This timeline forms part of our close-up on: the Franco-British expedition to China, 1860.
The outbreak of the Second Opium War, in 1856, came from the western desire to further open up the Chinese empire to foreign trade and negotiate a more favourable position for itself in the territory. These demands (rejected outright by the ruling Qing dynasty), coupled with the Arrow incident on 8 October 1856 (which involved the Chinese occupation of a Chinese-owned but reportedly British-registered ship which had been accused of smuggling and piracy), resulted in the British occupation of Canton (today Guangzhou) and the forts surrounding Tien-tsin (Tianjin) between 23 October and 13 November. However, by the beginning of 1857, the limited British forces had been forced to retreat. The British government began preparations for an expeditionary force, which was to be launched in tandem with the French, who used the execution of a French missionary, Father Auguste Chapdelaine, by Chinese local authorities in February 1856, as a pretext to become involved in the matter. In December 1857, Canton was once again bombarded and occupied by the allied troops (under the command of Admiral Michael Seymour, Lord Elgin and Jean-Baptiste Louis Gros). Peace negotiations with the Chinese emperor’s representatives were begun and in 1858 in the town of Tien-tsin, a treaty was agreed between the western powers and the Chinese Qing dynasty, supposedly bringing an end to the fighting.
