The Tragic True Story Of The Boxer Rebellion

Tensions were already running high leading up to the Yihetuan Movement. Shandong, where the Yihetuan originated, was known for its extreme weather and alternating cycles of flooding and drought. According to the University of Bristol, between 1896 and 1899, the region experienced particularly devastating flooding that ruined large areas of Shandong, affecting thousands of villages

Tensions were already running high leading up to the Yihetuan Movement. Shandong, where the Yihetuan originated, was known for its extreme weather and alternating cycles of flooding and drought. According to the University of Bristol, between 1896 and 1899, the region experienced particularly devastating flooding that ruined large areas of Shandong, affecting thousands of villages and over 34 counties.

In 1899, the other extreme hit as the region began to experience a period of intense drought. According to The Boxer Rebellion and the Great Game in China by David J. Silbey, in July 1900, the rainfall at Qingdao in Shandong was roughly five percent of the expected monthly precipitation. This drought was interpreted by the Yihetuan as a sign of God's wrath in response to the imperialist presence in the Chinese Empire.

Starting in the 1840s, the British, Americans, French, Dutch, German, Japanese, and Spanish had started to take control of large parts of the Chinese Empire through various treaties. Relations between foreigners and native Chinese were increasingly strained leading up to the Yihetuan Movement, though foreign missionaries were a particular source of agitation due to their day-to-day involvement in the Chinese Empire.

This was seen in the Juye Incident on November 1, 1897, when two German missionaries were murdered in the middle of the night at a missionary residence in Zhangjiazhuang. This event led to Kaiser Wilhelm's occupation of Jiaozhou Bay, which, in turn, led to Russian, British, Japanese, and French occupations of various regions in the Chinese Empire.

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