"In the past 30 years, relying on China's kindness and single-mindedness, he has been arrogant, bullying my country, occupying my land, ravaging my people, extorting my property ... and going to war with Britain! War with France! Go to war with America ... go to war with Japan! "
But this also leaves us with a question: Just a few years after the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, did the Qing Dynasty have the courage to declare war on eleven countries at the same time?
One,
In fact, until the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, the operation of the Great Qing Dynasty was still normal, but after this battle, it completely collapsed.
Liang Qichao once said this sentence:
"Arousing the dream of our country for 4,000 years began in the Sino-Japanese War."
It can be said that this war not only weakened the Qing Dynasty, but also awakened the people of the Qing Dynasty. The land ceded by treaty of shimonoseki far exceeds the sum of all previous wars. At this time, the rulers of the Qing Dynasty were unable to control people's speech, and the whole society was immersed in disappointment and even despair. ...
The boxer movement also rose from this time. People don't think highly of the Boxers. They think that Eight-Nation Alliance was attracted by them, and some even think that they are worse than Eight-Nation Alliance.
Don't really think that the boxers are so ignorant that they will believe those tricks. Actually, it's because we're not in that era. It is because they can't find a way out at all, can't see the future, can't see hope, and really don't know what to do, so they will pin this despair on "magic protection".
Because of competing with the western church for benefits and catching up with natural disasters, people who could not survive joined the Boxer Rebellion and began to attack the church crazily.
Although the Qing army could not deal with the Japanese army, it was more than enough to deal with these unarmed people. So why didn't you suppress it at first?
Second,
It is because of the failure of reform!
At the earliest time, the Westernization Movement was vigorous, and Shang Rong was full of Qing Dynasty, and even a term was derived, called "Tongzhi Zhongxing". However, with the end of the Sino-Japanese War, everything went up in smoke. At this time, some thoughtful literati were still not disappointed with the Qing Dynasty. They thought that the Qing dynasty could complete its own evolution, and the reform was one of the ways, but they were disappointed.
The Boxers of the Boxers seek a way out by holding a group, and they are also thinking hard about the way out, which will naturally lead to sympathy for the Boxers.
What does this mean?
It shows that the scholar-officials have been integrated into the bureaucratic system of the Qing dynasty and began to disobey the unified command of the Qing court, which also laid the groundwork for the later mutual protection in the southeast.
Because Zhu of the Boxer killed Bu Zhi, an Anglican missionary, Yu Xian, the governor of Shandong Province, was removed from office under the pressure of western powers.
Yuxian is not only a cruel official, but also an extremely xenophobic person. He told Empress Dowager Cixi and her ministers that the Boxer Rebellion was ok.
Later, when he was transferred to the governor of Shanxi, he was still extremely xenophobic and strongly supported the boxer movement against the church. After Eight-Nation Alliance's invasion, he led troops and worked hard. But after the Qing court made peace with Eight-Nation Alliance, it took him as the culprit, pulled him out to take the rap and cut him down.
Why did Empress Dowager Cixi listen to his words and change from suppressing to caressing the Boxer Rebellion?
Third,
Just because there are smart people and strategists in the Boxer, the slogan of "helping the Qing Dynasty to destroy the foreign countries" was put forward!
You know, at that time, the Great Qing Dynasty was already in jeopardy, and the Sino-Japanese War was disastrous, and the powers accelerated the division of China. People all over the world often shout slogans like "Manchu is not China" or "expel Tatars and restore China" to challenge the rule of the Qing court.
There are so many people who suddenly support themselves that there is a great contradiction between Manchu and Chinese. What will the Qing court do at this time? Who can guarantee that the encirclement and suppression campaign will continue and the Boxer Rebellion will not develop into a second "Taiping Heavenly Kingdom"?
This is also the reason why the princes and ministers who held real power in the Qing Dynasty dared not order them to be killed. Yuan Shikai, as a Han Chinese, had no scruples and suppressed them at will.
More importantly, when Emperor Guangxu reformed, the reformists were backed by those western powers, and the western powers also hoped that Qing would adopt a constitutional monarchy in order to continue to do business and make money.
This time, the reformists stepped down, and all the people who came to power were die-hards and old-school, and they were deeply worried about the fiasco in the Sino-Japanese War. In addition, Empress Dowager Cixi's intention to abolish Emperor Guangxu was warned by western powers, and the establishment of "Big Brother" was interfered by western powers.
Especially Zai Feng, the king of Duanjun County, was very upset because Emperor Guangxu could not be abolished and his son could not be emperor. I was overjoyed to hear that the Boxer Rebellion was available and that there was a "magical power to protect the body". This is also to unite the Boxers against foreigners.
