The First Opium War between Britain and China鈥檚 Qing dynasty ended with the Treaty of Nanking, giving control of Hong Kong to the British to China's chagrin.
Chinese leaders had little choice but to sign the treaty鈥檚 13 articles, or risk devastation at the hands of circling British warships. The agreement included an indemnity compensating for confiscated opium, unpaid merchant debts, and other various costs of the war.
The Chinese also agreed to cede Hong Kong, a small island and former fishing village of several thousand residents, to the British crown in part to provide the Queen鈥檚 traders with safe harbor and the authority to trade freely at five 鈥渢reaty ports.鈥� The Nanking treaty required no real stipulations from the British, aside from the withdrawal of its troops to be completed following the full reparations payment.
