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Causes Of The Boxer Rebellion

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The Boxer Rebellion was a renowned uprising that occurred in China from 1899-1901, however there have been many debates between historians surrounding the possible causes that fuelled the rebellion. There were three major causes that may have encouraged the rebellion, these include anti-foreign, anti-Christian and anti-Qing sentiment present within in the Chinese communities where Boxers originated from, such as Shandong. Historians often question the different impacts and used a series of extended research to back up their view, this results in an unclear conclusion, however there were some ideas that were more popular and sought out.
Possibly the most influential cause was China’s long history of foreign interactions with Western …show more content…

Another one of the most important causes of the whole rebellion, was the anti-Christian mindset that the Boxers had. This was closely tied with the anti-foreign feeling present amongst the Chinese people. Western missionaries were a major contribution to the anti-Christian feeling as they challenged many of China’s traditions and pressured villages into building churches, this rivalled China’s original religious and spiritual beliefs. After the second opium war had ended, western missionaries were granted the right to travel freely within China, and Chinese people could practise Christianity without a penalty. As a result, there was a lot of Western influence pressuring officials. Originally, Shandong was quite open to Christian influence, however due to the German incident, Germans were granted the right to build churches as repayment. Hatred for the Christians accumulated over the years, especially after Germans were given authority over Shandong. In other states as well, foreign missionaries erected churches on sites that held religious and spiritual value, this triggered the Chinese to fight back. Incidences of local courts giving temples to the Roman Catholic authorities to use as churches also led the Boxers to fight back. Anti-Christian feelings cumulated over the years, leading to the sudden uprising caused by the tense relationship between the east and the west, and as stated by

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