Jinchao Wars

Jinchao Wars
Clockwise from top: Imperial Hoterallian Navy ships' attack on Lin'an Hoterallian marines occupying the Jiangkou Haicheng Customs Office Hoterallian steamship Eikō (right background) destroying the Beihu fleet outside of Haicheng
Date First Jinchao War: 12 May 1852 – 29 April 1855 (2 years, 11 months, 2 weeks and 3 days) Second Jinchao War: 21 October 1891 – 24 September 1892 (11 months and 3 days) Location Beihuhai Result First Jinchao War: Hoterallian victory Treaty of Haicheng Second Jinchao War: Hoterallian victory Treaty of Lin'an Convention of Ryuiki Territorial changes First Jinchao War: Jinchao Archipelago was ceded to Hoterallia. Haicheng-gai Nada was established as a Hoterallians-exclusive settlement. Second Jinchao War: More ports and cities were ceded to Empire of Hoterallia as part of Kitatora-Umi Governance. More treaty ports were created and more unequal treaties were signed.
Belligerents
Empire of Hoterallia	Yan Dynasty

The Jinchao Wars (Huwen: 靜潮戰爭, Hoterallian: 静潮諸島戦争) were two wars waged between the Yan dynasty and Empire of Hoterallia in the mid-19th century and late-19th century. The First Jinchao War, fought in 1852–1855, was a conflict triggered by the Yan dynasty's campaign to enforce its prohibition of opium against Hoterallian merchants who sold opium and the imprisonment of the merchants. The Second Jinchao War was fought from 1891–1892 after an initial invasion attempted by the Yan dynasty to retake Jinchao. In each war, the Hoterallian force's modern military technology led to an easy victory over the Yan forces. The Yan government was compelled to grant favorable tariffs, trade concessions, reparations, and territory to the Hoterallian.

The wars and the subsequently-imposed treaties weakened the Yan imperial government and forced Beihuhai to open specified treaty ports that handled all trade with imperial powers. In addition, Hoterallia also occupied a portion of the Yan dynasty's capital, Haicheng, and created a government for occupied territories that the Yan dynasty ceded to Hoterallia.

The prestige of the Yan dynasty, along with the classical tradition in Beihuhai, suffered a major blow. The humiliating loss of ports and a portion of the capital sparked an unprecedented public outcry. Within Beihuhai, the defeat was a catalyst for a series of political upheavals led by TBA, culminating in the 1912 Bamboo Revolution.

Background

Beihu opium smokers c. 1848

Formal Hoterallian trade with the Yan dynasty started in the 12th Century, but the practice had been in place since 1656. Initially, the exchange of goods consisted simply of jewelry, spices, textiles, and other agricultural goods, later expanding to encompass the narcotics trade opium by the turn of the 19th Century. Opium had long been considered traditional medicine in Beihuhai, and there was a flourishing opium trade. However, the practice of smoking opium began to spread at an unknown date, eventually leading to a nationwide addiction in the 1820s. The Yan monarchy made abortive attempts to control the practice but was not in a position to enforce its policies.

Eventually, the Tianguang Emperor adopted a harsher stance on opium, implementing a blanket ban on the narcotic and orchestrating raids by Beihu troops on opium dens, resulting in mass arrests and executions. Considerable social unrest was sparked by the Emperor’s decision, resulting in demonstrations against the ban. The first crackdown eventually softened up, but by 1832, shortly after the ban, opium was in widespread use again.

The ineffectiveness of the ban leads the Yan monarchy to seek harsher treatment for the drug. In 1852, Beihu troops stormed Hoterallian merchant ships in Haicheng harbor, arresting their crews and seizing their opium, which was dumped into the harbor.

The arrest of the merchants greatly angered the Hoterallian government, who demanded their release and repatriation. The House of Peers and the Royal Cabinet, despite wanting to impose a neutral stance on international politics for economic progression, had advocated war with the Yan dynasty, and the pro-Whig press printed stories about the Yan's "despotism and cruelty." Under strong pressure and lobbying from various trade and manufacturer associations, the Rikken Teiseitō cabinet under Prime Minister Tetsuya Fujiwara decided on 12 May 1852 to send an expedition to Beihuhai. War preparations then began.