Boxer Rebellion

Anti-foreign uprising in North China from 1899 to 1901 by the Society of Righteous and Harmonious Fists ('Boxers'), who besieged the foreign Legation Quarter in Beijing in June 1900. The Eight-Nation Alliance of American, Austro-Hungarian, British, French, German, Italian, Japanese and Russian troops invaded China and relieved the 55-day siege on 14 August 1900. The Boxer Protocol of 7 September 1901 imposed a 450-million-tael indemnity, foreign troops in Beijing, and the execution of pro-Boxer officials; the Qing dynasty's humiliation accelerated reforms and the 1911 Xinhai Revolution.