During the 19th Century China was forced to sit back and watch as foreign powers invaded their land. These powers created so called spheres of influence in which countries would control and sometimes claim land in China. Emperors of China were nearly defenseless as the countries invaded using new technology and defeated entire armies of defending Chinese soldiers.Spheres of Influence in China
Once the U.S. acquired land in the Philippines they also wished to get in on the strong trade and resources of China. However the other countries in their spheres of influence had other ideas since most of the territory was already claimed. This made the United States very mad because China had one of the best selections of resources for a country to get a hold of.In my opinion everyone was taking advantage of their military might over China and stealing resources from the Chinese who would need these to modernize.The United States wanted so badly to get into China that they proposed an Open Door Policy to all of the other countries controlling areas of China. This Policy proposed that every country had equal rights to use and trade Chinese resources. It also said that China would be recognized as its own territory and wouldn’t be carved up between nations. All of the nations replied to this saying that they liked it but they never formally accepted this proposal. This policy was limited to just the current spheres of influence.As all of this is happening the empress of China issued a message to all that they should try to make peace with the foreigners. However most of the people didn’t want to make peace they wanted to drive these powers out. As a result of this a secret society formally named the Fists of Righteous Harmony. The powers called them Boxers as they studied martial arts.Boxers attacking Missionaries
Many people quickly joined the Boxers and their goal right away was to overthrow Empress Dowager Tsu Hsi. She quickly talked to their leaders and convinced them to fight for her and drive out the foreigners. The invading powers were convinced that the practices these fighters used caused them to be invulnerable to bullets and could call spirits to fight for them.The Boxers form small groups and roam the countryside. These groups target Christian Missions and slaughter missionaries and newly converted Christians. They moved toward larger cities on their way to the capital of China. Once they reached the capital city the foreign emissaries in a compound outside the city become very frightened. They desperately plead with the Empress to protect them and she tells them she will. However they didn’t know they were fighting for her and nearly 20,000 Boxers attack the small military force summoned by the emissaries.The emissaries were able to hold out against the Boxers because of their superior weaponry. However they were pinned down in their compound for nearly a month with low food and supplies. However the powers got suspicious after a month with no messages for them. They finally launched a force that fought Boxers all the way to the capital city to rescue their ministers and eventually saved those who had survived.Foreign Armies in the capital
After the emissaries were rescued they turned their attentions to the rest of the Boxers in the capital. They wiped out most of them and the rest fled. The Empress fled the capital as a peasant and returned a year later to find the Ch’ing dynasty defeated forever.I believe that the Boxers had a righteous cause and they were just overpowed by the foreigners but given enought time they could have overpowed the foreign people with shear numbers.The United States then proposed a new Open Door Policy which expanded to all of the China. This proposal was accepted eagerly and protected the Chinese territory. This went on until WW2 when it was dismissed.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boxer_Rebellionhttp://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h908.htmlhttp://www.smplanet.com/imperialism/fists.html
Comments