The Society of Righteous and Harmonious Fists were a secret group of people from the Northern Province of China, Shandong. Foreigners called them Boxers because they were very well trained in martial arts and athletic. The Boxers believed that they could be safe from swords and bullets, through tough training, prayer, and a good diet. The Boxers also thought that they would be able fly if they trained hard enough.
Following the Open-Door Policy, Europeans accounted for a large percentage of the people in China’s large cities. The Boxers were upset that missionaries were coming into their country and converting the people of China to Christianity. Many of the secret groups made a pledge that they would get rid of the missionaries and other foreigners at the cost of their own lives. They called the foreigners “foreign devils.”The Taiyuan Massacre was a very infamous part of the Rebellion. At the Taiyuan Massacre, 222 Chinese Eastern Orthodox Christians were murdered, as well as 182 Protestant missionaries and 500 Protestants from China. The Boxers did many massacres just like this one because they did not like that foreigners were bringing Christianity into China. The Boxers also set fire to places where the foreigners were stationed. The Boxers controlled Beijing from June 20 to August 14, 1900.
In August of 1900, many troops from the countries of Great Britain, France, Germany, Japan, and the United States came into Beijing in hopes of defeating the Boxers. After the forces from these countries had been in China for two months they had defeated the Boxers, which put an end to the Boxer Rebellion. During this span of two months thousands of Chinese people died. The Boxer Protocol brought an end to the Boxer Rebellion. The nations that helped China defeat the Boxers signed it; this settlement made China pay the countries that helped them fight for the damages that they received.
Through doing this project I learned what the Boxer Rebellion was. I think that the cause of the Boxers was good, but I think that they should have handled the situation in a very different way. I believe that the Boxers had a good reason to be upset because foreigners were coming into their country and trying to take control of China’s people. I think that the Open- Door Policy should have had limitations on what the foreigners coming into the country could do.Sources:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boxer_Rebellionhttp://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq86-1.htmChapter 10 Section 3 of Online Textbook
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