1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:01,920 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of I 2 00:00:02,040 --> 00:00:07,400 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hey, I'm Eves, and Welcome to This Day 3 00:00:07,400 --> 00:00:11,240 Speaker 1: in History Class, a show that uncovers history one day 4 00:00:11,320 --> 00:00:25,040 Speaker 1: at a time. Today is June. The day was June 5 00:00:25,320 --> 00:00:30,040 Speaker 1: nine d. The Siege of the Legation Quarter in Beijing, China, 6 00:00:30,320 --> 00:00:34,000 Speaker 1: began when boxers and the Chinese Imperial Army attacked the 7 00:00:34,040 --> 00:00:38,200 Speaker 1: thousands of foreigners and Chinese Christians who had taken refuge there. 8 00:00:39,400 --> 00:00:42,320 Speaker 1: The Boxer Rebellion erupted in China in the late eighteen 9 00:00:42,400 --> 00:00:46,320 Speaker 1: nineties in response to growing Western influence in the country. 10 00:00:47,240 --> 00:00:50,559 Speaker 1: After China had taken losses in the Opium Wars and 11 00:00:50,760 --> 00:00:54,720 Speaker 1: the First Sino Japanese War, people had grown frustrated with 12 00:00:54,760 --> 00:00:59,560 Speaker 1: foreign control and Chinese economic affairs. Western culture and technology 13 00:00:59,600 --> 00:01:03,520 Speaker 1: were up ending society. A lot of the ire directed 14 00:01:03,560 --> 00:01:08,600 Speaker 1: towards Western influence targeted Chinese people who had converted to Christianity. 15 00:01:08,840 --> 00:01:12,560 Speaker 1: Christian missionaries took the side of Chinese Christians, and non 16 00:01:12,680 --> 00:01:16,440 Speaker 1: Christians in the country took offense to this. This is 17 00:01:16,480 --> 00:01:19,480 Speaker 1: where the Boxers come in. Also known as the Righteous 18 00:01:19,480 --> 00:01:23,800 Speaker 1: and Harmonious Fists, the name of Boxers given to the 19 00:01:23,840 --> 00:01:27,080 Speaker 1: group by foreigners came from the martial arts they practice, 20 00:01:27,480 --> 00:01:31,679 Speaker 1: which they believed gave them special powers. The boxers were 21 00:01:31,760 --> 00:01:36,440 Speaker 1: largely unemployed peasants and farmers. They harbored anti foreign sentiments, 22 00:01:36,680 --> 00:01:39,959 Speaker 1: and they often resorted to violent action to express their 23 00:01:39,959 --> 00:01:44,959 Speaker 1: anger with foreign influence. Many boxers were from Shandong Province, 24 00:01:45,280 --> 00:01:48,480 Speaker 1: a place that had faced lots of natural disasters and 25 00:01:48,560 --> 00:01:52,440 Speaker 1: had been carved up by Western imperial powers. The province 26 00:01:52,440 --> 00:01:57,480 Speaker 1: became a center of the uprising. Boxers spread rumors about foreigners, 27 00:01:57,600 --> 00:02:01,680 Speaker 1: and soon they had resorted to rioting, killing and raping 28 00:02:01,760 --> 00:02:07,040 Speaker 1: Christian missionaries and converts. At first, king troops attempted to 29 00:02:07,080 --> 00:02:11,520 Speaker 1: suppress the boxers, but in January of nineteen hundred, Empress 30 00:02:11,560 --> 00:02:16,359 Speaker 1: Dowager Suchi ordered that they not be considered criminals. King 31 00:02:16,480 --> 00:02:21,240 Speaker 1: officials encouraged boxers in their anti foreign and anti Christian actions, 32 00:02:22,280 --> 00:02:25,839 Speaker 1: despite the fact that violence was escalating. Many people who 33 00:02:25,880 --> 00:02:29,360 Speaker 1: faced persecution chose to stay or did not have the 34 00:02:29,400 --> 00:02:34,079 Speaker 1: resources to leave. By mid nineteen hundred, the rebellion had 35 00:02:34,080 --> 00:02:38,720 Speaker 1: reached Beijing. Boxers were burning churches and intimidating and killing 36 00:02:38,720 --> 00:02:43,600 Speaker 1: people who tried to quell the rebellion. On foreign ministers 37 00:02:43,600 --> 00:02:47,400 Speaker 1: in Beijing requested troops be sent to Beijing, and international 38 00:02:47,440 --> 00:02:51,440 Speaker 1: forces began arriving in the following days to protect Westerners 39 00:02:51,480 --> 00:02:55,840 Speaker 1: and Christians. But the Boxers were wreaking havoc around Beijing, 40 00:02:56,200 --> 00:03:01,200 Speaker 1: destroying technology and infrastructure and committing gruesome m orders. They 41 00:03:01,240 --> 00:03:05,520 Speaker 1: even cut the telegraph wires going out of Beijing. Great 42 00:03:05,560 --> 00:03:09,800 Speaker 1: Britain's senior foreign minister, Sir Claude McDonald, had called for help, 43 00:03:10,200 --> 00:03:14,399 Speaker 1: and a multinational relief force of people