Boxer Uprising
Mass anti-imperialist patriotic movement in the late Qing Dynasty. It is the development of China people's anti-secession and anti-aggression struggle after the Sino-Japanese Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, and it is also the general outbreak of anti-church struggle all over the country for a long time. Western countries still refer to the Boxer Rebellion as the whole Boxer Rebellion and the Eight-Nation Alliance Incident.
The rise of the Boxer Rebellion The Boxer Rebellion, formerly known as the Boxer Rebellion, is one of the many secret folk organizations that have been popular for a long time in Shandong and Zhili (now Hebei). Although this secret association focused on "boxing" rather than "teaching", the Qing government banned it in the name of "boxing" and it was difficult to develop. After the Sino-Japanese War, Germany occupied Jiaozhou Bay and forced Shandong Province to become its sphere of influence. Foreign churches have also expanded their influence in Shandong, conniving at and sheltering illegal "parishioners" (that is, Christians in China). In cases involving religious affairs, they often intervene and coerce local officials to favor and suppress the people and make unfair judgments. The masses accumulated hatred for the church, and the anti-religious struggle followed (see lesson plan). The Boxer Rebellion became an important organizational form to resist foreign aggression.
From 1898 to 10 (September 24th year of Guangxu), the Boxer Rebellion in guanxian, Shandong Province, led by Yan, joined forces in Zhili and wei county. And gathered people to burn down the Red Taoyuan Church and occupy Liyuan Village, which shook the neighboring areas of Shandong and Zhi Zhi provinces and became a signal of the rise of the anti-imperialist struggle of the Boxer Rebellion. In June 5438+the following year 10, the Boxer Rebellion headed by Zhu and Ben Ming fought against local camps in Gangzi Lizhuang and Senluodian of Pingyuan County, which promoted the rapid development of anti-aggression struggles in many counties in Shandong Province. In 65438+February, in Zaoqiang County, South Zhili, the Boxer Rebellion led by Wang Qingyi was launched. Monks practicing martial arts at Kaiyuan Temple in Jizhou also led the masses to burn churches such as Sujiazhuang in Jingzhou. The anti-teaching struggle in the adjacent areas of Shandong and Zhili is linked together.
After the anti-church struggle of the Boxer Rebellion in Shandong, local missionaries demanded that the Qing government strictly suppress it. In order to control the Boxer Rebellion, Shandong Governor Zhang Rumei suggested that the Qing government change the Boxer Rebellion into Tuan Lian and rename the Boxer Rebellion as the Boxer Rebellion. After Yu Xian succeeded as the governor of Shandong Province, he attempted to disintegrate and divide the Boxer Rebellion, and adopted the method of "distinguishing the good from the bad", calling the people who participated in the Boxer Rebellion good citizens, acquiescing them to set up a factory to practice boxing, branding the rebels as "gangsters" and arresting and punishing them. Although Zhang Rumei and Yu Xian's plan did not achieve the expected goal, it was beneficial to the development of the Boxer Rebellion. Members of secret societies such as Broadsword Club and Red Boxing Club from all over Shandong and the general public have joined the Boxer Rebellion, making it a "foreign-destroying" group with a broad mass base.
