Cixi5 June 1900
The railway line to Tianjin was cut by Boxers in the countryside and Beijing was isolated
China · Warfare / Boxer Rebellion. Chronological records rendered directly from the World History Database.
The railway line to Tianjin was cut by Boxers in the countryside and Beijing was isolated
The first Boxer, dressed in his finery, was seen in the Legation Quarter. The German Minister, Clemens von Ketteler, and German soldiers captured a Boxer boy and inexplicably executed him. In response, thousands of Boxers burst into the walled city of Beijing that afternoon and burned many of the Christian churches and cathedrals in the city, burning some victims alive
Soldiers at the British Embassy and German Legations shot and killed several Boxers, alienating the Chinese population of the city and nudging the Qing Government toward support of the Boxers
Qing imperial forces deployed electric mines in the River Beihe (Peiho) to prevent the Eight-Nation Alliance from sending ships to attack
The event that tilted the Qing imperial Government irrevocably toward support of the Boxers and war with the foreign powers was the attack of foreign navies on the Dagu Forts near Tianji
The legations of the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Austria-Hungary, Spain, Belgium, The Netherlands, the United States, Russia and Japan were located in the Beijing Legation Quarter south of the Forbidden City. The Chinese army and Boxer irregulars besieged the Legation Quarter from 20 June to 14 August 1900
His Kansu troops attack foreign positions in Beijing.
Chinese soldiers and Boxers set fire to areas north and west of the British Legation, using it as a "frightening tactic" to attack the defenders
Commands Qing forces while restraining attacks on the legations.
An armistice is declared by the Chinese
Declines to press the siege of the foreign legations.
Limits pressure on the legations despite hardliner demands.
The armistice, although occasionally broken, endured until 13 August when, with an allied army led by the British Alfred Gaselee approaching Beijing to relieve the siege, the Chinese launched their heaviest fusillade on the Legation Quarter. As the foreign army approached, Chinese forces melted away
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