In this way, the Boxers marched into Beijing. ...
Fourth,
In fact, the Boxers attacked western missionaries and foreigners, just as Germany attacked Jews.
Germany hates Jews because after World War I, they not only didn't help save Germany, but also hit people when they were down. The Germans who were forced to help attacked the Jews angrily.
But now, people tend to show sympathy for the Germans, but they hate iron and accuse them of ruining the event.
We might as well think about it, are Christians or foreigners who were killed really more innocent than the Boxers who were forced to join them and were eventually eliminated?
After entering Beijing, the Boxer was a little out of control. It was originally aimed at Christians, but now it is aimed at all foreigners and all foreign things. Scratched tracks, burned stations, destroyed bridges, cut off telephone lines ... everything that could be destroyed was spared.
When foreigners see it, our Beijing embassy will be in danger. No, we must send reinforcements. The Qing court asked each country to send only 30 people, but ministers didn't care. In fact, each country sent 300 people.
As soon as the reinforcements were sent, the Qing court was angered, and the Boxer Rebellion was even more angered. So they began to launch fierce attacks on churches and embassies, and they killed foreigners as soon as they saw them.
As all telephone lines were cut off, countries could not find out the situation of the Beijing Embassy, but they concluded that it was already in operation. So on this premise, Eight-Nation Alliance, led by British Navy Commander Seymour, formally formed an army and marched from Tianjin to Beijing.
Outside, the Boxer Rebellion and some Qing troops defeated the Allies in Langfang. In Beijing, the Boxer began to besiege Dongjiaomin Lane and Xishiku Church. ...
Moreover, the war was fought at sixes and sevens, at sixes and sevens, with different intentions and a crushing defeat!
Five,
In fact, the Empress Dowager Cixi at this time has realized that if this continues, it will really anger the western powers and begin to shake their determination to fight.
She doesn't want to fight, and she doesn't want to kill the king. The People's Boxers help you fight foreigners, and you fight the Boxers. Are you still human? You worship foreigners, and you are willing to be foreigners' dogs. Will everyone agree?
Empress Dowager Cixi not only failed to defend morally, but also forged a diplomatic note from western powers to the Qing government, which poked the weakness of Empress Dowager Cixi:
The note mentioned several points, one was to specify the place where the emperor lived, the other was that the western powers collected money and grain from the provinces, the third was to take care of the military forces of the western powers in the world, and the fourth was to order Empress Dowager Cixi to return to politics.
Think with your toes. It's fake, too. These four conditions are equivalent to directly surrendering to Wei and letting Wei take over. Even if the western powers don't take Qing seriously, it is impossible to make such a request. Otherwise, why don't these clauses be written into the treaty of shame and ugliness?
And in such a short time, eleven countries have made such a big note, don't they need to be passed by each country's parliament? Eleven countries have their own ulterior motives, so it is impossible to reach an agreement and communication is not so fast. You know, more than ten years later, when World War I broke out, the contradiction between them was not formed in one day.
But Empress Dowager Cixi believed it!
She also told Rong Lu this sentence:
"Since the war is dead, no war is dead. If you are waiting to die, why not die in World War I? "
So, not long after, she made an imperial edict, which is what we often say now, the imperial edict of declaring war on all nations. I want to fight with you!
But in fact, Empress Dowager Cixi did not declare war on the embassy or the country. It can only be regarded as a war mobilization book, not a declaration of war.
This is also the reason why Empress Dowager Cixi declared war on eleven countries in the information we have at present. But it doesn't matter whether she declares war or not, because Eight-Nation Alliance is almost in Beijing, so she has no choice!
Some people say that it is because Empress Dowager Cixi saw the invulnerability of the Boxer Brothers and thought that she could defeat foreigners?
This is complete nonsense. Empress Dowager Cixi has never seen anything, so she will keep it a secret. If it really has magical powers, how did Qing get into the customs?
Actually, it's because Empress Dowager Cixi can't control the situation. It's useless to kill the boxer at this time, it will leave a pretext.
It was Zai Feng who let the Boxers into Beijing, Zai Feng who connived at the Boxers' burning and looting, and Zai Feng who publicized the Boxers' invulnerability. Declaring war on eleven countries can not only get rid of the Boxer Rebellion, but also kill Zai Feng and maintain his rule.
As for whether the people are suffering or not, this is not the scope of Empress Dowager Cixi's thinking. Anyway, after World War I, she continued to be Galeries Lafayette and continued to eat one hundred and twenty-eight dishes at a meal, as long as foreigners were happy:
"Measure China's material resources and win the favor of the country."
Even if 40 million people, each pay a silver, western powers, you are also happy!