China: 'The Open Mouth', British satirical cartoon on European imperialism in China, 1859

'The Open Mouth', by Edward Linley Sambourne, Illustrated London News, 10 May, 1859:

British Lion: 'It's alright, Johnny Chinaman. We've come to a perfectly friendly arrangement'.

Russian Bear (pleasantly): 'We're going to invade you'.

Several documents known as the 'Treaty of Tien-tsin' were signed in Tianjin (Tientsin) in June 1858, ending the first part of the Second Opium War (1856–1860). The Second French Empire, United Kingdom, Russian Empire, and the United States were the parties involved. These treaties opened more Chinese ports (see Treaty of Nanking) to the foreigners, permitted foreign legations in the Chinese capital Beijing, allow Christian missionary activity, and legalized the import of opium.

The treaty was ratified by the Emperor of China in the Convention of Peking in 1860, after the end of the war.

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