The main participants of the Boxer Rebellion are the working people at the bottom of society. Poverty and ignorance make their resistance struggle only follow the way of secret association in the past peasant uprising, set up shrine development organizations, and practice boxing to attract the masses. The Boxer is divided into eight branches: Gan, Kan, Gen, Zhen, Xun, Li, Kun and Dui. Among them, the stem font size (marked with yellow cloth) and the ridge font size (marked with red cloth) are the strongest (the "middle" font size appears in some places). But above each font size, each font size itself has no unified organization and centralized leadership. The grass-roots organization of the Boxer Rebellion is an altar, also called an altar or boxing factory, which is a place for offering sacrifices to gods, practicing boxing, holding meetings and discussing. In some places, there are several or several altars above, which have nothing to do with each other. The leaders of the Boxer Rebellion are generally called Big Brother, Second Brother and Third Brother, and some are called General Big Brother and Founder. Each altar often carries out its own scattered struggle, but when joint action is needed, even if it is hundreds of miles away, people are sent to meet it. Most of the Boxers were farmers, followed by craftsmen, old-fashioned transport workers, monks and Taoists, stragglers, a few feudal intellectuals, small and medium-sized landlords and officials, and hooligans were also involved. The boxer movement has a strong mysticism. It mobilizes the masses with "techniques" such as chanting and asking God to possess, widely publicizes "chanting and possessing" and stimulates fighting spirit. Besides Buddhism and Taoism, there are monsters and characters in novels, operas and folk stories. Boxers distributed various leaflets and posters, and used popular and easy-to-understand language and songs to promote the expulsion of invaders and the defense of the country. At the same time, these leaflets and posts also contain superstitious and backward consciousness and blind xenophobia.
As early as 1898, when the anti-church struggle rose, the Boxer Rebellion put forward the slogan of "helping the Qing Dynasty to destroy the foreign countries". At the beginning, this slogan attracted the participation of the broad masses and strengthened the momentum of the Boxer Rebellion, but at the same time it also reflected the Boxer Rebellion's vague understanding of the Qing government. Later, it was deceived and used by the rulers and finally betrayed.
The Qing government's "repression" and "appeasement" of the Shandong Boxer Rebellion aroused the fear and hatred of the imperialists. They accused local officials of not taking effective measures to protect priests and parishioners, especially Yu Xian. 1899 12 at the beginning of the year (in November of the 25th year of Guangxu), American envoys instructed the Qing government to take Wu as the right army and Yuan Shikai as the governor of Shandong, so as to lead all its new troops to suppress the anti-religious masses. The Qing government accepted this unreasonable request. After Yuan Shikai came to power, his main task was to suppress the Boxer Rebellion. He issued a notice saying that the Boxer Rebellion was "strictly forbidden to commit crimes" and asked the masses to "report the first offenders". Those who failed to report were punished as Wozhu. He ordered the families to offer a reward to the Boxer Rebellion, and sent Daofu officials with the camp to attack and suppress it. Under Yuan Shikai's suppression, Wang Yuzhen, Wang Lidong and Sun Luoquan, the leaders of the Boxer Rebellion on the north bank of the Yellow River, were killed one after another, and the power of the Boxer Rebellion in Shandong was severely damaged.
Since the rise of the Boxer Rebellion, Qing government officials have always had two different opinions on the Boxer Rebellion: repression and appeasement. The former believes that the Boxer Rebellion originated from the White Lotus Sect and must be strictly banned and resolutely suppressed to prevent the situation from expanding; The latter thought that taking a high-handed policy against the Boxer Rebellion would probably bring serious danger to the rule of the Qing Dynasty, and advocated "appealing" and manipulation. The interaction between the two factions influenced the Qing government, making it indecisive and suppressing the Boxer Rebellion loosely and tightly. 1900 65438+ 10/01(December 11th, 25th year of Guangxu), that is, half a month after Yuan Shikai became the governor of Shandong, the Qing government issued a decree, ordering provincial governors to severely punish local officials, and must implement the policy of discriminating when dealing with religious plans. "Just ask if it is a bandit", which shows that the Qing government adopted the opinions of the main "Fu" faction. The envoys in Beijing reacted strongly to this decree and concluded that the Qing government intended to forgive the Boxer Rebellion. Ministers of France, the United States, Germany, Britain and other countries, after consultation, issued a note at the end of 1, demanding that the Qing government completely suppress the Boxer Rebellion. At the beginning of March, they threatened the Prime Minister's yamen with state affairs. If China does not accept the request, the diplomatic envoys of various countries will report to their governments and send warships to China for armed intervention. The Qing government then issued a decree, ordering the governors of Zhili and Shandong to issue a notice prohibiting the Boxer Rebellion. The repeated attitude of the Qing government was related to the domestic situation at that time. /kloc-After the coup in 0/898, Empress Dowager Cixi came to power again, imprisoned Emperor Guangxu (that is, Zai Tian of the Qing Dynasty), and the officials who presided over and supported the political reform either died or fled, or were dismissed and imprisoned, and the ruling power was even weaker because of division. When the Boxer Rebellion broke out, China was in serious danger of being carved up. Therefore, the Qing government had to be careful when suppressing the Boxer Rebellion. The Qing government's use of the Boxer Rebellion was also related to the power struggle and abolition of the ruling clique. Duan Wang Zaiyi and other die-hards and military affairs ministers tried to depose Emperor Guangxu and establish himself as the son of Righteousness to consolidate power, but they did not get the support of the Foreign Minister. The first-class plan was frustrated and deliberately retaliated. They saw the huge momentum of the boxer's anti-imperialist struggle, believed in the "magic" of the boxer, and fantasized about winning the throne with mass struggle.
