Yihetuan Movement (Boxer Rebellion)

What happened

Chinese Boxer sect, blaming foreigners and Christianity for Qing Dynasty's weakness and famines, launched uprising (1898-1901). Boxers attacked missionaries, merchants, and Chinese Christians. They besieged foreign legations in Beijing (1900-1901). Eight foreign powers (Japan, Russia, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Austria-Hungary, US) dispatched troops to relieve legations and suppress rebellion. International relief force massacred Boxers and civilians indiscriminately. Qing government was forced to pay massive indemnities and accept further concessions. Roughly 100,000 Boxers and perhaps 200,000 civilians died.

Why it mattered

The Boxer Rebellion exposed Qing Dynasty's weakness to foreign powers. The foreign intervention and indemnities deepened China's humiliation and resourced Western imperialism. The rebellion demonstrated anti-foreign, anti-Christian sentiment across Chinese society—a pattern that would characterize 20th-century Chinese politics. The rebellion's suppression convinced Chinese intellectuals that Qing was unsustainable; revolution followed (1911). The eight-power intervention became symbolic of Western colonialism in China. Boxer Rebellion memory shapes modern Chinese nationalism's anti-Western sentiment.