Transcript Ch 28 America on the World Stage, 1899-1909 PPT

The Exploitation of China and
the “Open Door” Policy
Many Americans became concerned about the increasing foreign
intervention in China because they feared that American missions and
missionaries would be jeopardized and Chinese markets would be
closed to non-Europeans (like the USA who are non-Europeans).
{Remember that Europeans and the Japanese were imposing
economic and military imperialism on the Chinese by carving up China
into “spheres of influence” for themselves.}
America’s “Open Door” policy was essentially an argument for free trade in
China for all western industrial nations. (Remember: free trade means
low or no tariffs.) {The Europeans, Japanese, and the Americans would
not restrict trade in China and maintain an “open door” for all to trade
there and avoid competition and/or war as a result.}
The extended “Open Door” policy advocated in
Secretary of State John Hay’s second note called
on all of the big powers (Western European nations
and Japan), including the USA, to observe the
territorial integrity of China. Sec of State John Hay 
The Exploitation of China and the
“Open Door” Policy continued
China’s Boxer “Rebellion” (1900) [Eurocentric term] was an attempt to
drive (throw) out or kill all foreigners (“Foreign Devils”) {which was a
nationalistic response to “spheres of influence” that the Europeans,
Japanese, and Americans had imposed on China by 1900}.
The American response to China’s Boxer “Rebellion,” was that the USA
abandoned its general principles of non-entanglement and
noninvolvement in overseas conflict (with Europe, not Latin America).
[“Isolationism” – if we ever were truly “isolationist” – is a term that is
relative to Europe only as the USA was never “isolationist” in regards to
countries in the Americas.]
Once the Boxer uprising ended, China was spared further partition by
foreign powers.
 I found this looking for images of the Boxer “Rebellion”
Image/Map/Political Cartoon of the
“Spheres of Influence” in China
[The USA wonders, “Where’s my slice?”]
Map of China for the Boxer “Rebellion”
The Boxer “Rebellion”
The Boxer Rebellion, more properly called the Boxer Uprising, or the
Righteous Harmony Society Movement (義和團運動) in Chinese,
was a violent anti-imperialism, anti-Christian movement by the
"Righteous Fists of Harmony,” Yihe tuan义和团 or Society of
Righteous and Harmonious Fists in China (known as "Boxers" in
English), between 1898 and 1901.
In response to imperialist expansion, growth of cosmopolitan
influences, and missionary evangelism, and against the backdrop of
state fiscal crisis and natural disasters, local organizations began to
emerge in Shandong in 1898.
At first, they were relentlessly suppressed by the Manchu-led Qing
Dynasty of China. Later, the Qing Dynasty tried to expel western
influence from China.
Under the slogan "Support the Qing, destroy the foreign" (扶清灭洋),
Boxers across North China attacked mission compounds.
The Boxer “Rebellion” continued
In June 1900, Boxer fighters, lightly armed or unarmed, gathered in
Beijing to besiege the foreign embassies. On June 21st, the
conservative faction of the Imperial Court induced the Empress
Dowager, who ruled in the emperor’s name, to declare war on the
foreign powers that had diplomatic representation in Beijing.
Diplomats, foreign civilians, soldiers and some Chinese Christians
retreated to the Legation Quarter where they held out for 55 days
until the Eight-Nation Alliance brought 20,000 troops to their rescue.
The Boxer Protocol of September 7th, 1901 ended the uprising and
provided for severe punishments, including an indemnity of 67
million pounds.
The Qing Dynasty was greatly weakened, and was eventually
overthrown by the 1911 revolution, which led to the establishment of
the Chinese Republic.
The Boxer “Rebellion” continued
Origins of the Boxers:
The Society of Righteous and Harmonious Fists (simplified Chinese: 义和团
; traditional Chinese: 義和團; pinyin: Yìhétuán), known by foreigners as the
Boxers, was a secret society founded in Shandong, located in the North
province of China.
Westerners came to call well-trained, athletic young men "Boxers" due to the
martial arts and calisthenics they practiced. Despite the obvious differences
between Wushu and Western pugilistic boxing, the training for unarmed
combat took on the same name to the Europeans.