The Qing government hesitated between "repression" and "appeasement", which led the Boxer Rebellion to move to Zhili area after being frustrated in Shandong. Although local officials are very scared, they dare not rashly suppress them by force. Therefore, the boxer movement developed rapidly. When the Qing government issued a decree prohibiting the Boxer Rebellion in Zhili, Yulu, the governor of Zhili, transferred Mei Dongyi, commander of the right wing of Huai Army, and Xing Changchun, the former army of Wuwei, to Jizhou, Shenzhou and Hejian to suppress it. The boxer escaped from reality and turned to the northwest, and its power increased greatly. The Qing army was too busy to see one after another. Yulu exclaimed: "I am afraid that the disaster of starting a prairie fire is now." On May 22nd, Laishui Boxer and An Su and Dingxing Boxer ambushed in Shi Ting, killing many Qing soldiers such as Yang Futong, deputy commander of Huai Army. Yulu sent the 3rd Battalion of Yang Mushi, the former Wu Wei army, to Lubao Railway, and Nie Shicheng, the former Wu Wei army, to Yangcun and Fengtai to suppress it. In order to prevent the Qing army from being mobilized, the Boxer Rebellion destroyed Lubao Railway and power lines. On the 27th, the Boxer Rebellion entered Zhuozhou City. "There are many swords and guns in the city." "The old and new regiments often come and go, and there are often more than 10,000 people." Then it destroyed the stations and bridges along the Zhuozhou-Changxindian railway and approached Beijing. The unprecedented development of the Boxer Rebellion made the Qing government neither determined nor able to suppress it in a short time.
The Boxer Rebellion in Eight-Nation Alliance was hesitant about the Boxer Rebellion. Ministers of various countries decided to intimidate the rulers of the Qing Dynasty into submission by force, so they mobilized more than 400 sailors to anchor on the Dagu warship and arrived in Beijing in two batches at the end of May and the beginning of June. On June 10, British vice admiral Seymour commanded more than 2,000 people of the multinational coalition (known as Eight-Nation Alliance in history) and went straight from Tianjin to Beijing. The situation is getting more and more tense. At that time, there were 1700 Russian troops in Lushun who came to join the Seymour task force, but they were stranded in the Tianjin Concession because they were late, and they were on standby. In mid-June, a large number of boxers are also preparing to go to Beijing. At this point, the Qing government lost control of the situation. In order to keep power, it must make a choice, either to use the Boxer Rebellion against Seymour Alliance or to unite with Seymour Alliance to suppress the Boxer Rebellion. The Boxer Rebellion won the sympathy and support of Beijing citizens, and some Beijing garrison troops also tended to the Boxer Rebellion. Coupled with the slogan of "helping the Qing dynasty to destroy the foreign countries", the Qing government felt that the Boxer Rebellion had no intention of being embarrassed and could use it. However, the Seymour Coalition forces were aggressive, and their purpose was unknown. They also ordered Xu Jingcheng, the minister of the Prime Minister's yamen, to negotiate with the embassy and asked it to turn back halfway, which was resolutely rejected, adding to the doubts of the Qing government. After the Qing government sent military ministers Resolute and Zhao Shuqiao to Zhuozhou in batches to "inspect" the Boxer Rebellion, in June of 13, they finally recognized that the Boxer Rebellion was legal and allowed them to enter the inner city of Beijing.
