Today in History, June 21: Boxer Rebellion

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1900, on June 21, during what became known as the Boxer Rebellion, the Chinese Empress Dowager declared war on all foreign nations with diplomatic ties to China.

By the end of the 19th century, Japan and the Western powers had forced China’s ruling Qing dynasty to accept extensive foreign control over the country’s economic affairs. In the Opium Wars popular rebellions (1839-42, 1856-60), and during the Sino-Japanese War (1894-95), China had fought to resist the foreigners, but lacked a modern military and suffered millions of casualties.

By the late 1890s, a Chinese secret rebel group, the Society of Righteous and Harmonious Fists (义和拳) had started carrying out regular attacks on foreigners and Chinese Christians. The rebels performed calisthenics rituals and martial arts, that they believed, would give them the ability to withstand bullets and other forms of attack. Westerners referred to these rites as shadow boxing, leading to the Boxers nickname. Although the Boxers came from various parts of society, many were peasants, predominantly from Shandong province, which had been hit by natural disasters such as famine and flooding. In the 1890’s, China had given territorial and commercial concessions in this area to several European nations. The Boxers blamed their poor standard of living on foreigners who were colonizing their country.

In 1900, the Boxer movement spread to the Beijing area. The Boxers killed Chinese Christians and Christian missionaries and destroyed churches and railroad stations and other possessions. On June 20, 1900, the Boxers began a siege of Beijing’s foreign legation district, the official quarters of foreign diplomats.The following day, June 21, Qing Empress Dowager Cixi (慈禧太后), declared war on all foreign nations with diplomatic ties in China.

As the Western powers and Japan organized a multinational force to crush the rebellion, the siege stretched into weeks. The diplomats, their families and guards suffered through hunger and degrading conditions as they fought to keep the Boxers at bay. By some estimates, several hundred foreigners and several thousand Chinese Christians were killed in this time. On August 14, after fighting its way through China, an international force from eight nations (Austria-Hungary, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States) of approximately 20,000 troops, arrived to rescue the foreigners and Chinese Christians.

The Boxer Rebellion officially ended with the signing of the Boxer Protocol on September 7, 1901. By terms of the agreement, forts protecting Beijing were to be demolished, Boxer and Chinese government officials involved in the uprising were to be disciplined, foreign legations could station troops in Beijing for their defense. China was prohibited from importing arms for two years and it also agreed to pay more than $330 million in reparations to the foreign nations involved.

The Qing dynasty, was weakened by the Boxer Rebellion. Following an uprising a year later, the dynasty came to an end and China in 1912, became a republic.

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Recent Comments

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Hi Eric, thanks for the history lesson. Irv.

My pleasure, Irv.

Good afternoon Eric,

I really find it admirable that you write a post a day for us on interesting historical events. My question is where do you find the time?
Have you seen my latest post-Refugees Welcome?

Greetings from the south of Spain, Taetske

My pleasure Taetske. This couple of days I didn't read so many posts. Might be I missed that on, as the title doesn't ring any bells. I will go to your profile and check it out.
Thanks for the read!

look how far China has come. History is great.
I forgot the name of a Movie with real background about that period. When I watch it, my goodness it really followed me around a couple of months. It was so deep in my head and mind.

Yes, it's a big change. It is already a big change when comparing the the time i was living in China and today.
Thanks for the read, Silvia.

Interesting and welcome info, Eric!

My pleasure, Mickey!

Eric, I appreciate you bringing me up to speed on historical facts around the turn of the century which is not my strong suit.

I definitely learn so much reading your posts.

I'm happy you like it!
Well, having lived in China, I might know a bit more about the Asian history as most Westerners.
Thanks for commenting, Kaju.

Another turning point in the world. Thank you for the lesson

You're welcome, Pablo! And thanks for the read.

The US got involved in this as well. There were American troops sent to Siberia to assist the Czarist troops against reactionaries!

You are right! They also helped to liberate the people of Beijing’s foreign legation district.
Thanks for commenting, Mike!

Thanks for a very interesting post, Eric.

My pleasure Mike.

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