subsequent suppression and was therefore no longer capable of instituting the kind of radical reforms needed to enable China to enter the modern world. It is no exaggeration to say that the Boxer Rebellion signaled the beginning of the end for the Qing dynasty, as well as centuries of monarchical rule in China.

After the Boxer embarrassment, the Qing dynasty lost any remaining legitimacy it might have held with the restive Chinese nation. Empress Dowager CiXi, whose material support and boosterism fueled the Boxer resistance, was forced to concede to the demand for reform.

The brief, turbulent period of the early Chinese Republic that followed the fall of the Qing in the second decade of the twentieth century introduced Western ideas about science, education, and social policy that coalesced into a republican movement of military nationalists in the Japanese and German vein. Correspondingly, the internationalist political and economic theories introduced to educated young, urban Chinese in these years added other ideological movements to the simmering Chinese crucible, like Mao Zedong’s socialism with Chinese characteristics.

These conflicting forces of class-based society-wide revolution and reactionary military-industrial statism flourished in the power vacuum left by the disintegration of the ancient empire following the crippling post-Boxer indemnities. Japan’s occupation of China led to its alignment with the Chinese Nationalist government against the rising communist revolution. Just before the Boxer rebellion, Japan had become emboldened by its 1895 victory in territorial warfare against China and with its permanent presence in China consolidated its dominance of Northeastern Asia.

At the same time, the United States was also emerging as a global power with its control of the Philippines since the end of the Spanish-American War of 1898. The added economic concessions given American corporate interests added to the lingering resentment against foreign imperialist powers that provided the Chinese Communists an idealized foil against which to rally the support of the masses for revolution against the corrupt and exploitive status quo. The powerful nationalist state that emerged in the 1920s and 30s under Jiang Jia Shi was viewed as a puppet of Western imperialism, and in fact, the Chinese nationalists became crucial American allies against the marauding Japanese before and during the Second World War. It was Japanese resentment about an assertive American military presence in the Eastern Pacific that eventually led to the Japanese empire’s attacking the US naval fleet at Pearl Harbor, bringing isolationist America into Word War II.

The major result of the Boxer Rebellion was that the Ch'ing Dynasty lost a great deal of credibility and power and a group of reformers gained power.

The Manchu Ch'ing Dynasty had already been deeply unpopular among Chinese.  Now, it lost most of its remaining credibility because it had not been able to either suppress the Boxers or control the foreign response.  The dynasty had to sign a very unequal treaty after the Rebellion, further weakening it in the eyes of the Chinese people.

Because of this, power started to flow to regional leaders and to radical reformers like Sun Yat-sen.  This led relatively quickly to the fall of the Ch'ing Dynasty in 1911 and the rise of conflicts in China between various warlords and political factions that would continue up until the establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949.

The Boxer Rebellion broke out in China in 1900. A group of people in China was upset with the amount of Western and Japanese influence in China. They believed the amount of foreign influence was a threat to their way of life and was responsible for the poor economic conditions in which they lived. Thus, they began to attack and kill foreigners and to destroy property in an attempt to get them to leave China.

The United States was concerned about the Boxer Rebellion. We feared the Boxer Rebellion would encourage other colonial powers to try to take over China. We were worried that we would no longer be able to trade with China. The United States encouraged the colonial powers not to invade China but to accept Chinese reparations instead. China agreed to pay over $330 million to the foreign countries. China was banned from importing weapons for two years, and those who were connected with Boxer Rebellion would be punished. The Boxer Rebellion eventually led to the downfall of the Qing Dynasty. In 1912, the Republic of China was formed.

The implementation of the atrocious anti-foreign and anti-Christian policy by the then governor resulted in the genocide of Christians who denounced Confucianism, a philosophical and religious doctrine traditionally subscribed to by Chinese. Scores of victims including missionaries and followers from various Christian denominations succumbed to the anti-imperialists’ anger and hatred.

Economically, China stalled as a result of the hefty amount of money it had to part with as indemnity for all losses incurred during the uprising. China had to carry the indemnity burden for 39 years and spent money that would have been otherwise used for other development purposes. The indemnity in turn had a negative social impact on the society that felt disgruntled by the government’s move to increase taxes so as to meet the cost of the fine. In addition to that, the citizens of China were disgraced and angered the more by their defeat.

The boxer rebellion had several political impacts on China. First and foremost, the rebellion thwarted the plan by foreigners to partition China. Secondly, it hastened the process for reforms and revolution through overthrowing of the Qing government that was unable to rule China adequately.

The main consequence of the Boxer Rebellion in 1900-01 was that China was greatly weakened and controlled to an even greater extent by the western imperial powers.  Those empires did, however, decide as a result of the rebellion that attempting to make China a colony was probably a bad idea.

The rebellion itself was an uprising against those same western influences and specifically against the Christian religion.  This led to another important and tragic consequence, the genocide of more than a million Chinese Christians during the uprising.

The United States took part in the international effort to put down the rebellion, and this was the point at which the new American empire entered the competition for Asian trade, colonies and resources.  Secretary of State John Hay issued his Open Door Note "suggesting" that American commercial interests in China would be protected and nudging America's way into line next to (and ahead of) the other empires.

Japan also gained recognition for its military aid to the suppression effort and Russia gained some territory in Manchuria.