Boxers Rise: China Fights Foreign Domination
The Boxer Uprising reached its crisis point in the summer of 1900 when militants of the Society of Righteous and Harmonious Fists, supported by elements of the Qing imperial court, besieged foreign legations in Beijing for 55 days. The Boxers, originally an anti-Qing movement, redirected their fury toward foreign missionaries, Chinese Christians, and the technological symbols of Western imperialism (railroads, telegraph lines). Empress Dowager Cixi declared war on all foreign powers on June 21. An eight-nation relief expedition of 20,000 troops fought its way from Tianjin to Beijing, lifting the siege on August 14. The Boxer Protocol of 1901 imposed a crippling indemnity of 450 million taels of silver and allowed foreign troops to be permanently stationed in Beijing.
June 13, 1900
126 years ago
Key Figures & Places
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