THE OPIUM/VIETNAM WARS 1

The Opium/Vietnam Wars and

Anti-war Movements

Nathaniel J. Linder

Central York School District

Abstract

Throughout history, wars have always had at least two sides to the story, but those sides are not

always fully confident in their justifications for the war. When the government is not able to

convince its citizens that the war is for their benefit or fought for just reasons, large and powerful

movements can force the conflict to end early. In two important wars throughout history, the set

of Opium wars fought between 1839 and 1860, and the Vietnam war fought between 1955 and

1975. During both of these wars, participating governments and citizens had several different

perspectives and views on their country’s justifications for the war, some viewed the war as

necessary to fight, and other viewed it as needless bloodshed. While only some anti-war or pro-

war movements would take root, all of them would leave a lasting impression on their country’s

history.
THE OPIUM/VIETNAM WARS 2

The Opium Wars (1839 - 1860)

In the mid-1800’s Britain was a large territory that had influences globally. They had the

strongest navy in the world, and the British East India company traded globally. At the same

period China was a mostly isolated country, but still a large producer of highly valued products

such as silk, porcelain, and tea. Britain and China would often barter, but while the British

wanted to purchase large amounts of various resources from China, the only thing China

accepted in return was silver (Meyer, 1997). After some years of this, large amounts of silver had

left Britain, and Britain needed a new way to pay for their tea . This resulted in large groups of

smugglers bringing opium into China, and exchanging it for silver which would then be used to

purchase more tea. By 1839, opium was financing the entire tea trade from Britain to China, and

large areas of China were addicted to Opium. When the problem began to grow out of hand, the

Chinese government began to crack down on the opium smugglers. Many were arrested and

millions of dollars worth of Opium was destroyed (Meyer, 1977). This ignited tensions between

the two countries and as a result two separate one-sided wars in favor of the British would be

fought. But, even though Britain won the war and was able to write very advantages surrender

conditions towards their trade, not all of their citizens were happy with the government's

decisions.
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Figure 1: A primary reason Britain won the war was due to their advanced and updated navy.

China was still using ships from the 9th century as the backbone of their army, which were taken

out easily by Britain’s iron ships.

China’s Views on the Opium Wars

During the years that the Opium trade went on, it proved to be devastating to the Chinese

government and their citizens (Meyer, 1997). They were trading China’s best exports for drugs

that would addict and cripple generations. To add insult to injury Britain was attacking their

national sovereignty by declaring war on them for attempting to put an end to the drug trade. As

a result, Chinese citizens were staunchly in favor of resistance against the British invasion. Many

Chinese citizens joined the army in order to help fight back against the British. During the war
THE OPIUM/VIETNAM WARS 4

Chinese soldiers became known to not surrender until the forts that they were in were breached

and ablaze, due to their desire to protect their country from the war (Ramzy, 2018). However,

despite the Chinese military’s best efforts, Britain’s vastly superior navy ended the war very

quickly and with very

Figure 2: This artwork was made during the opium wars by an unknown Chinese artist. It depicts
citizens destroying opium that was illegally smuggled into their country. (Perdue, 2011)

few casualties. Chinese citizens supported government resistance to the war to such an extent

that the emperor lost a large chunk of credibility when it surrendered, as many people thought

that they should have fought for longer.

Britain’s views on the Opium Wars

When they started the war, Britain’s government saw the conflict as an opportunity to

open up Asia, specifically China, to trade. The British government believed that China had

always been uncooperative in foreign exchange, and diplomatic relationships between the two

countries were already strained due to the misunderstanding of each other’s cultures (Ramzy,

2018) . One particular incident occurred when the Chinese emperor expected British diplomats to

bow when negotiating, as was custom in Chinese culture. British officials refused to, and the
THE OPIUM/VIETNAM WARS 5

tensions rose ever since the incident until the end of the Opium Wars. However, while British

officials felt the war was justified, citizens had doubts about the governments justifications for

the wars.

Figure 3: This artwork was made by a British artist in support of the war, he viewed the war as

the response to an attack on Britain by China, and he believed that the war was not about drugs,

but instead about defending Britain from Chinese aggression (Chinese Officers, 2017).

Many citizens felt that the government was fighting a war on the behalf of drug smugglers, and

that they shouldn’t be interfering with a sovereign nation’s policy. The London times ran a story

that was highly critical of the war, which popularised the widely used term for the conflict, “The

Opium Wars”, and swayed many citizens to protest against the war (Meyer, 1997).

