As a result of imperialism and the great interest in China's large population for trade, the Qing dynasty was forced to accept widespread foreign control of their economic affairs. In an effort to free themselves from foreign control, the Chinese fought the Opium wars in 1839 and 1856 and the Sino-Japanese war in 1894, but they lacked a modern military and were forced to surrender each time due to the millions of casualties they suffered.
Angered by the economic oppression from foreign powers, a secret group know as the Society of Righteous and Harmonious Fists became violent and attacked foreigners and Chinese Christians regularly. This group became known to the Americans as the "Boxers" because of the "shadow boxing" rituals and martial arts that they believed would protect them from bullets that they would perform. The Boxers were made up of a majority of peasants who blamed their poor living conditions on the colonization of their country by foreign powers.
Through 1900, the Boxer movement spread to Beijing where they destroyed churches and railroads and killed Chinese Christians and missionaries. On July 20, 1900, the Boxers led a siege on the foreign legion district of Beijing which contained the quarters of foreign diplomats. Following the siege, Qing Empress Dowager Tzu'u Hzi declared war on all of the foreign nations occupying China. Japan and the Western countries rallied together a multinational force to quell the rebellion and after the loss of thousands of Chinese Christian, foreigner and Boxer lives they were successful. The rebellion was officially over on September 7, 1901 with the signing of the Boxer Protocol. The Protocol called for the forts protecting Beijing to be destroyed, the punishment of the Boxer and Chinese government officials involved in the rebellion to be punished and China was not allowed to import arms for two years. China also agreed to pay over 330 million dollars in reparations to all of the foreign nations affected by the rebellion.
Sources:
History.com Staff. "Boxer Rebellion." History.com. A&E Television Networks, 2009. Web. 03 Nov. 2016.
It's interesting to know a the story of this to a deeper extent than the book went. I wonder what caused the Qing dynasty to reach the point where it lost the Opium Wars and Sino-Japanese wars without ever being taken over by an imperial power.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting to know a the story of this to a deeper extent than the book went. I wonder what caused the Qing dynasty to reach the point where it lost the Opium Wars and Sino-Japanese wars without ever being taken over by an imperial power.
ReplyDeleteI agree this is really interesting to know about and gave a better explaination then the book showed it. How do you think this would have turned out differently if China took had better modern military force? Do you think that outcome would of came out the same ? As you said the boxers composed of "peasants who blamed their poor living conditions on the colonization of their country by foreign powers." I am really interested to find out about what exactly the foreign powers lacked in helping could this have cause a time of panic?
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