Opium Wars

The Opium Wars ( ; ; ), also known as the Anglo-Chinese Wars, are two wars that lasted from 1839 to 1842 and 1856 to 1860 respectively, the climax of a long dispute between China and Britain. France fought alongside Britain in the second war. Britain was smuggling opium from British India into China. When the Chinese government enforced its laws against the trade, conflict erupted.
See more at Wikipedia.org...