The Boxer Rebellion

 

The Boxer Rebellion

Paola Torres

 

  After Japanese victory in the war between China and Japan over Korea, Chinese were forced to give Korea independence and give Japan territory in Manchuria. Russians were not very happy with this and with the support of France and Germany, forced the Japanese to return the territory, then demanded that China give them “leasehold” (China would keep ownership of territory but hand control to foreign country) over the territory. Soon after that, different countries such as Germany, France, and Britain also started demanding “leaseholds” over other Chinese territories that would give them control of the economic development of that specific territory.

 

  Nearing the end of the 1800’s, there was a lot of western influence in China because of the territories other foreign countries had a lease on. Some of the Chinese called the westerners “foreign devils”. There was one group in particular called “The Harmonious Fists”, also known as, The Boxers; they wanted to get rid of foreigners and western influence more than anybody. In 1899, they began attacking foreigners, and either killing them or taking them hostage. By 1900, the boxer’s momentum had escalated and the situation reached its breaking point when the German ambassador to China was killed. The nations of Germany, Austria-Hungary, Britain, France, Italy, Japan, Russia, and the United States decided that enough was enough and an intervention was greatly needed. They gathered an army of about 50,000 and were successful in subduing the Boxers. Secretary of State John Hay convinced British diplomats to have China pay $450 million for damages instead of dividing it.