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The Boxer Rebellion In China

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When investigating the Boxer rebellion it was revealed that, for the Chinese, the old political adage that ‘despite the best-laid plans, not all desires are realised’ is proven true.
In the 19th century, many Chinese peasants were starving and anguished due to recurring drought, and famine. This turned out to be the main motive for the uprising of the Boxer Rebellion. Multiple forms of local corruption also meant that the peasants were paying far more tax than they could manage. Different forms of natural disasters within China were gradually becoming more common. This started to affect the Chinese economy and the lives of numerous peasants, farmers and fishermen (Brodie, 2008).Several peasants believed that the actions of humans and the Heavens were connected, and …show more content…
It was because of this, they blamed the famine and drought on the Christian missionaries (Perkins, 2014). This was when a group of peasant’s band together to form a group called ‘The Righteous and Harmonious Fists’ later referred to as ‘Boxers’ by the western powers, due to the fact that they performed physical exercises. Their goal was to rid the country of all foreign powers and westernised Chinese, which they saw a cause of many of their problems. Their objective was to become an unruly and threatening political source (Brodie, 2008). The accompanying year the Yellow River overflowed and the people who survived the surges needed to overcome disease and malnourishment. They made do off willow leaves, wheat gleanings and cotton seed. For a number of the peasants and farmers the total destruction of their lives and their prospects further expanded their displeasure towards the foreigners and missionaries inside China. Consequently, outrage was increasing towards all foreigners inside China as the Chinese blamed them for

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