The Boxers believed that they could, through training, diet, martial arts, and
prayer, perform extraordinary feats, such as flight, and could become
immune to swords and bullets. Further, they popularly claimed that millions
of "spirit soldiers" would descend from the heavens and assist them in
purifying China from foreign influences.
Boxers recruited local farmers and other workers made desperate by
disastrous floods and focused blame on both Christian missionaries and
Chinese Christians.
Some Chinese Christians were recent converts and some had been born into
the faith, but missionaries secured special protection for them using the
shelter of Extraterritoriality [extraterritoriality is the exemption from the
jurisdiction of local laws = “diplomatic immunity”].
Aggression toward missionaries and Christians gained the attention of foreign
(mainly European) governments.
The Boxer “Rebellion” continued
After the Hundred Days Reform failed,
the conservative Empress Dowager
Cixi (Tsu His) seized power and put
the reformist Guangxu Emperor into
house arrest. Western countries
were sympathetic to the imprisoned
emperor, and opposed Cixi's plan to
replace the Guangxu emperor.
Empress Dowager Cixi decided to
use Boxers to expel Western
influences from China; meanwhile,
the Boxers would be weakened by
Western forces. Then the Boxer
slogan became “support the Qing,
destroy the Foreign." (扶清灭洋)
 Boxers, by Johannes Koekkoek circa 1900.
Image of the Righteous and Harmonious Fists
(“Boxers”)
The Boxer “Rebellion” continued
The Chinese nationalist “Boxers,” as well as many other Chinese, were
angry over extraterritoriality rights that allowed foreigners to be
subject to their own nation’s courts for crimes rather than to Chinese
courts (hence laws).
When the Boxers began to have success and the support of the people
and it looked as if they could defeat the “foreign devils,” the
Dowager Empress Cixi committed the Imperial Army to the cause of
supporting the “Boxers” rather than suppressing them.
Next, the massacre of foreign missionaries began.
Italian Mounted infantry 
 US Soldier in China
Chinese
Boxer,
1900 
Massacred Missionaries
The Holy Chinese Martyrs
The Taiyuan Massacre was the
mass killing of foreign Christian
missionaries and of local church
members, including children,
from July 1900, and was one of
the bloodier and more infamous
parts of the Boxer Rebellion.
222 Chinese Eastern Orthodox
Christians were also murdered,
along with 182 Protestant
missionaries and 500 Chinese
Protestants known as the China
Martyrs of 1900. In the end, 48
Catholic missionaries and
18,000 Chinese Catholics were
murdered.
Primary Source Quotations of the Massacre of
Missionaries during the Boxer “Rebellion” continued
“By June 1900, placards calling for
the death of foreigners and
Christians covered the walls
around Beijing. Armed bands
combed the streets of the city,
setting fire to homes and "with
imperial blessing" killing Chinese
Christians and foreigners.
--Father Geoffrey Korz, of the
Orthodox church.”
“Boxers blamed “foreign devils” like
my great-grandparents for causing
northern China's drought and
famine, exacerbating economic
hardships by building railroads
and telegraph lines (because such
modern conveniences eliminated
jobs), undermining the native
textile industry with European
imports, infecting and killing
Chinese children with Christian
prayers and for various other real
and imagined infamies.”
Two China Martyrs of 1900
“The barbaric Boxer Rebellion came as a sudden
thunderstorm; all foreigners were to be killed
not in the sudden merciful death of a bullet but
sliced to death by big, old rusty knives and
swords.... I had an old Winchester rifle and
plenty of ammunition ready for the journey....
The Boxer uprising ultimately claimed the lives
of more than 32,000 Chinese Christians and
several hundred foreign missionaries.”
Historian Nat Brandt called it “the greatest
single tragedy in the history of Christian
evangelicalism.”
The Boxer “Rebellion” continued
The “Boxers” then laid
siege to Beijing and
were barely held
back by a small
contingent of
soldiers, including a
small Japanese
force that
distinguished itself
suffering extreme
casualties in the
process. When the
poorly-armed
“Boxers” could not
take the compound
with a military
assault, they set fire
to the British
Legation to try a
flush the foreigners
out of the compound.