When Seymour commanded the allied forces to set out from Tianjin, the Boxer Rebellion demolished the railway and stopped the invading army from advancing. On 1 1 and 12, the allies only advanced more than 40 miles. /kloc-On the afternoon of 0/3, the Boxer Rebellion and Seymour Allied Forces confronted each other in Lofa and Langfang. They used backward weapons such as broadswords, spears and rifles to fight bloody battles with the invading army, showing great courage and sacrifice (see color picture insert 1 17). After dismantling the railway connecting Beijing, the Boxer Rebellion destroyed the railway and telephone poles east of Lofa, burned Yangcun Bridge, and cut off the traffic and telecommunications links between the invading army and the Tianjin Concession. On 18, Wuwei Hou Jun (Gan Jun) of Dong Fuxiang joined the battle. Seymour Coalition forces were defeated and forced to retreat to Yangcun, where they won several wooden boats and carried the wounded and the trench down the river. The rest of the troops fled along the river in the direction of Tianjin, and were chased and intercepted by the Boxer and the Qing army. On the 22nd, they seized the Xigu armory and got a breathing space. Then surrounded by the Qing army and the Boxer Rebellion. It was not until 26th that he was rescued by a reinforcement from Tianjin and fled back to his ancestors, killing nearly 300 people. Seymour admitted, "If the Boxers use western-style guns, the allied forces they lead will be wiped out."
A brave and unyielding boxer captured by Eight-Nation Alliance.
After the siege of Seymour Coalition forces, there was no news from the outside world. On June 15, the naval generals of various countries discussed rescue measures in Dagu, and Russia proposed that the armies of various countries jointly seize Dagu Fort. 16 that night, they issued an ultimatum to the defenders of China, and abandoned the battery camp before two o'clock the next morning and took it over by other countries, otherwise they would seize it by force. Otani ShouJiang Luo Rongguang flatly refused. That night, the navies of Britain, Russia, Japan, Germany and other countries organized commandos to storm Dagu Fort under the cover of gunboats. The defenders fought bravely against the enemy, the fortress fell, and the gateway to Tianjin opened. The news of the fall of Dagubao reached Beijing, and on 2 1 day, the Qing government issued a decree declaring war on foreign countries. The Boxer Rebellion and the Qing army began to besiege the embassy and the Forty Ku Church.
The outbreak of the Boxer Rebellion, especially the Boxer Rebellion's entry into Beijing and the Qing government's declaration of war, prompted the people's anti-imperialist struggle to quickly sweep across the country. Almost all the thirty-four counties in Zhili and Shuntianfu (now Beijing) participated in the resistance struggle. More than 90 churches have been demolished in more than 50 states, departments and counties in Shanxi. The Mongolian, Han and Hui people in Inner Mongolia took an active part in the struggle against the Catholic Church until mid-September. The church in Cao Zhou was demolished. Northeasters destroyed the railway built by Russia in Fengtian and burned churches in Jilin, Changchun and Hulan. Churches south of the Yellow River in Henan, except Nanyang and Xinye, have been demolished. Zhejiang secretly organized the masses to destroy churches and killed many priests in Quzhou. The masses in Jiangxi destroyed 39 churches in France, Britain, the United States and Germany, Hunan burned down the Catholic Church in Hengzhou, and Anhui Susong and other churches were burned down. Boxers appeared in Nanjing, Jiangsu, Xiamen, Fujian, Xiangzhou, Guangxi and Liangzhou, Gansu, calling for an anti-church struggle. The Faying Church in Kunming, Yunnan Province was burned by the masses, and more than ten churches in Dayi, Qiongzhou and Mingshan, Sichuan Province were burned. Guangdong Shunde, Nanhai and other places will gather to burn churches. In Xiangzi County, Guizhou Province, Yihe Boxing is taught and practiced in different sheds. The hua county and other churches were destroyed by the Society of Elder Brothers in Weinan, Shaanxi. Tianjin sent people to Yili, Xinjiang to start practicing boxing. In the Shanghai Concession under the direct rule of imperialism, "rumors are everywhere and people are in panic", which makes the invaders fidgety.
