Key Facts
- Battle dates
- 14–15 August 1900
- Siege duration
- 55 days (20 June – 14 August 1900)
- Nations in Alliance
- 8
- Legations besieged
- 11 foreign legations
Strategic Narrative Overview
From 20 June 1900, Boxer and Imperial Chinese forces besieged diplomats, civilians, and soldiers from eleven nations barricaded within the Peking legation district. An initial relief column was repulsed. A larger Allied force of some 20,000 troops advanced from Tianjin, fighting through multiple engagements before reaching the capital. On 14–15 August, Alliance columns breached the city walls and broke through to the besieged legations.
01 / The Origins
The Boxer Uprising arose from widespread anti-foreign and anti-Christian sentiment in Qing China, fuelled by economic hardship and resentment of foreign privileges. The Boxer movement, tacitly supported by Empress Dowager Cixi, targeted missionaries and Chinese Christians. In June 1900, Imperial Chinese Army forces joined Boxers in laying siege to the foreign legation quarter in Peking, prompting the Eight-Nation Alliance to organise a relief expedition.
03 / The Outcome
The relief of Peking on 14–15 August 1900 ended the siege and effectively crushed organised Boxer resistance in the capital. Empress Dowager Cixi fled the city. The Boxer Protocol, signed in September 1901, imposed heavy indemnities and foreign garrison rights on China, deepening Qing weakness and foreign dominance, and contributing to conditions that led to the dynasty's fall in 1912.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
2 belligerents
Side B
1 belligerent
Kinetic Engagement Axis
Scroll horizontally to view full axis. Events plotted relatively.