Editing Second Opium War (section)

==Prelude==
The war followed on from the [[First Opium War]]. In 1842, the [[Treaty of Nanking]] granted an [[indemnity]] and [[extraterritoriality]] to Britain, the opening of five [[treaty ports]], and the cession of [[Hong Kong Island]]. The failure of the treaty to satisfy British goals of improved trade and diplomatic relations led to the Second Opium War (1856–1860).<ref>{{cite book|title = A Modern History of Hong Kong: 1841–1997|first = Steve|last = Tsang|year= 2007|publisher = I.B. Tauris|isbn = 978-1-84511-419-0 |page = 29|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=7JC856mG72EC&pg=PA29}}</ref> In China, the First Opium War is considered to have been the beginning of modern Chinese history.<ref>{{Cite web |title=China's Road to Modernity: from Empire to Republic (1817–1949) (Hao Gao) |url=https://www.gale.com/intl/essays/hao-gao-chinas-road-modernity-empire-republic-1817-1949 |access-date=2023-10-10 |website=www.gale.com |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title="The Opium War" labeled as the beginning of modern China's history of humiliation |url=https://ebrary.net/31256/sociology/_the_opium_war_labeled_modern_china_s_history_humiliation |access-date=2023-10-10 |website=Ebrary}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Wu |first=Jihan |date=2018-10-01 |title=The Opium War and the Opening of China {{!}} World History |url=https://worldhistory.us/chinese-history/the-opium-war-and-the-opening-of-china.php |access-date=2023-10-10 |language=en-US}}</ref>

Between the two wars, repeated acts of aggression against British subjects led in 1847 to the [[Expedition to Canton]] which assaulted and took, by a ''[[coup de main]]'', the forts of the [[Bocca Tigris]] resulting in the [[Touch hole#Spiking the guns|spiking]] of 879 guns.<ref name="HCRE"/>{{rp|501}}