An anti-foreigner attack led by the Chinese peasants, and supported by the Empress Dowager Cixi

Causes:

• Humiliation by foreign powers as they extended their control over China’s economy

  • undermined the authority of the Qing => anger

• Missionaries sent by foreign powers (Europe)

  • replacement of traditional Confucianism and Buddhism with Christianity

• Hatred of ‘foreign devils’

  • religion and technology (railways + telephone lines)

• Cixi encouraged attacks to avoid criticism of imperialism

  => Emperor Guangxu attempted to modernise to end criticism by granting concessions to foreigners

Events:

• The Boxers began attacking foreigners and Christians

• Attacks spread from Shangdong (E) to Shanxi (NE)

• In Beijing, the German ambassador von Ketteler was killed

  => Westerners retreated into the British legion

• Cixi declared war but couldn’t defeat the legion’s defences

• International force of 20,000 (mostly Japanese) defeated the Boxers, ending their 55 day siege

Consequences:

• Cixi had to accept a humiliating treaty to regain the throne

  • $67M in reparation over 37 years => taxes had to be raised

  • military fortifications and weapons arsenal to be destroyed

  • 10 officials executed at court

  • foreign troops permanently in Beijing

• Authority of the Qing damaged

  • failure => not able to free China from foreign control

    => more revolutionary ways sought to achieve this aim

• Cixi was convinced reforms must happen

  => reforms would be unsuccessful => fall of the Qing Dynasty