Boxer Rebellion

Boxer Rebellion, Chinese nationalist uprising against foreigners, the representatives of alien powers, and Chinese Christians in 1900. Expulsion of all foreigners from China was the ultimate objective of the uprising. In 1899 a secret society of Chinese called the Yihe Quan (Righteous and Harmonious Fists), known by Westerners as Boxers because of their martial arts rituals which they believed made them invulnerable to bullets, began a campaign of terror against Christian missionaries in the north-eastern provinces. Although the Boxers were officially denounced, they were secretly supported by many of the royal court, including the dowager empress Cixi. Economic and political exploitation of China by various Western powers and Japan and humiliating military defeats inflicted by Great Britain in the Opium Wars (1839-1842, 1856-1860) and by Japan in the Sino-Japanese War (1894-1895) were the main causes of Chinese resentment, as well as general economic depression.

The terrorist activities of the Boxer society gradually increased during 1899, with Boxer bands attacking Christians on sight. When these bands entered the Chinese capital Beijing, the foreign powers dispatched a small relief column from Tianjin to secure their interests and citizens in the capital. On June 13 Cixi ordered imperial troops to turn back this column, and the ensuing crisis culminated on June 18, 1900, in a general anti-foreign uprising in Beijing. Many foreigners and others took refuge in the part of the city where the foreign legations were located; the area was placed under siege by the rebels. A larger relief expedition consisting of British, French, Japanese, Russian, German, and American troops relieved the besieged quarter and occupied Beijing on August 14, 1900. Cixi and her court fled to Xi'an. The relief forces retained possession of the city, looting and punishing anti-foreign action, until a peace treaty was signed on September 7, 1901. By the terms of the treaty the Chinese were required to pay, over a period of 40 years, a vast indemnity. Other treaty provisions included commercial concessions and the right to station foreign troops to guard the legations in Beijing and to maintain a clear corridor from Beijing to the coast. Despite efforts by the United States to stop further territorial encroachment, Russia extended its sphere of influence in Dongbei during the rebellion, a policy which culminated in the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905).

Some governments, notably Great Britain and the United States, tried to mitigate the indemnity payments by using them to finance scholarships for Chinese students. In China, the defeat further discredited the ruling Qing dynasty and accelerated political developments towards revolution.