Boxer movement situation map
Before the fall of Dagubao, the Boxer Rebellion in Tianjin burned down churches such as Cangmenkou and Wanghailou. The invading army of the concession came out to interfere. Russian troops entrenched in the old leading railway station shelled the Boxer Rebellion, causing heavy casualties. Cao Futian led the Boxer Rebellion to attack the concession and the railway station, which started the battle of Tianjin. They destroyed the railway, stopped the aid from Dagu and fought tenaciously. The news of the fall of Dagu spread to Tianjin, and Nie Shicheng and his former Wuwei army entered the war and shelled the Tianjin Concession. Troops from various countries in Dagu rushed to Tianjin in an attempt to join the invading army in the ancestral territory. On June 2 1 day, the boxer rebellion and the Qing army repelled the joint attack of Russian and American troops. On the 23rd, more than 2,000 people from Russia, Britain and the United States forcibly broke into the concession. Troops from Britain, the United States and other countries arrived one after another, and the number increased to more than 8,000. After Seymour allied forces fled back to the concession, the total number of Tianjin allied forces exceeded 10 thousand. They organized their forces to fight back and attack the suburbs of Tianjin. On the 27th, the Russian army joined forces with the British and American troops to attack the Beiyang Machinery Bureau (East Bureau) in Jiajiagu, on the east bank of Haihe River. After tenacious resistance, the defenders retreated one after another and the machinery bureau was sealed up. At the end of June, Zhang Decheng led the Boxer Rebellion in Liu Du Town of Jinghai to go to Tianjin to participate in the war, and Ma Yukun, the left-wing army of Wuwei stationed inside and outside Shanhaiguan, also went to Tianjin one after another. In early July, the Qing army and the Boxer organized a joint operation. Zhang Decheng led the Boxer Rebellion and Ma Yukun led the Qing army to attack the Concession, Cao Futian led the Boxer Rebellion to attack the Old Dragon Head Railway Station, Nie Shicheng and his men guarded the South Gate of Guangzhou Machinery Bureau (West Bureau), and sent some troops and training to attack the East Bureau. In this battle, the Boxer Rebellion and the Qing army cooperated with each other and fought actively and tenaciously, which made the invading army tremble with fear.
On July 9th, armies from all over the world jointly attacked the area around Guang Hai Temple, and Nie Shicheng led the troops to fight back. The artillery was killed and the West Bureau of Guang Hai Temple was taken. Nie Shicheng was brave and good at fighting, and fought against the enemy in the concession many times, which made the invading army frightened. At that time, people recorded: "Westerners say that they have never met such a brave soldier since the war with China." After Nie Shicheng's death, Buma and most of his 30 battalions were scattered, and the Tianjin city defense was weakened. The next day, Song Qing, Deputy Representative of Beiyang Military Affairs, went to Tianjin to preside over the war. 13 On June 38, the allied forces invaded and shelled Tianjin, and the whole city caught fire. At that time, Russia and Germany were on the same front, and Russian Lieutenant General led the attack on the naval battalion (black battalion) in the northeast corner. The other route is composed of Japanese, American, British, French and Austrian troops, with about 5,000 people, under the command of Major General Fukushima, Japan, and they went straight to the south gate of Tianjin from Guang Hai Temple. Outside the south gate, it turned out to be a pond depression, and the Boxer Rebellion dug a dike to release water and turned it into Zeguo. Ma Yukun's troops and He Yongsheng's troops are well-trained, stick to the city and bombard the enemy. Boxers intercepted the enemy in trenches and reeds outside the city. In the battle, more than 800 officers of the 9 th Infantry Regiment and below were killed. This is the fiercest battle in Tianjin. That night, under the protection of Ma Yukun and others, Yulu fled to Beicang. 14, Japanese engineers bombed the south gate, the enemy invaded Tianjin through the gap in the city wall, and the black battery was also occupied by the Russian army. After the fall of Tianjin, the invading army wantonly burned, killed and looted, which was extremely vicious and outrageous.
