Since the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War in 1964, the Qing court has been weak for a long time. However, in June 1900, the Qing court, which had always been beaten, brazenly declared war on the eleven countries, and then the famous Eight-Power Alliance invaded China.
So, why did the Qing government, a country with weak military diplomacy, dare to declare war on the eleven countries at that time?
It is reported that just the night before the declaration of war, Rong Lu, a close minister of Cixi, received a top-secret intelligence that revealed that the ministers of various countries had decided to make four demands on the Qing court: first, to designate a place for the Chinese emperor to live; second, to collect money and grain from various provinces; third, to take charge of the world's military power; and fourth, to order the empress dowager to return to power. Rong Lu entered the palace that night and handed this information to Empress Dowager Cixi.
When Cixi learned of the information, she was shocked and angry, how could this de facto ruler of the Qing government, who had been in charge of China for decades, be willing to give up the power in his hands? It is okay to lose money, it is okay to cut off land, and it is okay to sign all kinds of treaties that lose power and humiliate the country, but it is impossible to have power!
Therefore, Empress Dowager Cixi immediately held a "royal meeting", in which Cixi announced the "four pieces of intelligence", and the whole audience was stunned. Lord and? Empress Dowager Cixi decided to brazenly declare war to maintain power in her hands! At that time, the Boxer Rebellion swept through the Beijing-Tianjin area, and Cixi thought that relying on these tens of thousands of people with the slogan of "supporting the Qing Dynasty and destroying the west" could resist foreign enemies.
On June 21, 1900, Cixi issued twelve consecutive letters of renunciation, declaring war on the eleven powers of Britain, the United States, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Austria-Hungary at the same time, and then the Eight-Power Alliance invaded China. The Boxers did not have the slightest resistance, the coalition army occupied Beijing, and Cixi fled to Xi'an. Then he sent Li Hongzhang to seek peace, and once again signed the "Xinugu Treaty" that lost power and humiliated the country!
It is rumored that this information may be false, but in fact, how can the old empress dowager Cixi, who is well versed in the art of power and scheming, not be able to see it clearly? Since that piece of information ordered the empress dowager to return to power, why should she take charge of the world's soldiers and horses? Therefore, these four pieces of intelligence are clearly contradictory. So why did Cixi declare war? It is reported that the foreigners prefer to be weak and weak in power, so that they can obtain greater benefits, and Empress Dowager Cixi is tightly holding this power in her hands, and if she wants to give up power, it is impossible, so Cixi thought of abolishing the "emperor" in order not to interfere with the "abolition of the emperor" plan by the great powers. Cixi Fang made this decision.
Speaking of which, this declaration of war is not Cixi's backbone, but a farce launched for the power in his hands, and finally let China fall into the abyss of war, everything is the curse of power!