: how could China, being the largest economy of the world in 1820 according to British economists and also largest population, lost the Opium Wars to England ? Were they fighting the British firearms with spears ?

Question

I also found weird the logistical nightmare : England had to send and supply troopers to the other side of the world, in a time when there wasn’t air transport. China had it all at home, thousands of soldiers.

In: Other

Answer 1

They had nothing like the caliber of cannons or ships that the British had. They had firearms, but very archaic ones.