Social Darwinism In The Late 19th And Early 20th Century

Social Darwinism gained popularity in European nations in the late 19th century and early 20th century. Social Darwinism supports the idea that people were engaged in a competition or “struggle for survival” in which the weakest people and nations would be destroyed and dominated while the strong grew in power and influence. Great Britain applied this idea to China and infiltrated the land and its systems. The British would send missionaries throughout the land and try to convert the Chinese to Christianity. This is when a secret group of people called the Boxers began to rebel against the missionaries in order to restore some sense of normality and culture back into their lives and country. The group spread religious ideas and beliefs that
The imperial court of China initially condemned the Boxers actions and violence and in order to end the rebellion they had sent government troops to these areas and people. However, Dowager Empress Cixi was eventually taken over to the Boxers because of foreign attacks on Chinese forts, and possibly to a rumor that her deposed nephew was wanted to be returned to power by foreign powers. On June 20th, the Boxers invaded Peking armed with spears holding the heads of murdered missionaries. They laid siege upon the foreign legations where close to a thousand foreigners and three thousand Chinese Christians had taken refuge. On August 4th, an international force headed to Pekinh to rescue the legations, and the force broke through the lines after two weeks of fighting and fifty-four days after the siege began, the foreign legation was rescued. The imperial court fled Peking and the boxers were eventually forced to surrender. The Boxer Rebellion was short term and the other imperial and international powers eventually the Boxers were defeated and massacred. However, long term it shows the beginning of the Chinese Revolution and how the Chinese knew they would have to defend