| abstract | - Boxer Rebellion
- The uprising took place against a background of severe drought and economic disruption caused by the growth of foreign spheres of influence. Grievances ranged from the opium trade and other foreign economic incursions to Christian missionary work, while the Qing state was too weak to combat them. After several months of growing violence against foreign and Christian presence in Shandong and the North China plain, in June 1900 Boxer fighters, convinced they were invulnerable to foreign weapons, converged on Beijing with the slogan "Support the Qing, exterminate the foreigners". They forced foreigners and Chinese Christians to seek refuge in the Legation Quarter. In response to reports of an armed foreign invasion and its demands, the initially hesitant Empress Dowager Cixi, urged by the conservatives of the Imperial Court, supported the Boxers and on June 21 authorized war on foreign powers. Diplomats, foreign civilians and soldiers, and Chinese Christians in the Legation Quarter were under siege by the Imperial Army of China and the Boxers for 55 days. Chinese officialdom was split between those who supported the Boxer effort to destroy the foreigners and those officials seeking diplomatic resolution. Clashes were reported between Chinese factions favoring war and those favoring conciliation, the latter led by Prince Qing. The supreme commander of the Chinese forces, Ronglu, later claimed that he acted to protect the besieged foreigners. The Eight-Nation Alliance, after being initially turned back, brought 20,000 armed troops to China, defeated the Imperial Army, and captured Beijing on August 14 (Siege of the International Legations), lifting the siege of the Legations. Uncontrolled plunder of the capital and the surrounding countryside ensued, along with the summary execution of those suspected of being Boxers. The Boxer Protocol of September 7, 1901 provided for the execution of government officials who had supported the Boxers, provisions for foreign troops to be stationed in Beijing, and an indemnity of 67 million pounds (450 million taels of silver) -- more than the government's annual tax revenue, to be paid as indemnity over a course of thirty-nine years to the eight nations involved.
- The Boxer Rebellion was a conflict in China. The First Doctor and his granddaughter Susan Foreman visited Peking during the rebellion and used smoke bombs to escape. (AUDIO: The Flames of Cadiz) Captain Jack Harkness was active in China during the rebellion, where he worked with explosives. (TV: The Blood Line)
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