Osprey Men-at-Arms 95 : The Boxer Rebellion

In the year 1900, an unprecedented cooperation occurred between the eight major military powers of the world. Never before, and never since, has there been such an alliance. For more than a year military and naval personnel from Austria-Hungary, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States fought together against a common enemy. That common enemy was a society whose goal was the extermination of all 'foreign devils' in China - the I Ho Ch'uan, or Righteous Harmonious Fists, better known to the West as the Boxers. By the spring of 1900 the Boxer movement was out of control. On 28 May a riot at Pao Ting Fu, which coincided with several others along the incomplete railway line to Peking, resulted in the destruction of foreign property and the loss of many foreign lives. On the following day two British missionaries were attacked and put to death. Things had gone too far - the foreign diplomats in Peking gave the Chinese government just 24 hours to put down the Boxers, or they themselves would call up troops from the coast. Lynn Bodin narrates the absorbing story of this unique occurrence in military history. Packed with contemporary photographs and eight full page colour plates by Chris Warner.

Contents

• Introduction
• The Seige at Peking
• Seymour's Expedition
• Taku and Tientsin
• The Relief of Peking
• After Peking
• Chronology
• The Armies
• The Plates