After the fall of Tianjin, the commander-in-chief of the Russian army called a meeting of senior officers from various countries to set up an interim government in Tianjin (namely, "Tianjin Dutong Yamen") in an attempt to have a Russian colonel as the chief executive. Other countries objected, so instead, Russia, Britain and Japan each sent an officer to form a Committee (and later a German officer was added). This institution colonized Tianjin and its adjacent areas for two years until 1902 was abolished in August. Just after the fall of Tianjin, Russia seized nearly 6,000 mu of land on the east bank of Haihe River, which was classified as a Russian concession, exceeding the total area of the original ancestors of Britain, France, Germany and Japan. Other Belgium, Austria-Hungary and Italy, which have no concession in Tianjin, demand the establishment of a concession, while Britain, Germany and Japan, which have occupied the concession, demand the expansion, so there is a situation in which imperialism divides Tianjin.
/kloc-after the allied forces occupied Tianjin in July/April, there were many internal contradictions, and there were endless arguments about when to invade Beijing. Until August 4th, about 20,000 allied forces from various countries set out from Tianjin to attack Beijing, including about 8,000 Japanese troops, 4,800 Russian troops, 3,000 British troops, 2,000 American troops, 400 French troops, and insufficient Italian and Austrian troops 100. The Germans didn't take part. The invading army was divided into two roads, with Japan, Britain and the United States as the right wing and advancing along the west bank of the North Canal. Russian, French, Italian and Austrian troops are on the left, marching along the east bank of the North Canal. At that time, there was no commander-in-chief, and it was agreed that leaders of various countries would meet every night to make a battle plan for the next day. In order to stop the enemy from advancing, the Qing army built a position in Beicang, burst its banks and released water, which flooded a large area between Xigu and Beicang, and some places also buried mines and mines. The next day, the allied forces attacked Beicang mainly by Japanese troops. The Qing army struggled to resist and killed 400 enemy soldiers, but Beicang fell. On the 6th, British, Russian and American troops attacked Yangcun. The Qing army faced defeat and Yulu committed suicide. More than a week after the Qing government declared war, it instructed foreign embassies to assure governments that they would "try to punish the Boxer Rebellion by themselves" and ordered military affairs ministers Rong Lu and Wu Weijun to send people to foreign embassies to negotiate a truce. Later, he repeatedly appealed to the governments of Russia, Japan, Britain, France, Germany and the United States for mediation. However, all the peace-seeking activities of the Qing government were fruitless. On August 7, the Qing government appointed Li Hongzhang as the representative of the peace talks, and the e-commerce countries stopped fighting, and the frontline generals were even more demoralized. 1 1 day, the allied forces approached Zhangjiawan and assisted Li Bingheng, the military affairs minister of Wuwei, to commit suicide. In June of 5438+02, the invading army occupied Tongzhou. The next day, the Russian army took the lead in attacking Dongbianmen, and the Japanese army immediately attacked Chaoyangmen and Dongzhimen. The war was fierce, and the Qing army went to reinforce. The defenders of Guangqumen were empty, and the British attacked by taking advantage of the gap. 14 Beijing fell. The next morning, Empress Dowager Cixi and Emperor Guangxu fled in a hurry. 16 The siege of Siku Church is over. On the way to exile, Cixi issued the "Order to Suppress Bandits", ordering all officers and men to suppress the Boxers and kill them all. After the allied forces occupied Beijing, they burned, killed and looted. In addition to the officers and men of the invading army, missionaries, diplomats and expatriates also participated in the robbery. Many houses in Beijing have become rubble piles, and the bodies of murdered people can be seen everywhere. Eight-Nation Alliance divided the whole city into several occupied areas, exercised military rule and suppressed residents' resistance. Britain, Germany, France and other troops continue to send troops to attack the city. In September, Russian troops occupied Beitang, Tangshan and Qinhuangdao and took control of the Beijing-Tianjin-Shanhaiguan railway. German Marshal Wadesi led twenty thousand German troops to China and served as commander-in-chief of the Allied Forces. In mid-June, 5438+10, troops from Germany, Britain, France and Italy attacked Baoding from Beijing and Tianjin. Until April of the following year, Wa organized 46 "crusade teams" (including 33 Germans) to invade from four places, from Niangziguan and Zijingguan in the west to Zhangjiakou in the northwest and Lu Zhi in the south. Wherever we go, we burn, kill and rob, and do all kinds of evil.
