Boxer Rebellion Targets Foreigners in China

A secret society of dispossessed Chinese men, known as "Boxers" for their study of martial arts, led an uprising against Western countries' growing influence in China and Asia. The Boxers targeted foreign influencers, especially Christian missionaries, and in June 1900 the Chinese empress dowager Cixi declared war on the foreign powers of Britain, Russia, Japan, France, the United States, Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy. Known as the "Eight-Nation Alliance," the foreign powers brought 20,000 troops and sacked the imperial capital Peking, ending the uprising.