As we know, before the Crow War, the Qing Dynasty didn't understand Britain.
Daoguang doesn't know who the Queen of England is. He didn't know that the British army was invincible at that time. Even after the war, he asked where Britain was.
As for the front-line Qing army, I don't know where the British army came from, how many troops it has and how equipped it is.
In short, the Qing dynasty's understanding of Britain is like a blank sheet of paper.
Due to the ignorance of the Qing dynasty, coupled with the British army's violent beating of the Qing army. Therefore, we often have a misunderstanding that the Qing Dynasty did not know Britain, while Britain knew the Qing Dynasty. It was this information asymmetry that made Britain dare to send troops to fight the Qing Dynasty. This is why the British army beat up the Qing army on the battlefield.
However, this is actually a misunderstanding that is taken for granted.
Before the Raven War, Britain actually didn't know much about the Qing Dynasty.
It is true that the British in Guangzhou and the Portuguese in Macao provided a lot of information about the Qing Dynasty before the war. But this information is too superficial and of limited help to the war.
As for the information Magalny brought back 40 years ago, it was totally rubbish. Same as now.
He said that the Qing Dynasty was autocratic, the society was dark and cruel, serfs were inferior to dogs and starved everywhere. These conditions also exist in Russia and Prussia.
It should be said that this was a normal state in the world at that time.
At best, this information only let the British know that "the Qing Dynasty was not invincible, not Durani peanuts, and there were many poor people in the Qing Dynasty".
This information alone is not enough for Britain to understand the ins and outs of the Qing Dynasty and make up its mind to fight the Qing Dynasty.
The actual situation at that time was that Britain did not know the specific situation in the inland areas of the Qing Dynasty, how many troops there were in the Qing Dynasty, the specific deployment of the Qing army, the training level and the specific equipment. I didn't know that the death of the Qing Dynasty was Jiangnan.
It was more than a year after the war, and the British army slowly explored and learned that as long as they attacked Jiangnan and cut off the supply of goods and goods in the Qing Dynasty, the Qing Dynasty could not persist. Will take the initiative to summarize.
It took the British a long time to know this.
In short, Britain is not really aware of the situation in the Qing Dynasty.
If Britain really knew that the bottom line of the Qing Dynasty was low and that the Qing Dynasty crossed the bottom line, it would subvert their understanding of a big country. After the Raven War, it will not only have a little appetite, but also demand the cession of Hong Kong Island, the opening of five ports and compensation of 2 1 10,000 yuan.
It must have tried to annex the Qing Dynasty, as it did in India. Even if it can't be annexed, we must find a way to swallow one or two provinces!
Well, in that case, why did the British dare to send troops then?
There is no other reason, this is the national characteristics of the British. British people have always been like this-they won't do anything they are not sure about. But you don't have to win to take a risk.
As long as there is a 30% chance of winning, the British dare to take risks.
Many people often have a misunderstanding that the British are conservative and afraid of death. This is also taken for granted.
Britain is an island country with limited wealth. If the British want to get rich, they must have the spirit of going out and taking risks.
And because it is an island country, Britain is not like a mainland country. Declaring war is tantamount to blocking the national movement, and the competition will not stop no matter what.
It can fight, but it can't retreat to the island. Anyway, it has the right to control the sea and cannot afford to lose.
Before the Raven War, Britain fought countless wars with European powers on the European continent.
Before the industrial age, national strength looked at agriculture. At that time, France, Russia, Austria and other countries were much stronger than Britain, and Britain was still at war with them. Such as the Spanish war of succession to the throne, the Austrian war of succession to the throne, the Seven Years' War, the French Revolution and so on. Britain has never been timid.
For the British. It costs people and money, and debts are high. At great sacrifice, we have to fight against the top European countries repeatedly. Winning or losing doesn't matter.
It can afford it. As long as it has the right to control the sea, the balance of victory is on its side.
When the crow war was launched, so was the British mentality.
First, 20 warships and 4,000 troops were sent to the war to test the water depth of the Qing Dynasty. It doesn't matter if you lose. Summarize the experience and find a chance to kill back.
If you win, send more troops. Expand the results.
In short, Britain is not afraid of failure. Anglo-Saxon peoples seem to have the characteristics of knocking out their teeth and swallowing blood.
In Europe and Crimea, Britain often fought bloody battles, but never saw the British give up.
They are actually very tolerant of losses.
Compared with the British, China, which was ruled by the Qing Dynasty at the same time, was extremely conservative and could not afford to lose the war.
Of course, during the crow war, the British also had troubles.
It is that Qing is too big and rough, and Qing doesn't feel pain at all.
184 1 year, the British army won Ningbo, Zhenhai and Xiamen. Waiting for the Qing army to negotiate.
But unexpectedly, after the defeat of the Qing army's counterattack, they did not want to recover lost ground immediately, nor did they send people to negotiate. Britain blocked the sea off the southeast coast, and the Qing government blocked the land. The two sides confronted each other like a sit-in demonstration.
British troops did not come to occupy this territory. They came to sign a contract with the Qing government, demanding compensation and opening a commercial port.
