Annihilating an Empire - The Century of Humiliation

Deep in the jungle in the Vietnam War, an American soldier overdoses on heroin. That overdose can be traced back to the Century of Humiliation that the Chinese faced after the start of the Opium Wars. In the face of a Second Opium War and numerous rebellions, the Chinese are forced to engage in an opium trade with Europeans and their own commercial production of the substance that will bring down the Qing Empire. Sometimes the tendrils of history reach further than we ever expect them to.