The Opium War exposed the weaknesses of the Chinese feudal system. The cost of the war and later the war indemnity all fell on the shoulders of the farmers. The Manchu government could no longer protect, and govern its people. As China's economy collapsed, poverty was wide spread, insurrection sprang up all over the country. The Manchu government showed its weaknesses when it signed the Treaty of Nanjing without exhausting all possibilities of resistance. The Opium War helped to discredit the Manchu government and encouraged popular movements.