Unfortunately, despite the growing number of citizens against the war, government official in

opposition to it were remarkably silent. The only notable politician who spoke out against the

war was William Gladstone, a member of the British parliament (Meyer, 1997). Although the

government didn’t heed their citizens warnings to leave the war, public outcry still managed to

push many companies and countries out of the Opium trade (many French and American

companies backed out in particular).

THE OPIUM/VIETNAM WARS 6

The Vietnam War (1955 - 1975)

At the height of the Cold War, a civil war between North and South began in the

southeast Asian country of Vietnam. Northern Vietnamese officials desired a communist

economic system for the country, and South Vietnamese officials wanted a capitalist system that

closely resembled the west. When the war began, the U.S. sided with South Vietnam and China

sided with North Vietnam. Although U.S. and Chinese troops never fought each other directly,

the rising tensions between them and their military/political support for different sides of the

warring country highly reflected both the U.S. goals in their war on communism and China’s

lingering hostility towards western countries after the Opium Wars. The war was long and

bloody, and in the end an estimated three and a half million people, mostly civilians, lost their

lives. The gruesome fighting conditions and frequent destructive bombing campaigns caused

many citizens to wonder if the war was worth it -- similarly to how those in Britain during the

Opium wars felt.

China/North Vietnam’s Opinions on the Vietnam War

The Chinese government expressed support for North Vietnam very early in the war, and

although it is unknown exactly how much military and political aid was given to North Vietnam

by China and Soviet Russia, historians do believe that their support was a tipping point in

winning the war (The War’s Effect, 2019). As the war progressed, any North Vietnamese citizen

asked about the war

THE OPIUM/VIETNAM WARS 7

Figure 4: This Chinese propaganda expressed support for North Vietnam in the war, and

expressed confidence that they would win. The text translates to “The army and citizens of

Vietnam are battling the Americans well, accurately, and mercilessly.” (Don Poss, 2008)

would only have two opinions, either they didn’t know much about the war and the reasons the

war was being fought, or they were staunchly in favor of the North Vietnamese government.

This was because throughout the Vietnam war, citizens in North Vietnam were only able to

access information through government controlled radio broadcasts. An anonymous North

Vietnamese veteran who was given the task of taking photos for the media stated after the war

that, “My bosses instructed me to shoot anything showing that the enemy would lose”. A former

war journalist, Tran Van Thuy, even described North Vietnam’s propaganda machine as “Strong

and effective” and also mentioned in an interview that North Vietnamese citizens would gather

around in towns each day to listen to news on the war (Rosen, 2015). Even the rare anti-war

protestor in North Vietnam was quickly arrested, such as the political dissident who was jailed

for handing out pamphlets that stated, “the purpose of the war was not for the benefit of

Vietnamese people, just for the authorities in the North and South.” Another reason that North

Vietnamese citizens were in support of the war was that they believed the communist party was

the only group that could help them win their country’s independence from France and the

United States (Rosen, 2015). For the most part, the pro-war sentiment in Vietnam and China was
THE OPIUM/VIETNAM WARS 8

fueled by a long-lasting dislike of western imperialism and a strong and effective propaganda

machine.

South Vietnam’s Opinion on the Vietnam War

Throughout the Vietnam war, the south was the hardest hit by both U.S. bombing

campaigns and raids by North Vietnamese troops. By the war’s end it was not only defeated but

also heavily bombed and poverty-stricken. The damage caused to this area of Vietnam was

reflected in its citizen’s somber views on the war itself. Most people in the South did not have

strong political views on ideas such as communism or imperialism, but they did hate the damage

that the war was causing to their people and their country. Most Southern citizens did not care

who won the war, but did want it to end. In their media, this was reflected by frequent media

broadcasts that mourned the horrors and casualties of war (The War’s Effect, 2019). This

sentiment about the war would stay in South Vietnam for many years after it ended, even up to

the modern-day when Southern Vietnam is still crippled by poverty and destroyed environments.

The United States of America’s opinion on the Vietnam War

U.S. support for South Vietnam began at the end of the Second Red Scare and the beginning of

its Cold War with China and Russia. When they entered the war, the U.S. held the primary goal

of stopping communism’s spread worldwide, but as the war dragged on for over fifteen years
THE OPIUM/VIETNAM WARS 9

U.S. citizens began to question both the justness of the war and whether it was worth it to

continue to fight. In the early stages of Vietnam, the majority of American citizens supported

putting U.S. troops into Vietnam, with the only opposition group being the Students for a

Democratic Society (SDS), which was a left-wing college coalition that opposed the war from a

moral standpoint (Vietnam War Protests, 2010). However, as time went on, and as more soldiers

were killed and drafted into Vietnam, public opinion began to turn against further U.S.

