Rationale behind the "Century of Humiliation", the causes of the First Opium War, and subsequent Western/Chinese Engagement

by Mondex

I ask this question because a few comments in this thread - https://www.reddit.com/r/HongKong/comments/boqh1i/heshe_forgot_to_add_hong_kong/ - suggest that the First Opium War and the subsequent series of unequal treaties stemmed predominately from the interior fighting such as Taiping Rebellion and overall ineptitude of the Qing dynasty.

This runs contrary to what I had studied regarding the economic causes such as the massive trade imbalances created with Great Britain starting with their dislike of the Canton system.

What is the current historical consensus on this and furthermore, to what extent did Mao and the CCP embellish facts surrounding the unequal treaties for political gain.

Very much thank you!

EnclavedMicrostate

Hi – I must apologise for compressing the chronology of the Opium War and Taiping somewhat in that /r/HongKong thread. For a couple of older answers I have written on the period that are relevant to this discussion, see (in rough order of relevance):

  1. The first and second posts of a five-part series debunking a more traditionally-minded version of the origins of the Opium War;
  2. This answer that covers the Qing approach to the First Opium War,
  3. This answer on the Qing response to European imperialism, which places Western attacks in context with Qing ambitions in Central Asia;
  4. This answer on the practicalities of Western attacks on China, which contextualises Western interests in China in the 1850s and 60s in terms of broader goings-on; and
  5. This answer on George Staunton's translation of the Qing legal code and the emergence of extraterritoriality, which covers to some extent the causes of the war.

Feel free to ask for further clarification.