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The Impact of the Boxer Rebellion
One of the greatest impacts of the Boxer Rebellion on China was the thinking that China could be well managed by the Chinese Dynasty. All the Boxers failed, there was a huge impact left on the Chinese land which involved even their relationship with other foreign countries. The Boxer uprising started at the beginning of 20th century where they destroyed and disrupted the national capital and provoked the foreign powers. Although it began as a jumbled group trying to harass Christians at around 1890s, they later became a systematized group that believed that their rites gave them paranormal powers. Their main intention was to end the honors given to foreigners by the Ch’ing Dynasty and was later joined by Empress Dowager and other local municipalities.
It was unfortunate that the people whom the Boxers’ fought treated the Chinese citizens like the second class citizens in their own land. The Boxers opted to destroy the properties of the foreigners since apart from being the richest people in the town were given lots of freedom by the dynasty. The uprising became very prevalent and spread all over China and it prompted them to start confronting Christians and non-Chinese at around 1900. Anyone who tried to take relief to that country particularly the international reliefs was attacked by the Boxers in the pretense that foreigners wanted a return of the emperor (Thompson 2-6). This writing analyses some of the impacts of Boxer rebellion.
Although the Boxer rebellion did not succeed in their mission, it should be noted that they did a lot to stir up China’s nationwide pride. The Boxers could not fight all the foreign powers because they angered almost all the foreign powers that were more superior to the boxers such as the Allied Expedition. The boxers defeat was also contributed by the fact that they were disorganized and therefore could not fight for their country and defend it properly. The Boxers only believed in rituals and martial arts which could not help them fight against the superior weapons. Boxers also did not have popular backing from within China and this too made them fail at long last (Thompson 2-6).
The Boxers had very serious impacts politically on China especially as far as violation of the national right is concerned. The internal administration and security as well as the national defense were greatly weakened and stunned particularly the demands and the actions of the Boxers. The rebellion which was ended by signing of treaty made most of the Chinese people to have problem with their government (Joseph 43-47). The Qing Empire continued to rule China since the dynasty was not very much affected by the rebels and even the foreign troops. Even the internal administration did not have power to control the Boxers and therefore they used that as justification to return to power. It was also not possible to fight against the foreigners do to the existing Qing court and this prompted the need to have institutional reforms. The government found it very necessary to come up with reforms that could help it in fighting foreign countries and this led to the begging of reform institutions after a long time of promise by the empire. The government generally had very little control over the provinces and her people at large and this made it very much unlikely to come up with reforms (Joseph 43-47).
Socially and economically, China was very much affected such as the evolution of anti-Machu feelings. There was public outcry from everywhere in China when the administration levied more taxes on her people as a way of paying for hefty security. There was also a lot of corruption within the governments amid high taxes and this made the public to think that China could only be salvaged via revolution but not reforms (Bickers 115-120). Public were also irritated by the fact that the government could not defend their land from the foreign forces and these series of blames led to the fall of Qing reign. The fall of the regime was stirred by social support for most of the revolutions and other related activities. In addition, the power, pride and the self-respect that was associated with China faded after they were quickly defeated by the Allied Expeditions (Joseph 43-47).
The Chinese people no longer hated non-citizens particularly foreigners but instead, feared them due to the brutal beatings and power demonstrated by the foreigners. The burden of indemnity was too much for the government because it was too costly for the Chinese government. Chain paid a lot of money to the foreign countries which could have been used in the reforms but luckily some countries used share of it to promote education in the Country. The modern education led to the emergence of a group of intellects who were strongly opposed to the empire and later contributed to the 1911 Revolution. Boxers uprising further weakened the foreign relations with China and even the attitude of foreign powers towards the country. Furthermore, towns that were left destroyed made most people be traumatized and even due to the killings of many soldiers and civilians (Thompson 2-6).
China appeared backwards and uncivilized due to the existence of brutal behaviors such as the Boxers’. Unequal treaties were not signed on time by overseas countries and this later led to delay of China from recuperating national rights. The dynasty was not respected at all by the foreign countries and the Chinese effort to fight the foreigners was ended. The foreign powers stopped the scramble for concessions as a way of dropping international battles and sustain the prevailing Chinese conditions. The international communities found it necessary to maintain the relationship with China and therefore the issue of equal exploitation was conventional as part of the peace process (Bickers 115-120).
The relationship between China and other international countries became very poor and therefore raised tension amongst between them and those countries. For instance, Russians who came in the name of assisting the region from Boxers’ rebellion attempted to spread their power and later Japanese demanded their withdrawal (Horner 84). Although the Chinese administration had maintained a peaceful relationship for a long time, the Russians wanted to control Manchuria but Japan tried to stop them.
Works Cited
Bickers, Robert A. The Boxers, China, and the World. Lanham, Md [u.a.: Rowman & Littlefield, 2007. Print.
Horner, Charles. Rising China and Its Postmodern Fate: Memories of Empire in a New Global Context. Athens, Ga: University of Georgia Press, 2009. Print.
Joseph, William A. Politics in China: An Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010. Print.
Thompson, Larry C. William Scott Ament and the Boxer Rebellion: Heroism, Hubris and the “ideal Missionary”. Jefferson, N.C: McFarland & Co, 2009. Internet resource.