So, after tinkering in Zhejiang for a period of time, the British army immediately went north and attacked Jiangsu.
However, in the process of attacking Jiangsu, the British army encountered the situation encountered in Zhejiang-the Qing Dynasty was bumpy, and the small and medium-sized defeat could not make the Qing Dynasty feel pain at all.
In desperation. 1842, the British army had to adjust its thinking and concentrate its forces on attacking the economic cities along the Yangtze River in Jiangsu.
When attacking Zhenjiang, the British army dispatched 7000 troops, which was considered as a capital. This is a bit like the Bunker Hill Campaign launched by the British in North America.
Fortunately for the British army, this time they finally found the weakness of the Qing dynasty-the Qing dynasty was so big that it cared about the gains and losses of one city and one place. But in Qing dynasty, the south was more important than the north, and the north relied heavily on blood transfusion in Jiangnan. Once the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal was cut off, the Qing Dynasty lost blood and could not persist.
After the British captured Zhenjiang, they continued to attack Nanjing. In this World War I, the British took risks. Because if the Nanjing defenders resist, the British army may fall into a quagmire in Jiangsu.
However, at this time, the Qing Dynasty had decided to surrender.
Signing a contract in Nanjing was "refreshing", which contributed to the signing of treaty of nanking.
After the crow war, the French came.
This time, without a fight, the Qing government signed the Huangpu Treaty with France.
Two years later, the Americans came.
This time, the Qing government "gladly" signed the Wang Xia Treaty with the United States.
At first glance, the bottom line of the Qing dynasty seems to be lower than they thought.
Therefore, in 1856, Britain and France adopted Article 34 of the Wang Xia Treaty, stipulating that "all trade and sea areas must have some flexibility, and after 12 years, the two countries should send personnel to handle them fairly". Ask the government for a new contract.
The Qing dynasty did not agree to amend the contract, so there was the yarrow incident in June of 1856 and the second opium war.
With the last experience. This time, the British and French allied forces did not carry out any blockade, bypassed the southeast coast and went straight to Tianjin.
At that time, the Qing government was fighting fiercely with the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and there was no card in hand to waste time in a protracted war with the British and French Coalition forces.
So Tianjin fell, and the Qing government immediately surrendered and signed the Tianjin Treaty.
At the time of signing the contract, Russia also came. Boy, he dug 600,000 square kilometers of land from the Qing government in one breath.
Two years later, Russia opened its mouth again and dug another 400 thousand square kilometers of land.
After coming back, 6,543.8+0,000 square kilometers, equivalent to the northeast area of China, was "gladly" ceded by the Qing government.
The bottom line of the Qing government once again surprised the British.
Since then, the British have thoroughly seen through the reality of the Qing Dynasty.
This so-called far east power. As the king of a country, the emperor has no sense of mission. Civil servants and military commanders have no sense of responsibility to defend the country. Private, you didn't do anything. You can only blackmail. The common people have no cohesion, and the phenomenon that front-line profiteers make it difficult for the country to make money is everywhere.
As for the so-called imperial envoys of the emperor, it is extremely dirty. Obviously, the front line was defeated, but these people deliberately lied about their military situation and fooled the emperor, saying that the front line won a great victory. Ask the emperor to give the meritorious person a reward.
What's more, in order to get the reward from the emperor, officials scrambled to bribe the imperial envoys, hoping that their names would appear in the false good news.
What kind of country this is. Such a country can be described in three words-empty shell.
It looks strong on the outside, but it is rotten on the inside. There is no need to fight against such a country. We just need a little diplomatic subtotal, bribe a few officials, and all the problems can be solved. The so-called spending a small sum of money to do great things is nothing more than that.
Therefore, after the Second Crow War, the British people's contempt for the Qing Dynasty has reached the point where they have no interest in fighting.
In the eyes of the British, the Qing government did not deserve to be its own opponent.
Even if you want to start work, it's just to encourage your brother. 1894- 1895 Sino-Japanese War of 1895 was actually a test in which Britain secretly encouraged Japan to test the Qing government.
If the Qing government passes the exam, Britain will give the Qing government some support and fight against Russia. If the exam fails, Britain will completely abandon the Qing government and support Japan against Russia.
The Qing government finally failed in the exam. As a result, Britain, France, Russia, the United States, Germany, Italy, Austria and Japan all came one after another.
There are always people who say that the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom is a disaster for the country and the people, and the Boxer Rebellion is a disaster for the country and the people. Only your idol is doing personnel work.
Then tell me, how did your idol defend his country?
If your idol is really awesome and can really defend the country, will there be the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and the Boxer Rebellion?
Ordinary people don't farm, and their wives and children don't want to heat the kang. As for killing Jiuzu and losing his head?
Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and the Criticism of the Boxer Movement. In fact, it's just that some people shirk their responsibilities and cover up their incompetence.
If you ask me, some people should be grateful. There are at least the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and the Boxer Rebellion in history. Because it is because of their existence that a pair of underwear of your idol has not been ripped off.