Saeculorium #6
⚔️ Battles & Wars #2 ⚔️

The Boxer Rebellion

The amount of blood spilled in Chinese history is arguably more than any other nation in the world, and, in fact, 6 of 10 of our civilization’s most vicious wars (relative to the time) were Chinese. The Boxer Rebellion, or Boxer Uprising / Boxer Movement (義和團運動), is a grim and sudden example of this.

The Boxers, or Yihetuan, were a group of anti-imperialist, anti-Christian, and anti-foreign nationalists (who were officially named Society of Righteous and Harmonious Fists) who gained popularity in the late 19th century. These martial artists and radical extremists blamed natural disasters and government misfortunes on the growing influence of rival religions and foreign embassies in their country, growing particularly fast at this time as industrialization and globalization swept across the modernizing world.

Convinced of their own immortality, they would kill and raid missionary camps across China, eventually converging on Beijing (romanized at the time as “Peking”) to besiege the Legation Quarter, where foreign embassies and religious ambassadors took refuge. To aid their countrymen, the Eight-Nation Alliance – comprised primarily of American, Austro-Hungarian, British, French, German, Italian, Japanese, and Russian government officials – would invade, prompting an eventual declaration of war by the Qing government, at the time headed by Empress Dowager Cixi. Groups diverged, and allegiances formed, splitting the country in two in a bloody civil war, mixed with one of the largest coalitions of organized nation invasions.

After the 55-day siege was relieved by the allied forces, the city was, of course, promptly plundered and sacked. The Boxer rebellion was crushed under muskets, bayonets, and Gatling guns, plowing men down in thousands, staining the streets red. The war ended with the rebellion’s defeat and the submission of the Qing government. Demanding extremely high reparations to be paid over an extent of 39 years, the alliance crippled China’s economy. With this loss and lack of proper handling, the Qing Dynasty, the last imperial dynasty, would eventually collapse in another rebellion, about a decade later.

In this uprising, tens of thousands would die, with an estimation of up to ~120,000, comprised mostly of civilians, nationalists, and imperial troops, with very few being of foreign nationality, despite the large presence of troops. China was divided into pieces by the victorious powers, and even though the occupation would eventually end, the damage was done. The Eight-Nation Alliance had won a landslide victory.

Unfortunately for this formidable band of nations, once working for a common cause, many would be locked in a devastating world war not even 14 years later, with almost 22 million lost in one of the worst wars humanity may ever know.

Links & Information:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boxer_Rebellion
https://origins.osu.edu/read/boxer-rebellion

Related Music:
55 Days at Peking Compilation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eq8Hy7527fc

Featured Images:
1. Photo of nation representatives
2. Boxer & allied movement map
3. Painting of a battle between Boxers & Marines