英法联军入侵与 《天津条约》签订

·在海光寺签订中英 《天津条约》 自左至右坐者： 花沙纳、额尔金、桂良、西马縻各里 (英军司令)

第二次鸦片战争期间，进行了3次大沽口之战。第一次大沽口之战，始于英国借故进攻广州，挑起第二次鸦片战争后的第二年，即清咸丰八年(1858)三月。作为交战方的英、法两国公使，以交涉修订《南京条约》为借口，率两国舰队驶抵大沽口进行武力威胁。美、俄两国公使以 “调停”为名，各率舰队随之而来。
三月十三日 (4月26日),清朝廷任命谭廷襄为直隶总督，负责与侵略者进行 “修约” 谈判。但是侵略者已下定战争决心，根本就无诚意谈判，只是与美、俄串通一气，以谈判为掩护，进行实质性的作战准备。这时，集结于大沽口外的4国舰艇共32艘，其中英、法舰艇26艘，军队3500人。清军在大沽口有道光年间修建的炮台5座，北岸砖炮台业已坍塌； 集结兵力8000余名。兵力超过敌军一倍多，又有炮台可守。但是谭廷襄和天津道钱炘和等人，却无作战的决心，一味寄希望和谈。把运去的“大炮、器械、粮台重务皆列于炮台”之上，不过是为了 “以壮观瞻”而已。
四月八日 (5月20日)上午8时，英公使额尔金和法公使葛罗发出通谍，限令清军在两小时内交出炮台。10时，英、法联军舰队开始进攻大沽炮台。英舰 “鸬鹚”号和法舰 “霰弹”号、“火箭”号，载兵600余人攻北岸炮台。英舰 “纳罗”号和法舰“雪崩”号、“龙骑兵”号，载兵700余人攻南岸炮台。炮台守军进行了英勇还击。11时，北炮台火药库中弹爆炸后失陷。据守南岸炮台的谭廷襄、钱炘和等人仓惶向天津逃跑，南炮台守军也全面溃散，火炮、粮台尽陷敌手。战斗仅进行了1个多小时，敌人伤亡90多人，清军伤亡200余人。北炮台游击沙春元，南炮台都司陈毅、千总常荣魁先后阵亡。提督张殿元、总兵达年和协副将德魁等人，则以疏防怯战获咎，被下狱治罪。
大沽炮台失陷后，四月十四日 (5月26日),英、法和美、俄联军水、陆两路逼近天津。清政府被迫派桂良、花沙纳，于五月三、八、十六、十七等日，分别与俄使普提雅廷、美使列卫廉、英使额尔金、法使葛罗，在海光寺签订了丧权辱国的《天津条约》。其主要内容是：
外国公使驻北京； 开放牛庄 (营口)、登州(烟台)、台湾 (后改定台南)淡水、潮州 (后改汕头)、琼州、汉口、九江、南京、镇江等处为通商口岸； 外国人可到内地游历、通商、传教； 外国军舰、商船可驶入长江及各通商口岸；修改税则，外货入内地征子口税百分之二点五；对英赔款四百万两、对法赔款二百万两。后来又在上海与英、法、美签订《通商章程善后条约》作为《天津条约》的附约，主要内容是： 鸦片贸易合法化、海关税务由英人帮办。
《天津条约》是中国社会殖民地化的又一重要标志，而条约在天津的订立过程，反映出外国资本主义侵华的注意力已从南方逐渐转向北方。

·英法舰队在进攻大沽炮台

Three battles occurred at the Dagu Emplacement duringthe Second Opium War. The first Dagu EmplacementBattle began when UK attacked Guangzhou with apretext in March,1858 (the eighth year of EmperorXianfeng). The ambassadors of UK and France led theirrespective fleets to Dagu Emplacement under the coverof revising the "Nanjing Treaty." The ambassadors of USand Russia followed suits and led their fleets there forthe so-called "settlement".
On April 26,the Qing Government appointed TanTingxiang,the Governor-General of Zhili and orderedhim to be responsible for the "Nanjing Treaty" revisionnegotiations. However,the invaders intended for warinstead of negotiation. They colluded with the USand Russia for the preparations of war under coverof negotiation. Thirty two warships were assembledoutside the Dagu Emplacement; British and Frenchones numbered 26. Their troops totaled 3,500. The Qingarmy built five cannon fornications during the EmperorDaoguang period. Although the northern fortificationhad collapsed,the Qing Government stationed 80,000or so soldiers,two times more than the enemies. It wasa pity that Tan Tingxiang determined not to defense buthoped only for negotiations. They displayed the cannons,facilities and army provisions on the emplacement justfor a "grand view."
At 8 am on May 20,British Ambassador LordElgin and French Ambassador Gloria together issuedthe diplomatic note. At 10 am,the allied fleet of UK andFrance began attack the Dagu Emplacement. BritishCormorant Sheet,French Shrapnel Sheet and RocketSheet carried about 600 soldiers to attack the northernemplacement. Two ships from Britain and France withabout 700 soldiers on board began to attack the southernemplacement. The Qing soldiers fought back bravely. At11 am,the power magazine of the northern emplacementexploded and lost. Tan Tingxiang and Qian Xinhe ranfor their lives. The soldiers stationed at the southernemplacement also escaped,leaving the cannons andarmy provisions to the enemies. The battled lasted onlyabout an hour. The casualties of the enemies were about90,whereas that of Qing army,about 200 includingseveral officers: Sha Chunyuan,Chen Yi and RongKuixian. Zhang Dianyuan,the provincial commanderand his subordinates Da Nian and De Kui were put injail because of their timidity in the war.
On May 26,the allied forces of UK,France,US andRussia approached Tianjin by land and sea. The QingDynasty was forced to send Gui Liang and Hua Shanato sign the humiliating Tianjin Treaty at Haiguangsiwith Russia,US,UK and France respectively. The maincontent of the Tianjin Treaty are like the following:
Foreign ambassadors could stay in Beijing; Citieslike Niuzhuang(Yingkou),Dengzhou (Yantai); Danshuiin Taiwan (later changed into Tainan),Chaozhou (laterchanged into Shantou),Qiongzhou,Hankou,Jiujiang,Nanjing,Zhenjiang opened ports for business; foreignerscould go to inland China to travel,to do business,or topreach; foreign warships and commercial ships couldsail in Yangze River and harbor in the ports of the abovementioned cities; tax regulations are revised and the taxrate for foreign commodities was 2.5%; indemnitieswere paid,4 million liang to Britain and 2 millionliang to France. Later,an additional treaty was signedin Shanghai with Britain,France and the US,the maincontent of this treaty was: to legalize opium trade and toallow the British be involved in China`s custom taxation.
Tianjin Treaty is another important symbolsignifying that China`s turning into a colony; The treaty`ssigning process in Tianjin indicated that,the foreigninvader`s attention had been shifted from the south to thenorth of China.

·英国维多利亚女王批准《天津条约》的谕文译文