1900 In August, after Eight-Nation Alliance captured Beijing, the powers issued a notice to carve up and occupy Beijing.
When Seymour commanded more than 2,000 allied troops to invade Beijing from Tianjin, which was blocked by the Boxer Rebellion and isolated from the outside world, the British Acting Consul General in Shanghai telegraphed his foreign secretary Salisbury on June 14, suggesting that if the British government broke with the Beijing government, it would be best to reach an understanding with the governors of Huguang and Liangjiang immediately. He believes that if Zhang Zhidong and Liu Kunyi can get strong support from the British government, they will "try their best to maintain order within their jurisdiction". Salisbury telegraphed Hobilan's suggestion, authorizing him to assure Liu and Zhang that if he was determined to "maintain order", he would get the full support of British warships. The British Admiralty also ordered senior admirals from Shanghai to send warships to Nanjing and Hankou to convey the decision of the British government. In order to prevent the masses from responding to the anti-imperialist struggle of the northern Boxer Rebellion and exclude other imperialists from taking the opportunity to expand their power in the Yangtze River valley, Britain decided to use local authorities to protect its aggressive interests in China. Liu Kunyi and Zhang Zhidong agreed to Huo Bilan's plan after several times of e-commerce. After the news of the fall of Dagubao came, Sheng Xuanhuai, the governor of Beijing-Guangzhou Railway, tried his best to persuade Liu Kunyi and Zhang Zhidong to sign a separate contract with the Shanghai consul instead of Britain to establish the so-called "Southeast Mutual Insurance". Liu Kunyi thought that the war in the north was inevitable and telegraphed Zhang Zhidong and the governors of Jiangsu, Anhui and Jiangxi: "For today's sake, we must try our best to maintain stability in all countries." "This matter is very important and can't be rigidly stipulated." After the Qing government's declaration of war was published, the governors of Guangdong and Guangxi, Li Hongzhang, Liu Kunyi and Zhang Zhidong, agreed to seize this imperial edict to prevent information from leaking out. They refused to carry out the imperial order on the grounds of "correcting the imperial edict".
Liu Kunyi and Zhang Zhidong accepted Sheng Xuanhuai's proposal. On June 26th, represented by Yu Lianyuan of Shanghai Daotai, they invited consuls from all countries to negotiate nine articles of the so-called Southeast Mutual Insurance Charter. The main contents are as follows: "Shanghai Concession is protected by various countries, and the Yangtze River and Suzhou-Hangzhou inland are protected by governors of various countries. The two do not interfere with each other and focus on preserving the lives and industries of Chinese and foreign people." Consuls of various countries agreed in principle, but said that the signing of the contract must be authorized by the government. Liu and Zhang assured the consuls of various countries that no matter what happened in the north, it would be "not easy to handle it according to the discussion" and rejected the order of the Qing government asking them to "recruit a group to resist aggression." From Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Anhui, Hubei and Hunan, the areas of mutual insurance will be expanded to Zhejiang, Fujian, Guangdong and Shandong. Fujian province also reached a similar agreement directly with Fuzhou national consul alone.
