Boxer Intervention in China
Allied expedition, sack, and Protocol indemnities
When the Boxer uprising besieged foreign legations, Britain, France, Germany, Russia, Italy, and other powers invaded northern China. Allied forces looted Beijing, executed reprisals, and forced the Boxer Protocol: a crushing indemnity and deeper foreign control. This file covers the 1900 intervention, separate from the Opium Wars.
Damage
European powers joined the 1900 expedition that sacked Beijing and imposed the Boxer Protocol indemnity.
Lives lost
Tens of thousands Chinese dead in the war and reprisals (order-of-magnitude)
Value lost
Massive indemnity, further treaty rights, and looted palaces
Record Points
- The Eight-Nation alliance marched on Beijing after the legation siege.
- German and other contingents carried out village reprisals in the countryside.
- The Forbidden City and surrounding districts were looted.
- The Boxer Protocol fixed a huge indemnity on Chinese revenues.
- Foreign troops and enlarged legation quarters locked in the post-war order.
Perpetrator(s)
Victims
China