August 14, 1900, 125 years ago: The Siege of the International Legations is broken by an "Eight-Nation Alliance." It is a turning point in the Chinese uprising that had become known as the "Boxer Rebellion."
After the Sino-Japanese War of 1895, villagers in North China feared the expansion of foreign spheres of influence, and resented the extension of privileges to Christian missionaries, who used them to shield their followers. In 1898, Northern China experienced several natural disasters, including the Yellow River flooding and droughts, which the uprisers blamed on foreign and Christian influence.
In objection to this influence, the Society of Righteous and Harmonious Fists -- Yìhéquán -- was formed. They were anti-foreign, anti-colonial, and anti-Christian. The use of "fists" in the name led to them being called "Boxers" in English, and to their uprising being called the Boxer Rebellion.
Beginning with the Battle of Senlou Temple on October 18, 1899, the Boxers clashed with troops of the federal government, ruled by the Qing Dynasty, officially led by the Guangxu Emperor, but actually led by his aunt, the Empress Dowager Cixi, widow of the Xianfeng Emperor.
The Boxers spread violence across Shandong and the North China Plain, destroying foreign property such as railroads, and attacking or murdering Christian missionaries and Chinese Christians. The events came to a head in June 1900 when Boxer fighters, convinced they were invulnerable to foreign weapons, converged on Beijing with the slogan "Support the Qing government and exterminate the foreigners."
Diplomats, missionaries, soldiers and some Chinese Christians took refuge in the diplomatic Legation Quarter in Peking. China has always called the city "Beijing," meaning "Northern Capital," but this name wasn't widely used in the West until Deng Xiaoping began insisting on it in 1979. Nanjing, meaning "Southern Capital," had previously been called "Nanking" by the West.
An Eight-Nation Alliance of American, Austro-Hungarian, British, French, German, Italian, Japanese and Russian troops moved into China to lift the siege, and on June 17, stormed the Dagu Fort at Tianjin. The Empress Dowager, who had initially been hesitant, now supported the Boxers. On June 21, she issued an Imperial Decree declaring war on the invading powers.
The Alliance, after initially being turned back by the Imperial Chinese military and Boxer militia, brought 20,000 armed troops to China. They defeated the Imperial Army in Tianjin, and arrived in Beijing on August 14, relieving the Siege of the International Legations. Plunder of the capital and the surrounding countryside ensued, along with summary execution of those suspected of being Boxers in retribution.
The Qing dynasty's handling of the Boxer Rebellion further weakened their control over China, and led the dynasty to attempt major governmental reforms in the aftermath. It didn't work, and the Chinese monarchy fell in 1911.
