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Boxers
Rebellion (03) :
 ...The
international force finally captured Tianjin on July 14 under the
command of the Japanese colonel Kuriya, after one day of fighting.
Notable exploits during the
campaign were the seizure of the Taku Forts commanding the approaches
to Tianjin, and the boarding and capture of four Chinese destroyers by
Roger Keyes.
In general, the march, about
120 km, from Tianjin to Beijing by the allies, on August 4, was not
particularly harsh despite approximately 70,000 Imperial troops and
anywhere from 50,000 to 100,000 Boxers along the way. They only
encountered minor resistance and a battle was engaged in Yangcun,
about 30 km outside Tianjin, where the 14th Infantry Regiment of the
U.S. and British troops led the assault. However, the weather was a
major obstacle, extremely humid with temperatures sometimes reaching
110 degrees Fahrenheit (43 Celsius).
The International force reached
and occupied Beijing on August 14.
The United States was able to
play a secondary, but significant, role in suppressing the Boxer
Rebellion because of the large number of American ships and troops
deployed in the Philippines as a result of the U.S. conquest of the
islands during the Spanish American War (1898) and the subsequent
Philippine-American War. In the United States military, the
suppression of the Boxer Rebellion was known as the China Relief
Expedition.
Aftermath
 Troops
from most nations engaged in plunder, looting and occasionally rape.
German troops in particular were criticized for their enthusiasm in
carrying out Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany's July 27 order to "make
the name German remembered in China for a thousand years so that no
Chinaman will ever again dare to even squint at a German." This
speech, in which Wilhelm invoked the memory of the 5th century Huns,
gave rise to the British derogatory name "Hun" for their
German enemy during World War I.
On September 7, 1901, the Qing
court was compelled to sign the "Boxer Protocol", also known
as Peace Agreement between the Eight-Nation Alliance and China,
undertaking to execute ten officials linked to the outbreak and to pay
war reparations of $333 million. Some of it was later earmarked by
both Britain and the U.S. for the education of Chinese students at
overseas institutions, subsequently forming the basis of Tsinghua
University. The British signatory of the Protocol was Sir Ernest
Satow.
The imperial government's
humiliating failure to defend China against the foreign powers
contributed to the growth of nationalist resentment against the "foreigner"
Qing dynasty (who were descendant of the Manchu conquerers of China)
and an increasing feeling for modernization, which was to culminate a
decade later in the dynasty's overthrow and the establishment of the
Republic of China.
 The
foreign privileges which had angered Chinese people were largely
cancelled in the 1930s and 1940s.
Russia had meanwhile been busy
(October 1900) occupying much of the north-eastern province of
Manchuria, a move which threatened Anglo-American hopes of maintaining
what remained of China's territorial integrity and an openness to
commerce (the "Open Door Policy") to all comers, but paid
the concept only lip service.
This behavior led ultimately to
a disastrous Russian defeat (conflict) at the hands of an increasingly
confident Japan (1904-1905), as they maintained garrisons and improved
fortifications between Port Arthur and Harbin along the southern spur
line of the Manchurian Railway constructed on their leased lands.
Results
During the incident, 48
Catholic missionaries and 18,000 Chinese Catholics were murdered. 222
Chinese Eastern Orthodox Christians were also murdered, along with 182
Protestant missionaries and 500 Chinese Protestants...
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