Locations of foreign diplomatic legations and front lines in Beijing during the siege
The Boxer “Rebellion” continued
Arrival of reinforcements:
Foreign navies started building up their presence along the northern China
coast from the end of April 1900. On the 31st of May, before the sieges had
started and upon the request of foreign embassies in Beijing, an
International force of 435 navy troops from eight countries were dispatched
by train from Takou to the capital (75 French, 75 Russian, 75 British, 60
U.S., 50 German, 40 Italian, 30 Japanese, 30 Austrian); these troops joined
the legations and were able to contribute to their defense.
The rebellion was ultimately quashed by the Eight-Nation Alliance of AustriaHungary, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom and
the United States.
The Eight-Nation Alliance with their
naval flags. Japanese print, 1900
“Boxers” Fighting the Eight-Nation Alliance
(English and Japanese soldiers depicted).
Images of the Boxer “Rebellion”
The Boxer “Rebellion” continued
The Eight-Nation Alliance attempted an intervention with
troops that had to march to Beijing; however, these
troops were ultimately attacked and turned back by the
“Boxers,” Chinese irregular forces, and even Chinese
imperial troops (regular forces).
A second attempt to reach Beijing was made, and it was
eventually successful in arriving at the compound and
relieving the weak Eight-nation forces and save the
foreign diplomats, their families, the missionaries, and
the soldiers from certain death at the hands of the
“Boxers,” who had suffered severe casualties as a result
of the repeated assaults on the foreign diplomatic
quarter (compound) after a siege of “55 Days in Peking.”
Admiral Seymour returning to Tianjin
with his wounded men, June 26th, 1900
Japanese Marines Distinguish Themselves in
the Boxer “Rebellion”
Japanese marines
who served
under the
British
commander
Edward
Seymour 
The capture of the southern gate of Tianjin. British
troops were positioned on the left, Japanese troops at
the centre, French troops on the right.
U.S. Marines at the Siege of Beijing
[Semper Fi!]
Charlton Heston
in the film 55
Days at
Peking  
The USMC in China in 1900
USMC
fighting
against the
Righteous
and
Harmonious
Fists
"The Fall of the Peking Castle" from September 1900.
English and Japanese soldiers assaulting Chinese troops.
Russian Troops (above) and Foreign Diplomats
and their families (below) in Beijing (Peking)
Executed Boxer leaders at His-Kou 1900-1901,
guarded by a German soldier.
[De-cap-i-ta-tion!]
{Notice the two children standing right there.}
Speaking of Decapitations of “Boxers”…
 This dude from the Austro-Hungarian Empire did not do
the decapitating, even though he has a cool sword.
The Boxer “Rebellion” continued
Some of the soldiers of the Eight Nation Alliance engaged in
plunder and looting, as well as rape in some cases.
The Dowager Empress, now seeing her misfortune of having
switched to support the “Boxers” hoped that if she acted
decisively against the “Boxers” she could maintain her
power. She did remain in power, because she rounded up
the “Boxers” and had Chinese imperial troops decapitate
(cut off the heads) the “rebels.”
Dowager Empress Cixi, the power behind the throne. 
Foreign Armies in Beijing (Peking)
The Boxer “Rebellion” continued
On September 7th, 1901, the Qing court was compelled to sign the
"Boxer Protocol" also known as Peace Agreement between the
Eight-Nation Alliance and China that ordered the execution of ten
high-ranking officials linked to the outbreak, and other officials who
were found guilty for the slaughter of Westerners in China.
China was fined war reparations of 450,000,000 tael of fine silver (1
tael = 1.2 troy ounces) for the loss that it caused. The reparation
would be paid within 39 years, and would be 982,238,150 taels with
interests (4% per year) included. To help meet the payment, it was
agreed to increase the existing tariff from an actual 3.18% to 5%,
and to tax hitherto duty-free merchandise. The sum of reparation
was estimated by the Chinese population (roughly 450 million in
1900), to let each Chinese pay one tael. Chinese custom income
and salt tax were enlisted as guarantee of the reparation. Russia
got 30% of the reparation, Germany 20%, France 15.75%, Britain
11.25%, Japan 7.7% and the US share was 7%.
