The Boxer Rebellion

The Boxer Rebellion
The Boxer Rebellion was an anti-foreign and anti-Christian war initiated by a Chinese assembly that called themselves the Society of the Righteous and Harmonious Fists (Yihequan). This group was known in English as the Boxers, and they assassinated many foreigners and Chinese Christians from the years 1899-1901. The international Eight-Nation Alliance force proceeded to invade China in 1900 and fought courageously for the discontinuation of the massacres. In the 1860s, Western missionaries were permitted to spread Christianity and inhabit China. They were also granted the opportunity to purchase or rent land for the construction of churches. In some instances, they would replace Chinese temples with Christian churches,
The nation’s pre-existing religions were being challenged, traditions were being revised, and mindsets were being swayed. Large populations of young, poor and unemployed men resented this change, so they created a massive xenophobic atmosphere amongst the Chinese public. A secret society called the Righteous and Harmonious Fists sought to eliminate the social tension by killing both foreign and Christian people. They also destroyed foreign property in response to imperialist expansion and missionary evangelism. Qing Empress Dowager Cixi was muddled between economically restoring China by maintaining peace between the foreign nations, or to completely relinquish China of any further foreign interference. On June 21st, 1900, she decided to comply with the boxers and declared war on the foreign nations.
Pure violence had struck China. The Chinese Yihequan fought against the Eight-Nation Alliance- an international pact made up of the nations of Japan, Russia, the British Empire, France, the United States, Germany, Italy and Austria-Hungary. Before the war was officially declared, 750 troops from five different countries were sent to Beijing on May 31 for the protection of foreign and Christian civilians. As death tolls increased, a second international force of 2,000 marines (predominantly British), was dispatched from Tianjin to Beijing on June 10, where they suffered the loss of 350 men
Not because of an advancement of armament, but instead due to a difference in praxis. The Yihequan were referred to as Boxers by the Westerners because they were known for performing a series of martial arts and body-weight training rituals, similar to shadow boxing. The Yihequan believed it would make them immune to cuts, bullets, and cannon fire. The group’s primary practice included a kind of spiritual possession which included sword whirling, desperate burnouts, and the "channeling" of Chinese deities. The contrasting mindsets between the delusional rebels and the practical foreigners created a major gap in the difference of Boxer and foreigner