1

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-30583-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-30584-4

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