The Boxer Rebellion, 1899-1901

ODUMUNC 2017 Issue Brief

Historical Crisis

by Sean McGuffin

Old Dominion University Model United Nations

Contents

I. Immediate Situation

II. China and the Qing Dynasty

III. The Siege of the Legations in the Capital

IV. Backstory

a. First Opium War

b. Foreign Presence in China and The Unequal Treaties

V. The Qing Empire and the Empress Dowager Cixi

VI. China’s Modernized Forces

VII. The Boxers

VIII. Foreign Powers

IX. Foreign Competition and Cooperation

X. Bibliography

I. Immediate Situation

The day is 21 June 1900. Long-simmering

tensions between the Chinese Empress, Chinese

nationalists and occupying foreign governments

and their militaries have reached a critical point.

The future of Chinese sovereignty and foreign

imperial rule is at stake. Who will rule China,

foreign government or the government of China,

the Chinese Emperor or a new democratic

government? In the chaos of the Chinese streets,

nothing is certain. These disputes will determine

China’s ability to rule itself, the power of

foreign empires, the nature of the international

system, and the outlook for future world

conflict. How they are resolved seems certain to

shape Chinese and world history for generations.

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The immediate catalyst for action came five

days ago, when foreign powers attacked and

stormed the Chinese Imperial Forts at Taku.

With rampaging mobs of Chinese nationalists

patrolling the streets, confronting and sometimes

attacking foreigners, especially foreign officials

but also traders and missionaries, the situation

has become tense and dangerous. Yesterday the

German ambassador was assassinated in streets

of the national capital, Peking. Today Empress

Dowager Cixi issued an imperial decree

declaring war on the invading foreigners from

France, Germany, Great Britain, Japan, Russia,

the Untitled States, and all other foreign powers

in China.

Meanwhile, a radical group of nationalist

mystics, called the Boxers, has risen up in

several major cities. They are leading protests

and violent rampages against foreign targets

across the country. Despite the legal

requirements of sovereign immunity and the

extraterritoriality of their embassies to China

under international law, foreign diplomats and

their families are currently besieged inside the

capital. They are requesting military forces from

their home governments to invade Peking,

rescue them and assure their safety. But the

Boxers appear to have the sympathy or support

of the imperial Qing government, which sees

them as a useful tool in its effort to restore the

sovereignty of the Government of China. No one

know how the Chinese Imperial Government,

the Boxers or foreign powers will respond.

II. China and the Qing Dynasty

For hundreds of years the Qing Dynasty has

ruled China, but the past few decades have seen

China dominated by foreign powers who extract

profit out of their respective sphere of influence.

These spheres are zones where each power has

exclusive rights to exploit the country side how

it wishes. Angered by years of such mal

treatment and humiliation the Empress has now

joined forces with a group of violent

reactionaries known by many names, such as:

the Righteous and Harmonious Fists, the

Yihetuan, and in the West the Boxers. This

group of mostly peasant farmers is united by

their hatred of foreigners, and are determined to

not only expel, but destroy any all outsiders and

domestic collaborators in the country. Originally

the imperial government was killing and

repressing the Boxers, viewing them as a threat

to its authority, but soon began to see their

value. In an effort to intimidate the Empress into

crushing the Boxers, the foreign powers attacked

and captured a group of forts at the coastal

harbor of Taku, but this backfired. Infuriated on

the 21

of June, 1900 the Empress declared war

on all foreign power demanding they leave the

country at once, and joined forces with the

would be rebels. However; this is by no means

agreed upon in China.

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The foreign powers have competed and

collaborated to with one another to dominate

China using their superior weaponry, but they

have never faced a challenge such as this, whole

regions are imbued with a passionate hate of the

foreign. The Boxers roam in large groups across

northern China, but have so far only gained real

support in Shandong and Zhili provinces. There

the Boxers have moved from town to town,

destroying churches and beginning to eliminate

as many of the 230,000 Chinese Christians and

their European missionaries as they can.