was sent from 44 00:03:14,440 --> 00:03:19,280 Speaker 1: Tianjin to Beijing, but the Empress Dowager ordered imperial troops 45 00:03:19,320 --> 00:03:22,640 Speaker 1: to block their advance and they were turned back. She 46 00:03:22,840 --> 00:03:27,120 Speaker 1: also ordered that all foreigners must leave Beijing, as they 47 00:03:27,120 --> 00:03:30,000 Speaker 1: were not able to or feared to do so, many 48 00:03:30,080 --> 00:03:34,520 Speaker 1: foreigners were stuck in Beijing. On June twenty, the German 49 00:03:34,560 --> 00:03:38,840 Speaker 1: minister was killed and Boxers besieged the Legation Quarter in Beijing, 50 00:03:39,320 --> 00:03:43,640 Speaker 1: or the Diplomatic District. The quarter was home to diplomats 51 00:03:43,640 --> 00:03:48,120 Speaker 1: from many Western countries, Japan, and Russia, and it contained 52 00:03:48,200 --> 00:03:54,040 Speaker 1: many international shops, missionaries, journalists, and travelers. A few thousand 53 00:03:54,080 --> 00:03:58,000 Speaker 1: foreign soldiers, foreign civilians, and Chinese Christians lived or had 54 00:03:58,040 --> 00:04:01,960 Speaker 1: taken refuge in the district. After the siege began, the 55 00:04:02,040 --> 00:04:07,200 Speaker 1: Empress Dowager escalated tensions, opposing foreigners and aligning with the Boxers. 56 00:04:08,200 --> 00:04:11,160 Speaker 1: In Beijing, a library was burned, a mine was set 57 00:04:11,200 --> 00:04:16,040 Speaker 1: off under French legation, and people were killed. Violence continued 58 00:04:16,080 --> 00:04:20,200 Speaker 1: outside of Beijing as well. The Ching government declared a 59 00:04:20,279 --> 00:04:24,479 Speaker 1: ceasefire on legations on July seventeenth, but the siege would 60 00:04:24,520 --> 00:04:29,279 Speaker 1: last for fifty five days. Another international relief force of 61 00:04:29,320 --> 00:04:32,880 Speaker 1: about twenty thousand people was sent from Tangin to Beijing 62 00:04:33,000 --> 00:04:37,839 Speaker 1: in early August, reaching the city on August fourteen. Empress 63 00:04:37,920 --> 00:04:43,000 Speaker 1: Dowager she fled to present day Xian. The Boxer Rebellion 64 00:04:43,120 --> 00:04:45,960 Speaker 1: ended when the Boxer Protocol was signed in September of 65 00:04:46,040 --> 00:04:49,640 Speaker 1: nineteen oh one. China was ordered to pay millions of 66 00:04:49,680 --> 00:04:53,640 Speaker 1: dollars in reparations to foreign nations involved in the conflict. 67 00:04:54,680 --> 00:04:58,640 Speaker 1: Boxers and Chinese officials implicated in the rebellion were ordered 68 00:04:58,640 --> 00:05:02,160 Speaker 1: to be punished, and Western nations were allowed to keep 69 00:05:02,200 --> 00:05:06,480 Speaker 1: troops stationed in Beijing. Estimates of the death toll in 70 00:05:06,520 --> 00:05:09,640 Speaker 1: the Boxer rebellion vary, but many of the people killed 71 00:05:09,640 --> 00:05:15,120 Speaker 1: were civilians, particularly Chinese Christians. The King dynasty fell about 72 00:05:15,160 --> 00:05:19,240 Speaker 1: ten years after the end of the rebellion. I'm each 73 00:05:19,279 --> 00:05:22,240 Speaker 1: Jeacote and hopefully you know a little more about history 74 00:05:22,240 --> 00:05:26,320 Speaker 1: today than you did yesterday. If you feel like correcting 75 00:05:26,320 --> 00:05:29,800 Speaker 1: my pronunciation or my accent on anything that I've said 76 00:05:29,800 --> 00:05:32,520 Speaker 1: in the show, feel free to leave a very kind 77 00:05:32,680 --> 00:05:37,479 Speaker 1: comment on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook at t D I 78 00:05:38,000 --> 00:05:41,360 Speaker 1: h C podcast And if you'd like to learn more 79 00:05:41,360 --> 00:05:44,360 Speaker 1: about the Boxer Rebellion, check out the episode of Stuff 80 00:05:44,360 --> 00:05:48,800 Speaker 1: You Missed in History Class called Boxer Rebellion. And if 81 00:05:48,800 --> 00:05:51,400 Speaker 1: you haven't listened already, you can check out another show 82 00:05:51,440 --> 00:05:55,280 Speaker 1: I host called Unpopular. Unpopular is about people in history 83 00:05:55,320 --> 00:05:58,960 Speaker 1: who challenged the status quo and sometimes had to face 84 00:05:59,000 --> 00:06:02,520 Speaker 1: really harsh consequence. Is for it. Thanks again for listening, 85 00:06:02,520 --> 00:06:10,359 Speaker 1: and we'll see you tomorrow. For more podcasts from my 86 00:06:10,400 --> 00:06:13,080 Speaker 1: Heart Radio, visit the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, 87 00:06:13,120 --> 00:06:14,880 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.