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The Boxer Rebellion was a Qing government-backed xenophobic, anti-Christian, and anti-imperialist insurrection in China led by the Yihetuan ("Boxers") movement which occurred from 1899 to 1901. The rebellion was a reaction to the decline of the Qing dynasty, the humiliations inflicted on China by the foreign powers in the Opium Wars, Tonkin War, and First Sino-Japanese War, and the spread of Christianity in China. After the rebellious Boxers began a march on Beijing in June 1900, an "Eight-Nation Alliance" of Britain, Russia, Japan, France, Germany, the United States, Italy, and Austria-Hungary landed in China to protect the international legations in Beijing, forcing Empress Dowager Cixi to declare war on the foreign powers and support the rebels. Officials in the Mutual Protection of Southeast China, led by Yuan Shikai, refused to support the Yihetuan, and the 20,000-strong European and Japanese army relieved the Siege of the International Legations in Beijing and crushed the Yihetuan uprising. The Boxer Protocol of 7 September 1901 led to the executions of the Qing officials who had supported the Boxers, the stationing of foreign troops in Beijing, and a 39-year indemnity of $10 billion worth of silver to be paid to the foreign powers by the Qing government.

History[]

The "Boxers" was a name given to a secret society known as the I-ho-chuan ("Righteous and Harmonious Fists") after their use of boxing rituals that they believed would make them impervious to bullets. The Boxers targeted foreigners - especially missionaries - and their strength in northern China grew along with foreign aggression in the area. Their message soon made its way to Beijing. In 1898, the new government persuaded the Boxers to support the Qing dynasty against foreign influence. By 1899, bands of Boxers were roaming the countryside around Beijing and, with the implicit backing of the Empress Dowager, Christians were attacked and churches burned. In June 1900 a multinational force was sent in to quell the rebellion. They were repelled by imperial troops and the Empress Dowager ordered the killing of all foreigners. Among others, a German minister and a Japanese diplomat were killed. A larger force finally captured Beijing in August, saving the foreigners and Chinese Christians who had been holed up inside the city's Catholic cathedral. The Empress Dowager fled to the country and left her princes to negotiate a bitter peace. All antiforeignism was to be suppressed and foreign troops would now be stationed at every important junction between Beijing and Shanghai. The Qing Empire's humiliation was total.

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