III. The Siege in the Capital

The most immediate threats the foreign powers

should be concerned about is the fate of their

troops, civilians, and diplomats under siege in

the Capital Peking. Called the Legation quarter

this is where Russia, Great Britain, Germany,

France, Japan, the Untitled States, and others

have built their embassies, and is right in the

middle of the Chinese capital. Now trapped with

their with their families, and hundreds of

Chinese Christian refugees, the Legation Quarter

as it is are known, is protected by only a handful

of soldiers, surrounded by enemy troops deep

inside the country. It is unknown how long they

can last, and what may happen to them if they

are defeated.

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IV. Backstory

First Opium War: Foreigners from the West

have been in China for centuries, as daring

individuals looking for profit, adventure, and

religious converts crossed half the globe to make

it to the middle kingdom; yet those that survived

the journey were few, and didn’t effect China in

a serious way. Those days however have come

to an end. As the Industrial Revolution took

hold, Westerners continually wanted more

access to China. Merchants saw a fortune to be

made in the tea, silk, and porcelain trade, and

Christian missionaries were eager to convert the

Confusion and Buddhist Chinese. China allowed

this, but only in part. Christian missionaries

were forbidden from preaching, and trade was

restricted to only the port of Canton through the

state monopoly. Even with these restrictions

foreign powers rushed to trade with China, but

continually protested the strict regulations.

Viewing the massive potential for profit, Britain

began to trade Opium in China, despite the

China’s demand that it be stopped. Britain

continual pedaling of Opium, and its desire to

break the restrictive trade regulations led

directly to the First Opium War, during which

Britain used its superior tactics and technology

to smash all Chinese opposition. Given no

choice China conceded defeat and China was

forced to submit to the first of what became

known as the unequal treaties.

Foreign Presence in China and The Unequal

Treaties: The Unequal Treaties were a series of

humiliating agreements China was forced into

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begging at the end of the first Opium War. The

treaties demanded China give up large portions

of its sovereignty to foreigners on its soil.

Foreigners inside China had special

extraterritoriality rights, or in other words they

were not subject to Chinese laws in China. If

any foreigner, or Chinese Chastain convert for

that matter, was charged with a crime they

would be judged by their nearest embassy or

consulate, and not local officials. Each of the

foreign powers carved bits of territory from

China, the most prominent being:

 Britain at: Hong Kong, Weihaiwei,

Tientsin (part of the city),

 France: Zhanjiang, Tientsin (part of the

city),

 Germany: Kiautschou Bay,

 Japan: Korea, Taiwan,

 Russia: Harbin, Dalian (Port Arthur).

Additionally China had to give missionaries the

right to preach anywhere in China, and they

were forced to accept trade terms that made the

foreign powers a fortune. Later Chinese history

would call this the century of humiliation.

V. The Qing Empire and the Empress

Dowager Cixi

China has been ruled by the Qing dynasty for

hundreds of years, first coming to power in

1644. Four the last 40 years China and the Qing

have been dominated by one women, the

Empress Dowager Cixi. First rising to

prominence as the favorite wife of one of the

Emperors, when that Emperor died in 1861 she

ruled the empire in her son’s name until he was

old enough to rule himself. Yet when he too died

in adolescence, her four year old nephew was

chosen to become the next Emperor, and Cixi

maneuvered her way so that she would rule “in

his name” until he came of age as well. Once

finally deemed old enough to rule at the age of

18, the new emperor, Guangxu, would enjoy

almost no real power as Cixi continued to

influence the government through a network of

corruption, spies, and well placed friends.

In 1898 the Emperor Guangxu finally tried to

escape Cixi grasp and embarked on a trail of

reforms that fatefully become known as the “100

Days Reform.” Guangxu intended to reform the

government to redistribute power more along the

lines of a European constitutional monarchy. He

also wanted to eliminate the extreme corruption

present in China that made everything inefficient

by opening up the government.

The Emperor knew his largest obstacle

would be his aunt, the Empress Dowager Cixi.

While Cixi believed in modernizing the military

and some technological advancement, she was a

stubborn conservative supporter of the old social

order. To remove her once and for all the

Emperor Guangxu planned to assassinate Cixi,

but mistakenly trusted the influential General

Yuan Shikia with his plans. Yuan quickly

betrayed the Emperor’s plot to Cixi. She then

moved quickly to oust the Emperor in a military

coup, supported by Dong Fuxiang, Prince Duan,

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and her favorite General Ronglu. Within a day

Emperor Guangxu was placed on permanent

house arrest, the reforms were immediately

halted, and many of the leading reformers were

executed. The Guangxu Emperor would watch

with anger as the Boxers continued to grow and

consume the countryside.