The Boxer “Rebellion” continued
A large portion of the reparations paid to the
United States was diverted to pay for the
education of Chinese students in U.S.
universities under the Boxer Rebellion
Indemnity Scholarship Program. To
prepare the students chosen for this
program an institute was established to
teach the English language and to serve
as a preparatory school for the course of
study chosen. When the first of these
students returned to China they undertook
the teaching of subsequent students, from
this institute was born Tsinghua
University. Some of the reparation due to
Britain was later earmarked for a similar
program.
The China or Inland Mission lost more
members than any other missionary
agency: 58 adults and 21 children were
killed. However, in 1901, when the allied
nations were demanding compensation
from the Chinese government, Hudson
Taylor refused to accept payment for loss
of property or life in order to demonstrate
the meekness of Christ to the Chinese.
The Boxer “Rebellion” finale
The western countries stopped short of finally colonizing China.
From the Boxer rebellions, the westerners learned that the best
way to govern China was through the Chinese dynasty, instead
of direct dealing with the Chinese people (as a saying “The
people are afraid of officials, the officials are afraid of foreigners,
and the foreigners are afraid of the people" (老百姓怕官，官怕洋
鬼子，洋鬼子怕老百姓). Dowager Cixi used Boxers to fight
westerners largely because western countries sympathized with
the Guangxu Emperor, who had been house-arrested after an
aborted reformation. However, eventually, as an unwritten
agreement, Dowager Cixi was allowed to stay in power, since
comparatively, Cixi could use her influence to suppress the
Chinese anti-western sentiment better than the weak and
ineffectual Guangxu Emperor. The Guangxu Emperor spent the
rest of his life in house-arrest.
“Boxers” American Troops in China
during the Boxer Uprising
Statistics of the Boxer “Rebellion”
Date:
November 2nd, 1899 – September 7th, 1901
Location:
China
Result:
Eight-Nation Alliance victory
Belligerents:
Eight-Nation Alliance (number ordered by contribution): 1) Japan, 2) Russia, 3) United Kingdom,
4) France, 5) Germany, 6) United States, 7) Italy, and 8) Austria-Hungary
vs.
The Righteous Harmony Society (“Boxers”) and the Qing Empire
Commanders:
Sir Edward Seymour (Britain), Alfred Graf von Waldersee (Germany), and various others from the
Eight-Nation Alliance
vs.
Ci Xi, Zaiyi, Prince Duan, Ronglu, and Yuan Shikai for the “Boxers” and the Qing Empire
Strength:
49,255 Eight-Nation Alliance total
vs.
50,000 – 100,000 Boxers
70,000 Imperial troops
Casualties and losses:
2,500 soldiers, 526 foreigners, and several thousand Chinese Christians for the Eight-Nation Alliance
"All" Boxers and 20,000 Imperial troops for the Qing Empire
18,952+ civilians losses for the Chinese people
Forces of the Eight-Nation Alliance
(1900 Boxer “Rebellion”)
Countries Warships (units) Marines (men) Army (men)
Japan
Russia
UK
France
USA
Germany
Italy
18
10
8
5
2
5
2
Austria–Hungary 1
Total
51
540
750
2,020
390
295
600
80
75
4,750
20,300
12,400
10,000
3,130
3,125
300
None
None
49,255
The Boxer “Rebellion”
Imperial China, in the nineteenth century was in a state of decay.
Accompanied and partly responsible for the deterioration of a once
powerful empire was the increasing pressure from the West and
later from Japan. The Chinese had been badly beaten in the Opium
wars with Britain (concluded in 1842) and were forced to open
Chinese ports to foreign trade and residents. The Manchu dynasty,
already ravaged by domestic rebellion, found itself powerless to
resist further demands from Western Powers and between 1856 to
1898, a network of foreign control over the entire Chinese economy
had been established.
