Causes - Prioritisation

Question 1

Prioritisation - Extension Reading

Answer 1

Multiple cases shows how difficult it is to analyse the past, in this case cultural conflict is at the heart of this war

Question 2

Prioritisation 2 - Inevitable War

Answer 2

Britain’s aims of dominating China economically conflicted with the Qing Dynasty refusing to make trade easier, making war inevitable

Question 3

Prioritisation 3 - Opium Catalyst

Answer 3

Lin’s response to restrict the opium trade in 1839 was the trigger, the catalyst was 50 years of political and economic tension between East and West, while opium was the immediate cause for conflict, the clash of cultures was the main cause of this war

Question 4

Prioritisation 4 - Cultural Factors

Answer 4

Cultural factors were the main cause of the response to the opium issue, China unwilling to consider making opium legal, as it conflicted with Confucian ideology, drug use disrespected both ancestors and descendants

Question 5

Prioritisation 5 - British Power Hungry

Answer 5

British were driven by a need to assert power and were unwilling to abandon the biggest selling global product or to back down from being disrespected

Question 6

Prioritisation 6 - Catalyst

Answer 6

Opium trade was the catalyst for the war, but the contrasting values was the most significant cause