The leadership of China was split on how it

viewed the coup. Some leading officials

believed they were necessary and wanted things

to change so China can keep up with the rest of

the world. Others accepted that China needed a

modern military and industry, but flat out

rejected any attempt to change Chinese society

or power structure. Most of those in the capital

and all those close to Cixi supported the coup;

some even recommended assassinating the

Emperor, like the extremely conservative Prince

Duan. However, many of the powerful Viceroys

in southern China like Li Hongzhang, and Liu

Kunyi, who controlled large modern garrisons of

their own, demanded that the Emperor’s life be

saved. As the country drifted towards war with

the foreigner, and Cixi issued her declaration of

war, it was still unclear to many of the most

powerful officials in China where they stood.

Some were torn is issues surrounding the coup,

other were reformists that admired the foreign

powers, others saw the upstart Boxers a greater

threat to China then the foreign and were

hesitant to fight side by side with the peasants.

VI. Early Chinese Modernization

As mentioned the Empress Dowager Cixi did

support some modernization. Just after China’s

defeat in the Second Opium War in 1860 China

set out upon a massive program of

modernization called the “Self-Strengthening

Movement.” It founded universities and built

factories, but was primarily focused on

upgrading the military. The program erected

numerous arsenals, foundries, and naval yards

across China to allow it to produce modern

firearms, ships, and cannon. Yet, while they

were capable of producing modern weapons

they were inefficient and often cost just as much,

if not more, than purchasing weapons directly

from other nations. Through purchases and

domestic production the government has

stockpiled large amounts of modern weapons in

stockpiles hidden across that country in case of

emergency.

The army was extremely obsolete and in

desperate need of reorganization. Some parts of

the Chinese military were still called up in an

almost feudal fashion. China still maintains the

“8 Banners,” which are units divided by

ethnicity and staffed based by the ancestors of

the original Qing nobles and loyalists. The other

pillar of the Qing military is the “Green

Standard Army.” This was an entirely Han

Chinese formation that was used for day to day

policing of the empire. By the 19th century both

of these units were obsolete both technologically

and structurally. The 8 Banners has turned into

more of a bureaucracy than a fighting force,

costing the Empire a fortune in salaries and

consistent of many unnecessary officer

positions. The Green Standard Army is scattered

across China. Used for every role from border

patrol, to tax collection, to rebel suppression.

The scattered and unfocused nature of the Green

Standard Army has almost depleted its

effectiveness as a real fighting force. To add to

both of their difficulties both of them use more

obsolete weapons.

Through the Self-Strengthening Movement

this system gave way to a new type of army. The

best formations are those equipped with modern

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weapons, and trained by Europeans, because

even when Chinese troops have been properly

equipped in the past, without the proper training,

they have been no match for the equally

equipped, but their far more disciplined foreign

counterparts. Many commanders, Viceroys, and

nobles started to recruit and train their own units

for specific tasks. One of these new unties was

the Guards Army, or Wuwei Troop. Separated

into 5 divisions each is equipped and trained in

the latest European fashion, and compose the

core of the Imperial Army around the Capital.

Ronglu, Yuan Shikia, Nie Shicheng, and Dong

Fuxiang are all command different components

of this army. Each of the 3 most powerful

viceroy’s of Southern China Li Hongzhang,

Zhang Zhidong, and Liu Kunyi also have their

own well trained and equipped forces. The

quality of the different divisions and the garrison

troops vary.

VII. The Boxers

The origins of the Boxers aren’t entirely certain.

First arising as a secretive society based off a

spiritual form of martial arts, the Boxers turned

into a political organization sometime in the

1890s. The group grew rapidly in the past two

years, 1897-1898, as a drought and then a flood

ravaged much of northern China, especially the

provinces of Shandong and Zhili that are now

the heartland of Boxer support. Blaming the

terrible circumstances on evil foreigners the

Boxers seemed to have an answer to those

Chines peasants who have lost everything, and

are scared of the changing time. The Boxers

stance was based on three main principles,

xenophobia tied to Confucianism, violence, and

a strong genuine belief in mysticism.

