Block+B+Boxer+2

= __**The Boxers**__ =

//The imperial court responded to this foreign threat by giving aid to various secret societies. Traditionally, secret societies had been formed in opposition to imperial government; as such, they were certainly a threat to the Ch'ing government. However, anti-foreign sentiment had risen so greatly in China that the Empress Dowager believed that the secret societies could be the vanguard in a military expulsion of Europeans. This policy reached its climax in 1900 with the Boxer Rebellion.//

//The Boxers, or "The Righteous and Harmonious Fists," were a religious society that had originally rebelled against the imperial government in Shantung in 1898. They practiced an animistic magic of rituals and spells which they believed made them impervious to bullets and pain. The Boxers believed that the expulsion of foreign devils would magically renew Chinese society and begin a new golden age. Much of their discontent, however, was focussed on the economic scarcity of the 1890's. They were a passionate and confident group, full of contempt for authority and violent emotions.//

//In reality, the Boxer rebellion could hardly be classified as either a rebellion or a war against the Europeans. China was largely under the control of regional Governors General; these regional officials ignored the Empress Dowager's instructions and put forth every effort to prevent disorder or any harm coming to foreigners. The Boxer Rebellion, then, was only limited to a few places, but concentrated itself in Beijing. The Western response was swift and severe. Within a couple months, an international force captured and occupied Beijing and forced the imperial government to agree to the most humiliating terms yet: the Boxer Protocol of 1901. Under the Boxer Protocol, European powers got the right to maintain military forces in the capital, thus placing the imperial government more or less under arrest. The Protocols suspended the civil service examination, demanded a huge indemnity to be paid to European powers for the losses they had suffered, and required government officials to be prosecuted for their role in the rebellion. In addition, the Protocols suspended all arms imports into the country.//


 * Who :** Boxer, the Chinese group who called themselves "The Righteous and Harmonious Fists" and they were known as the Boxers to the Westerners. They were a group of passionate and confident group full of contempt for authority and violent emotions. The Boxers practiced animistic rituals and spells that they believed would make them invulnerable from bullets and pain.
 * What :** Boxer Rebellion
 * When:** In 1900, they rose in force and killed almost 250 foreigners.
 * Where:** They attacked the embassies in Beijing, where the foreigners stayed as refugees.
 * Why:** The rebellion was not directed against the government, but it was against foreign influences in China. The Boxers did not want foreigners and Christianity in China. They believed that the expulsion of foreign devils would renew Chinese society and bring in the new golden age into China.
 * How**: They killed over 250 foreigners. They focused on attacking Chinese Christians and foreigners. They captured Beijing and forced the government to agree to the Boxer Protocol of 1901.