The Opium War - British Empire, Chinese History

The aim of the lesson is for students to understand the Opium war, including the causes, course of the war, and the aftermath.

It is useful as a stand-alone lesson on the Opium War, as part of a scheme of work on the British Empire, or on China** (which I have available :))** .

• The lesson begins with the students investigating a primary source - why is it there? What’s different about it?
• The lesson then recaps British activities elsewhere, i.e. plantations in North America
• Students investigate the multiple causes of the war
• A video shows the course of the war
• Students then investigate the aftermath of the war, with the British development of Hong Kong, ending with the recent pro-British/democracy protests (which raised many interesting questions amongst my students)
• The lesson ends with a GCSE 4 mark question, which I used as an assessment point.

My students found this lesson really fascinating, I hope yours will, too!