Beijing Besieged: Boxers Trap Foreign Legations for 55 Days
Imperial Chinese troops and Boxer militants besieged the Legation Quarter in Beijing from June 20 to August 14, 1900, trapping approximately 900 foreign civilians, 400 military personnel, and 2,800 Chinese Christians behind hastily improvised barricades. The defenders held a perimeter of roughly one-third of a mile, using furniture, sandbags, and demolition rubble as fortifications. They were armed with a motley collection of rifles, and ammunition was critically short. Sir Claude MacDonald, the British minister, coordinated the defense. Regular Chinese army troops joined the attack, though some officials secretly supplied food and ammunition to the besieged. The relief expedition of 20,000 troops from eight nations fought their way 80 miles from Tianjin, arriving on August 14. Sixty-six foreigners and an unknown number of Chinese Christians died during the siege.
June 20, 1900
126 years ago
Key Figures & Places
China
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Beijing
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Boxer Rebellion
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Imperial Chinese Army
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55-day siege
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Legation Quarter
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Boxer Rebellion
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Military history of China before 1912
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Siege of the International Legations
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Peking Legation Quarter
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Clemens von Ketteler
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Beijing
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