Shanghai Daotai kept urging consuls of various countries to formally sign the contract, but the Charter of Mutual Insurance between China and Foreign Countries was not signed in the end. On July 4th, Salisbury told China's ambassador to Britain: "The Sino-foreign Mutual Insurance Regulations are beautiful in meaning, and we should try our best to understand them, but they can only be used as rules, not as covenants, because there are British rights that cannot be entrusted and abandoned, and China instructed them to go beyond them." On July 13, the Shanghai Consular Corps sent a note to Yu Lianyuan according to the instructions of various governments, refusing to sign the Mutual Insurance Charter. Although this charter was not concluded, the governors in Liu Kunyi and other places tried their best to suppress the masses' response to the Boxer Rebellion, and finally maintained the situation of "mutual protection".
Eight-Nation Alliance, the ugly treaty, captured Beijing, Empress Dowager Cixi and Emperor Guangxu fled to xi 'an via Taiyuan. Before fleeing, Li Hongzhang was sent as a representative to make peace, but the invaders were in no hurry to hold discussions immediately. After repeated discussions, countries decided to make peace with the Qing government and continue to maintain the rule headed by Empress Dowager Cixi. 10 10/4, France submitted a memorandum to all countries, including six requirements, such as punishing the perpetrators, paying reparations, stationing troops in and around Beijing, and dismantling Dagu Fort, as a prerequisite for peace talks, which was approved by all countries. Britain, Russia, Germany, Japan, the United States and other countries supplemented the French proposal and expanded it into twelve articles of the Outline of Peace Talks, which was forced to be accepted by the Qing government on February 24, 65438. Since then, they have drawn up detailed terms according to the outline, and on September 7th, 190 1 year (July 25th, the 27th year of Guangxu), they formally signed the Peace of Xin and Chou with Li Hongzhang, a representative of the Qing government. In addition to the formal agreement, the treaty has 19 annexes. Its main contents are as follows: ① China paid 450 million taels of silver to other countries, and paid it off in 39 years, including interest, which was more than 982 million taels, known as "boxer indemnity" in history. Designated tariffs, conventional tariffs and salt taxes at trading ports as compensation. Russia claims the most, reaching1.300 million yuan, accounting for 29% of the total; Followed by Germany, accounting for 20%. (2) Demolition of Dagu Fort and establishment of an embassy district in Beijing, where China people are not allowed to live. In addition to troops stationed in the embassy district, foreign troops are stationed in 12 places along the railway from Beijing to Shanhaiguan. (3) China people will never be allowed to form or join anti-imperialist organizations, and offenders will be put to death; Local officials, from the governor to below, will be "dismissed immediately and never reused" if they do not punish foreigners or defaulters within their jurisdiction in time; For officials attached to the Boxer Rebellion, the central government has imprisoned, exiled and executed more than 100 people from princes and ministers to governors. All towns where anti-imperialist struggles have taken place will stop scientific research for five years. (4) The Foreign Affairs Department of the Prime Minister was changed to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with the "class ahead of the ministries", headed by the princes of the Qing Dynasty, and there were two ministers, one of whom was the Minister of Military Aircraft. ⑤ Revising the new commercial contract, the Qing government will "discuss the terms of commercial shipping with a view to simplifying it" and dredge the rivers in Tianjin and Shanghai. The amount of compensation and harsh conditions stipulated in the Xin Chou Treaty are unprecedented. It was a great blackmail and humiliation to the people of China, and also made the Qing government completely lose its independent status.
The Boxer Rebellion is a spontaneous mass anti-imperialist patriotic movement. Without unified organization, centralized leadership and concerted action, failure is inevitable. However, from their personal experience, the Boxers realized that foreign invaders were the main enemies of the people of China. Proceeding from this perceptual knowledge, they bravely fought against the imperialist aggressors and showed the indomitable spirit of the Chinese nation.