March 18

In 1853, Taiping forces established their capital in Nanjing. Provincial military leaders crushed the rebel forces in the end by mobilizing their own armies. China's economy was seriously disrupted and weakened by the devastation and destruction of the massive civil war. The number of lives lost estimates in range from 20 to 30 million. It took more than a decade for China to recover from the war's devastation. Opium was used as a drinkable medicine derived from Arab traders during the eighth century or earlier, and was regarded as a magical cure for dysentery. The British persistent trade imbalance with China was covered when they began to use opium.