Lesson 7: Resisting the Eight-Power Allied Forces

The Boxer Rebellion

In the late 19th century, with the intensification of imperialist aggression and the rampant activities of foreign missionaries, the Boxer Rebellion gradually changed from a secret association against the Qing Dynasty or a simple martial arts group to an anti-imperialist organization with a wide range of people.

In order to take advantage of the Boxer Rebellion, the Qing government replaced "extermination" with "appeasement" and recognized its legal status. As a result, the Boxers swarmed into Tianjin and Beijing. They posted posters along the way to expose the crimes of imperialist aggression: by destroying churches, tearing down railways and cutting down electric wires, they expressed their anger against foreign invaders. By the summer of 1900, the Boxers had taken control of the Beijing-Tianjin area.

During the rise of the Boxer Rebellion, the slogan "Support the Qing Dynasty and Exterminate the Foreigners" was raised. The slogan "destroy foreigners" clearly expressed the will of the Chinese people to fight against imperialism, but the Boxer Rebellion rejected all foreigners, foreign religions, ships and railroads, and was blindly xenophobic and backward. The "support for the Qing" reflected the Boxers' unclear understanding of the nature of the Qing government and their illusions about it. The Boxers also had superstitious overtones, believing in the possession of gods and swords and guns. These backward factors provided conditions for the Qing government to control, use and suppress the Boxers.

Resistance to the Eight-Power Allied Forces

At the end of May 1900, the British and the Russians sent more than 300 troops to their embassies in Beijing, and in June, in order to suppress the Boxer Rebellion, the British, the Americans, the Russians, the Japanese, the French, the Germans, the Italians and the Austrians organized a coalition of more than 2,000 troops, led by British Admiral Seymour, to invade Beijing from Tianjin. The Boxers sabotaged the railroads along the route and sniped the enemy in the area of Langfang. The Eight-Power Allied Forces were forced to retreat to Tianjin with many dead and wounded.

At the same time, the combined fleets of all countries captured the Taku Fortress and expanded the war of aggression against China. The foreign troops stationed at Dongjiaominxiang Alley in the name of protecting embassies also kept seeking provocations and shooting at the regiment's people and Qing troops. The news of the fall of the Taku Fortress reached Beijing, and after receiving reports that the Powers wanted Cixi to return to power to the Guangxu Emperor, the furious Empress Dowager Cixi declared war.

In Beijing, the Qing government took advantage of the righteous indignation of the Boxer Rebellion and the Qing army against the invaders of the church and the embassy area and encouraged them to besiege the church in Xishiku and the embassy area in Dongjiaominxiang Alley. The siege of the embassy area put the Qing government in an extremely passive political position and became a pretext for the Great Powers to expand their aggression against China.

The Boxer Rebellion in Tianjin, with the help of the Qing army, fought a fierce battle with the invading army at the Old Dragon Station and shelled the Zizhuling Concession. In mid-July, Tianjin fell.

On August 14, the allied forces captured Beijing. Empress Dowager Cixi fled with Emperor Guangxu. On the way to escape, Cixi ordered to kill the Boxer Rebellion and shamelessly asked the Eight-Power Allied Forces to "help". The Boxer Rebellion failed under the suppression of Chinese and foreign reactionary forces. Although the Boxer Rebellion failed, it dealt a heavy blow to the imperialists' ambition to "carve up" China and forced the invaders to admit that China "still contains infinite vitality".

After the occupation of Beijing, the Eight-Power Allied Forces took revenge by massacring and plundering, fully revealing the vicious nature of the invaders.

The signing of the Treaty of Xinchao

In 1901, the Qing government was forced to sign the Treaty of Xin Chou with 11 countries: Britain, the United States, Russia, Japan, France, Germany, Italy, Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands and Spain, which was a humiliating treaty. The main contents were: the Qing government made an indemnity of 450 million taels of silver, to be repaid in 39 years, with a total of 980 million taels of principal and interest, secured by customs duties, salt duties and other taxes; the Qing government promised to strictly prohibit people from participating in all forms of anti-imperialist activities; the Qing government demolished the Taku Fortress and allowed foreign troops to be stationed in the key areas along the railroad line from Beijing to Shanhaiguan; the East Jiaominxiang in Beijing was designated as the embassy boundary, allowing countries to send troops to guard it, but not allowing Chinese to live there; the Premier's Office was reorganized and changed to a new location. The Treaty of Xin Chou was the most important treaty in China's modern history.

The Treaty of Xin Chou was the largest indemnity and the most serious loss of sovereignty in modern Chinese history. From then on, the Qing government was reduced to a tool of the imperialist powers to rule China, and China was completely plunged into the abyss of a semi-colonial and semi-feudal society.(869words)