Boxers tie their xenophobia (The hatred of

foreigners) to old Chines Confucianism

(Specifically the concept of Li for those

interested). Confucianism is central to Chinese

life and is based off of several key relationships,

like those inside families, and between rulers

and ruled. This tied together the community who

also practiced veneration of ancestral spirits that

are tied to the land. From the Boxers point of

view, as Churches, railroads, and telegraph wires

literally poison to the country, and invites angry

spirits to bring misfortune to China. These

destabilizing forces upset the relationships that

have been constructed up over the centuries, and

has led to violent reactions. The Boxers think the

railroads shake the graves of their forefathers,

and that telegraph line rust is poison in air. This

is why the Boxers view all foreigners, and

foreign things, as the source of all the wrong

doing in China, and urge the destruction of

anything/one foreign in order to make China

great again.

Violence is the only method the Boxers

know (or to be fair have available) to remove the

foreigners and effect change. Until recently they

would occasionally burn down a church or

ambush a merchant out in the country side, but

now that the central government has all but

endorsed the Boxers, they have gone on a riot

across Northern China. Every church, foreign

store, and railroad they come across has been put

to the torch as they begin to from up around the

major cities. This rampage has turned violent

against people as well; any foreigner or Chinese

Christian caught is usually immediately killed.

While there have only been a few foreigners hurt

to date, that number of Chinese Christian is now

in the thousands.

Magic is a strong and genuine part of

the Boxer belief system, and is one of the ways

the Boxers have grown so rapidly. They state

that 100 days of constant training in their form

of spiritual martial arts can make someone

impervious to foreign weapons, and after 200

days they can fly. A common spectacle in

Boxer recruitment drives is to secretly fire blank

bullets at a Boxer commander, after receiving no

wounds from the shot the crowds are mystified

and join in their hundreds.

Another group that is central to the Boxer

system is its female branch called the Red

Lanterns. These mostly young women in their

late teens are said to have and impressive array

of mystical powers, the ability to fly, blow fire

with their fans, and heal wounds. The Boxers are

actually quite respectful of women, and often

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rely upon the Red Lanterns for organization, but

they have never been seen in combat.

At current, the masses of Boxer volunteers

are beginning to stream in from the fields and

congregate in the major urban areas around

Peking and Tianjin, with other significant

contingents near Jinan; while their numbers are

large and exact figure is unknown. Armed with

whatever they can find they are not very

effective fighters, but are very eager. They are

generally commanded by the two most notable

Boxer leaders Cao Futian & Ni Zanqin, but since

the Boxers are a volunteer group of illiterate

armed peasants in from the fields, an exact break

down of command (if it can be called that), or

any exact number of Boxers (which are large) is

informal and loose at best.

VIII. Foreign Powers

The first concern of foreign powers is the fate of

their diplomats, civilians, and soldiers in trapped

inside the capital. They have food and arms to

hold out for some time, but their exact status is

unknown. At the moment the foreign powers

have around 3,000 troops combined on the coast

by the Taku Forts with naval support.

Each of the foreign powers has access to

different sources of strength, and will be able to

draw upon different resources. While many of

the representatives from the foreign powers have

very prominent positions they do not have

unchecked access to every resources of their

nation as each government will only allow a

certain amount of resources to be dedicated to

China. But, home governments can be

influenced, and public relations swayed to

convince each representative’s home

government to release more resources.

X.Competition & Cooperation

The foreign powers are by no means a unified

block. While they are convening to deal with

this threat, each has their own goals in China,

and many of them are actively competing with

one another.

Britain is by far the strongest power in Asia

(and knows it), and has the most to gain from

things remaining as they are. Britain has had

issues with each of its European counter parts. It

has feared Russian expansion for decades and

has looked to check it where ever possible. With

France, Britain has had warmer relations lately,

but has almost gone to war over issues in Africa

twice; then with Germany building a fleet at a

frightful pace Britain views that country’s

growing world presence as a possible threat.

With these less than ideal relations with the rest

of Europe Britain has become closer to Japan.