involvement in the war. This cause was further helped by celebrity protests against the war, such

as Martin Luther King Jr. and Muhammad Ali who both denounced the war, and by

organizations such as Vietnam Veterans Against the War, which was a group of injured Vietnam

vets who threw away their medals on live television (Vietnam War Protests, 2010). Vietnam

Veterans Against the War was incredibly impactful towards the anti-war movement, and was

popular among citizens and received very positive and “...generous treatment from the media”

(Small, 1994). By 1968, the Vietnam anti-war movement was at its biggest, and large protests

were drawing national attention. The topic became so big that Richard Nixon (who was in favor

of the Vietnam War) gave a speech calling the protestors “a vocal minority” and stating that the

“silent majority”
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Figure 5: This anti-war poster was created to advertise a public protest. It was particularly

effective because it combined the American red, white and blue with a skull that showed how

damaging the war was (Alexander Turnbull Library, 1970).

THE OPIUM/VIETNAM WARS 11

Figure 6: As more and more U.S. troops were killed in the Vietnam war, public support for the

war decreased. During the year 1968, over 15,000 U.S. soldiers died in Vietnam.

still supported U.S. involvement in Vietnam. Despite Nixon’s attempts to defuse the movement,

protests still continued to grow, and in 1970 U.S. national guard killed four protestors on a

college campus when events escalated between protestors and the police (Vietnam War Protests,

2010). By the early 1970’s, public opinion turned too far against the war, and Nixon was forced

in 1973 to end all U.S. involvement in Southeast Asia, and as a result South Vietnam lost the war

a few years later.

What Makes an Anti-war Movement?

A key component of successful anti-war movements is the context of the time period that

they take place in. Because the Opium Wars took place in an era where Britain was a vast empire

which traded globally, anti-war protestors had to combat the government sentiment that opium

benefited British trading companies. The racism that was common in Britain at the time was also

a challenge for those trying to stop the war, because they had to convince others that Chinese

citizens had the right to be sovereign from the British government. Vietnam anti-war protestors

faced different challenges due to the differences in their country and time period. Although

racism was not as common in the 1960’s and 70’s, the Vietnam war was being fought against a

communist government during the Cold War and very shortly after the second Red Scare. This

meant that opposition to the anti-war protestors would try to associate them with communist
THE OPIUM/VIETNAM WARS 12

sympathizers. However, the 1960’s also brought Vietnam anti-war protestors a benefit that those

during the Opium Wars didn’t have, television and radios. Due to the new ability to instantly

broadcast messages to thousands of people, a small movement that started on a campus was able

to become a significant portion of Americans from many different backgrounds.

Both the Vietnam anti-war movement and the Opium anti-war movements held the same

reasoning and ideals at their core; they, along with many other anti-war movements throughout

history, disliked the government sending a country’s own soldiers to interfere in another nation's

politics, and they also protested wars that were fought in aggression instead of self-defense.

Although each of the wars didn’t have exactly the same reasons behind anti-war movements (the

Opium anti-war movement also protested warring on behalf of drug smugglers, and the Vietnam

anti-war movement protested the amount of U.S. troops dying in another country), they both

ultimately shared many of the same ideals behind their protests. What makes these, along with

many other anti-war movements successful, is a combination of protesting and media support

that can cause a country's government to question whether or not the war should continue.

References

"The War's Effect on the Vietnamese Land, & People." (2019). The War's Effect on the
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Vietnamese Land and People. Retrieved from

https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/war

s-effect-vietnamese-land-and-people

Editors, H. (2010, February 22). Vietnam War Protests. Retrieved from

https://www.history.com/topics/vietnam-war/vietnam-war-protests

Meyer, K. E. (1997, June 28). The Opium War's Secret History. Retrieved from

https://www.nytimes.com/1997/06/28/opinion/the-opium-war-s-secret-history.html

Poss, D. (2008). Communist War Posters. Retrieved from

http://www.vspa.com/vspa-communist-vn-war-posters-p1.htm

Ramzy, A. (2018, July 03). How Britain Went to War With China Over Opium. Retrieved from

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/03/world/asia/opium-war-book-china-britain.html

Rosen, E. (2015, April 16). The Other Side of Vietnam: How the Winners Remember the War.

Retrieved from

https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2015/04/the-vietnam-war-as-seen-by-

the-north-vietnamese/390627/

Small, M. (1994). Covering dissent: The media and the anti-Vietnam War movement. New

Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.

The Opium War. (n.d.). Retrieved from

https://www.nam.ac.uk/explore/opium-war-1839-1842