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Chinese Boxer Rebellion 1900 |
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This is perhaps the most well-known and certainly the most glamorised of the conflicts between China and European powers. This was aided by the hostilities being recorded for the first time on moving film. Early films showing rather comical and fanciful re-enactments of the major episodes of the war, shot in England, also helped to popularise this distant, minor and one-sided war. The conflict and its location was further promoted and romanticised in the 1963 Hollywood film 55 Days at Peking, starring Ava Gardner, Charlton Heston and David Niven, depicting China as exotic, strange, sensual and dangerous.
For most of the 19th century China had been plundered by Western powers, including Japan and Russia, of its silver, silk and cultural artefacts due to inequitable trading agreements and contrived wars. As a result of these wars foreign powers had gained control of several Chinese territories, extorted high war reparations and coerced further trading concessions. China was unable to respond being militarily weak, crippled by an old feudal, dynastic political regime and lacking modern industries.
The Boxers, whose origin began in the 18th century, were a secret society vehemently opposed to this foreign interference in Chinese sovereignty. The Boxers or ‘The Righteous and Harmonious Fists’ were a quasi religious society who practiced a martial art similar to shadow boxing believing it to develop magical powers making them impervious to pain or even bullets. They sought to restore China’s autonomous control through an ideology of a return to traditional values and practices, and therefore totally against anything foreign or Christian, summarised by their slogan ‘Support the Qing Dynasty and Kill the Foreigners.’
The rebellion started in Manchuria (Shandong) and spread as a popular peasant uprising eventually reaching and congregating in Peking (Beijing). The revolt was initially directed against their own weak, foreign-controlled government. The Empress Dowager Tz’u-hsi had condemned their protests from its outset, but from 1897, with the rebellion steadily becoming more violent, she skilfully re-directed their revolt against foreigners. By 1900 the Boxers, now strengthened by government troops, had increased their attacks against foreigners. The Empress, although not encouraging the increasing lawlessness, made no attempt to suppress the Boxer attacks on Chinese Christians and foreign property. In May 1900 this culminated in the murder of two missionaries.
Then in June further atrocities were committed when a Japanese embassy official and the German Minister were murdered, followed by attacks on foreign embassies. This compelled the foreign powers to order the mobilisation of 2,000 troops to act as a defensive force. This force, commanded by Admiral Sir Edward Seymour, was formed from eight nationalities, of which 900 were British, stationed on warships near Tienstin (Tianjin). Unfortunately these troops only reached to within thirty miles of Peking before meeting stiff Boxer opposition and so were forced to retreat back towards the coast, along with their 280 casualties. This column, however, experienced successful actions at Lang-fan and captured the arsenal at His-ku on 22nd June and held it until relieved.
At the coast allied seaman and marines successfully captured the Taku forts on the 17th June that guarded the river mouth leading to Peking. This assault provoked the Chinese government into a declaration of war and issued an ultimatum for diplomats to leave the city within 24 hours. This they refused to do and so, on the 20th June, the siege began of Peking’s Embassy Quarter, together with ransacking and burning of any undefended embassy. Diplomats from eight countries, foreign civilians and troops, missionaries together with 3,000 Chinese Christians all took refuse there, defended by only 2,400 lightly-armed troops and civilians.
In answer to another plea from the besieged embassies a more formidable allied relief-force was mustered consisting this time of 20,000 men, (including 3,000 British), with General Sir Alfred Gaselee in overall command. On the 4th August the relief-force started its advance using the Pei-Ho River as the main form of transport. On route to Peking the force defeated the Boxers at Pei Tsang on the 5th, Yang Tsun (6th) and Tungchow (12th) reaching the outskirts of Peking the same day. During the final advance they encountered stiff Chinese resistance, but eventually Peking was relieved on the 14th. The following day the allies penetrated the imperial Forbidden City to find the Empress Dowager and Emperor had fled. The siege had lasted nearly eight weeks from 20th June to 14th August (55days), with 64 men and 12 civilians killed with nearly a combined total of 200 wounded.
On 7th September 1901 China was compelled to sign the Peace Protocol of Peking and yet again had to accept heavy war reparations, further commercial concessions and to tolerate more foreign troops. Although this rebellion had been lost in a one-sided battle it had far-reaching consequences for China. This treaty undermined China’s sovereignty and made the government a hapless pawn of foreign powers but, in doing so, ushered in long overdue internal reforms, both politically and economically. | |
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