Britain can call upon her positions in India and

Africa to support her efforts in China

France’s international relations are also lack

luster. Its relations with Britain are peaceful at

the moment, but France is all too aware that

Britain is its main competitor for empire on the

world stage. It has begun to grow what may

become an alliance with Russia, who also is

without many friends internationally. After their

embarrassing defeat by the German Empire,

France considers Germany its mortal enemy, and

has gone out of its way to block German

ambitions on many occasions; due to this

embarrassment France has taken aggressive

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foreign policy to make up for lost ground. It also

sees its self as the protector of Catholics in

China and has gone out of its way to protect

persecuted Catholics in China in the past. France

has been fighting for years in Indo-China and

has many ports around the world.

Germany is the newest of the great powers.

With the most powerful army in Europe it is

trying to break out and make its name on the

world stage, but this is often mistaken for

cockiness. Though old friends with the Russian

Empire it is starting to find itself fearful of the

gigantic country, it recently fought France, but

wants that better relations with that country to

avoid a possible two front war in the future.

Though late to the game of empire building

Germany snatched a few in colonies, and has its

own base in China. Still woefully behind

Germany has vocally announced its willingness

to divided China into colonies between the great

powers. The German emperor has personally

called on his troops to avenge the murder of

their diplomats in China. Germany’s base at

Kiautschou Bay is the only friendly port is has in

Asia, and has difficulty bring resources over

from Europe or its positions in Africa.

Japan is a new country in the modern sense,

having only come out of extreme isolation 50

years ago, but is clearly a rising power in Asia.

Having easily won a war with China just 6 years

ago, conquering Korea and Taiwan. Japan is

eager to expand into China and bring prestige to

the only non-western imperial power. Lately

Japan has fostered close relations with Great

Britain, as both are concerned with Russian

moves in northern China. As one of the most

aggressive powers in China, Japan is looking to

gain from the crisis, but will need diplomatic

cover to do so.

Russia has been hungrily eyeing China for

years, viewing it as a possible location to further

expand its empire, especially in into Manchuria

(The Northern bulb of China). Though vast and

powerful Russia views itself vulnerable and is

somewhat paranoid. It may have to fight Japan

over control of Northern China, is actively

concerned about Germany Empire, and has been

dealing with British interference since the days

of Napoleon. France is one of the only countries

Russia can count on, and wants to attract them

as a friend. Due to its long rail connections

Russia can relatively quickly move resources

from one side of the country right up to the

border with China.

The United States is an outlier in this grouping.

For years enjoying isolation at the other end of

the world the, U.S. has only recently began to

build an empire. It took the Philippines and

several islands from the Spanish just 2 years

ago, and still has to station large numbers of

troops to stop the country from revolting. The

large democracy hasn’t yet begun to build up its

military, but has a small core of veteran solders.

Officially following what it calls the “Open

Door” policy the U.S doesn’t want China it be

divided up or controlled through spheres of

influence, but rather to respect China’s

sovereignty; however, to the other powers who

already have inroads in China this is viewed as

the U.S. trying to catch up.

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French cartoon form 1901: China is powerless while

foreign powers divide its territory

XI. Bibliograhy

Robert A. Bickers and R. G. Tiedemann, eds., The Boxers, China, and the World (Lanham, Maryland:

Rowman and Littlefield, 2007).

Lynn E. Bodin and Christopher Warner, The Boxer Rebellion (London: Osprey, 1979).

Joseph W. Esherick, The Origins of the Boxer Uprising (University of California Press, 1987)

Peter Harrington, Peking 1900: The Boxer Rebellion (Oxford: Osprey, 2001)

Thoralf Klein, "The Boxer War-the Boxer Uprising". Online Encyclopedia of Mass Violence. (2008)

Robert R. Leonhard, "The China Relief Expedition Joint Coalition Warfare in China Summer 1900" , The

Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, n.d..

Diana Preston, The Boxer Rebellion : The Dramatic Story of China's War on Foreigners That Shook the

World in the Summer of 1900 (New York: Walker, 2001)

Larry Clinton Thompson, William Scott Ament and the Boxer Rebellion: Heroism, Hubris, and the "Ideal

Missionary" (Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2009)

Xiang Lanxin, The Origins of the Boxer War: A Multinational Study (Psychology Press, 2003)