An+Empire+Crumbles

h As the century ended, China was in turmoil, and anger towards foreigners was growing. China was accepting western ideas and customs, but they highly resented Christian missionaries that denied Chinese thinkers like Confucius. Since foreigners were protected by a treaty with Britain (extraterritoriality) they could ignore Chinese laws and would put up signs that said: No Dogs or Chinese Allowed, on their property. ** Boxer Uprising ** In 1899, a secret street society began to form; they called themselves the Righteous Harmonious Fists. When American saw them training in martial arts, they dubbed them as “boxers”. The boxers claimed that their mission was to drive the “foreign devils” that polluting the land with their un-Chinese ways, strange buildings, machines, and telegraph lines. There was one branch of these Boxers called the Red Lantern, a group mainly made up of young woman. The woman thought that carrying red lanterns and handkerchiefs gave them supernatural powers, stopping foreign bullets. The Boxers started attacking foreign communities across China in 1900. As a result, Japan and Western nations organized a multinational force. This forced obliterated the boxers and freed foreigners from besieged in Beijing. After seeing all of this, the empress Ci Xi switched from supporting the boxers to being totally against them. ** Aftermath ** The defeat had forced China to make concessions to westerners once again. The stress from all the reforms led China from admitting woman into schools, and pushed science and mathematics over Confucius beliefs, and more students were sent abroad to study. During this period, China expanded economically. Some of their exports now included silk, soybean, tobacco. As foreign capital emerged, small Chinese businesses built up and soon a working class formed, pushing for reform, just as the west had done. ** Three Principles of the People ** Even with the defeat of the Boxer uprising, Chinese nationalism still spread. Reformers desired a stronger Chinese government, and by the early 1900’s they had appointed a new constitutional monarchy. One faithful spokesman for a Chinese republic was Sun Yixian. In the early 1900’s, he organized the Revolutionary Alliance. His main goal was to build “three principals of the people”. Nationalism was the first principle, freeing China from foreign boundaries. The second principle was democracy or a representative government for the people. And last, he wanted economic security.

** Birth of a Republic ** After Ci Xi died in 1908, a two-year-old inherited the position as emperor, and the country fell into a period of chaos. During this time peasants, workers, students, local warlords, and court politicians helped destroy the dynasty and end a 2,000 year old monarchy. After returning from a trip to the United States, in 1911, the people appointed him as president of the Chinese Republic. Even through all of this though, China was still at war with itself and foreigners for the next 37 years.

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