In the mid-19th century, the Qing Empire had seen better days: the country was in the grip of the Taiping Rebellion, a massive peasant uprising directed against foreign domination and the ruling Manchu dynasty. At the same time, during the two Opium Wars, China came under huge pressure from the Western powers seeking to increase their economic influence in the Middle Kingdom.
The better trained and armed forces of Britain and France easily defeated the Qing army, and by early October 1860 they were at the gates of Beijing, ready to ravage the Chinese capital. It was at this critical venture that the city was saved by the Russian envoy, Major General Nikolai Ignatiev, but not solely for the sake of the Chinese.
