Assignment Task:
In the late 19th century, China was rocked by a series of troubling events such as the Opium Wars and the First Sino-Japanese War with Japan. In addition to this, the foreign presence of missionaries, diplomats, and businessmen was growing. Other contributing factors included floods, famines, and growing poverty at the turn of the 20th century. Lastly, the Open Door Policy of 1900, which opened China to foreign trade, was a contributing factor.
Opinions within China were mixed, but the Boxers, initially a secret society called the Society of "Righteous and Harmonious Fist," so-called because of the style of their martial art exercises, particularly resented this foreign presence on Chinese soil. Initially, the Boxers targeted the Chinese government for supporting the Self-Strengthening Movement, which imported Western technology to Chinese cultural and political institutions. Getting nowhere with this strategy, the Boxers turned their threats more directly to foreigner intruders. The Boxers wanted to rid China of these foreign influences and return China to its historic Confucian values and practices.
This resistance took many forms, but violence broke out between 1899 and 1901. The Chinese government under the Cixi Imperial Dowager Empress was reluctant to support the Boxers' movement because it proved disruptive and challenged her own authority, but eventually she relented and provided support. The wave of violence took many forms. Railroad and telegraph lines were destroyed. Nearly 200 missionaries were killed, both Protestant and Catholic. Foreign residents were attacked in Tianjin and Peking, and several diplomats were killed. In response, European powers intervened to protect their citizens within China. Known as the Eight-Power Alliance, nearly 45,000 troops were involved in putting down the Boxer Rebellion. In the aftermath, China agreed to pay $330 million in reparations among other provisions.
These events provide an interesting case study involving violence that originated from a splinter group within China that eventually enjoyed government support. In a sense then, three parties were involved here: a faction within China, the Chinese government itself, and foreign powers.
In your response, consider the writing of de Las Casas and Suarez as they might apply to these events. De Las Casas, of course, is writing against the background of Spanish atrocities in South America. De Las Casas recognizes there are just causes for war, but he is opposed to war on behalf of undermining "barbaric practices." In turn, he was reluctant to justify war even in response to the immediate aggression of a third party if conflict could be avoided through diplomacy. For de Las Casas, right and wrong were sometimes intertwined in the actions of mutual warring parties, so, often the line between victim and oppressor was blurred. Lastly, de Las Casas argued that even if the initial justification for war was legitimate, sometimes the means employed undermined any good that may come of it. Lastly, Suarez put great emphasis on the intention behind violence and also distinguished between civilians and soldiers.
In a paper address the following:
- Summarize the details of the Boxer Rebellion.
- Regarding internal matters within China: Should the Chinese government have supported the Boxers in their rebellion, or should it have attempted to negotiate a peaceful resolution to the conflict?
- Regarding external matters outside China: Should Western governments have sent troops to China to protect their citizens and property, or should these governments have attempted to negotiate either with the Boxers or the Chinese government directly? Given that the Boxers had no legitimate authority within China, could negotiations have occurred with them directly under any circumstances? If so, how?