The Triads resented this dilution of their entrenched power and in 1898,
with the support of the dowager empress who had recently retired,
seized the emperor and took control. This started a period of violent
reaction that swept the country and culminated in 1900 with the
Boxer Rebellion.
French medal of the China campaign (1900-1901). Musée de la Légion d'Honneur. 
The Boxer “Rebellion” continued
The Boxers were the Triads' private armies of well
trained, dedicated and fanatically anti-foreign
martial artists, inspired by the Shaolin tradition and
with an unshakable belief in their immunity to any
kind of attack. Together with the official Chinese
army they initially enjoyed some success, killing
hundreds of foreigners and besieging the
international settlement at Peking. These
successes were short lived however, as a Western
expeditionary force, made up of United States,
British, French and Japanese troops, arrived and
lifted the siege. Large numbers of boxers,
confident that their iron-shirt training would protect
them, succumbed to bullets and cannon fire before
the rebellion was finally crushed. The remaining
Boxers faded away and no more was heard of
them, although it is known that many of them took
refuge in Taiwan.
 Above left: A captured “Boxer.”
 Left, left: Secretary of State John Hay who desired
“a splendid little” “open door” in China
 Left, right: Empress Dowager Tsu His (Cixi)
German Political Cartoons of the “Boxer Rebellion”
German political cartoons
of Der Krieg in China
(“The War in China”).
COLLIER’S Cover Story
Collier’s magazine cover
from the time of the Boxer
Uprising. Notice the cost
of the magazine.
Political Cartoon of William Jennings Bryan
Like the previous week’s issue of Harper’s
Weekly, the June 30 cover of Judge
features William Jennings Bryan as an
angry, rebellious Chinese Boxer. The
Boxer Rebellion was then at its height in
China. An international military force had
been sent to Peking (Beijing), the Chinese
capital, to crush the rebellion and restore
order. I n late June, President William
McKinley transferred 2500 American
troops from the Philippines to China,
where they became part of the 20,000
international troops that ended the
rebellion in August 1900.
Political Cartoon of Two Pugilists
THE BOXERS
Uncles Sam (to the obstreperous
[hostile] Boxer). I occasionally
do a little boxing myself.”
This Harper's Weekly cartoon by
W. A. Rogers encourages an
aggressive American military
reaction to the Boxer
Rebellion in China. A
determined Uncle Sam has
donned two naval ships as
boxing gloves, provoking the
Chinese rebel, whose knife
drips with blood, into a wideeyed grimace of fear.
Another Political Cartoon about
the Boxer “Rebellion”
See next slide for explanation of this political cartoon
Explanation to the previous
slide’s political cartoon
This British "chromo" cartoon of 1901 lampoons the situation after the Boxer Rebellion
was quelled: The imperial powers cluster around the prostrate carcass of the golden
dragon, China, to claim their share.
Newcomers Japan (sabre-toothed tiger, with samurai short sword in mouth), Italy (toothy
dog in carabinieri garb) and U.S. (one of 3 eagles) are just as aggressive, though not
as large, as the Russian bear and British lion.
France is seen here as a rooster, Austria the two-headed eagle. In truth, economic
decline and social instability had wracked China since the 1860s.
Even so, by 1900 signs of imminent collapse were appearing -- a collapse greatly
hastened by the dynasty's siding with the Boxers.
The several years of foreign occupation and looting that ensued destabilized Chinese
society and resulted in increased foreign control and further deligitimization of the
dynasty.
In 1902, when order was restored, it had barely 10 years to live.
The toothless Republic that succeeded it never established broad national control.
In less time than it takes to tell, China broke down into chaos, civil war, and warlordism -when combined with the 8-year Japanese invasion and occupation, a dark tunnel of
horrors from which the population did not emerge until 1950.
This fine drawing may serve as a metaphor for the squabble of the imperial powers over
how best to dismember the defunct Chinese Empire.
Political Cartoon of Imperialism in Korea
[Japan and Russia play tug-of-war with Korea]