One
On July 30, 1900, on the streets of Melbourne, Australia, a 200-strong force was holding a grand armed parade and oath ceremony. This army, code-named "Victoria", was about to represent Britain in the "Eight-Power Alliance" attack on Beijing, the capital of the Qing Dynasty.
Beginning in the second half of 1899, the Boxers who arose in Shandong within the Qing Empire gradually spread to Beijing, and their strong hostility and aggression toward foreigners caused a serious deterioration in relations between the Qing government and the great powers. The story continued to be featured in london's major newspapers.
By 1900, the situation in Beijing had deteriorated. In May and June, under the manipulation of Duanwang Zaiyi and other behind-the-scenes pushers, a large number of Boxers entering Beijing began to gather and besiege foreigners in Beijing, and even attacked the Xishiku Church and the embassy area of Dongjiaomin Lane, and large-scale bloody conflicts broke out. On 4 June, the French minister called on the ministers "to immediately send a telegram to their own governments, demanding that the commanders of the navies of the countries be ordered to take immediate measures of rescue if Beijing is blockaded and the xenophobic movement prevails." ”
However, for the six British colonies on the Australian continent, this matter of being far away from the ocean and thousands of miles away was not their concern. At the moment, they are paying full attention to the imminent independence of the Federation. It was the result of years of political wrestling between them and the British Empire.
Two
Boxer
Beginning in 1786, the British established a colonial precinct in Australia centered on Sydney. But a few generations later, the first immigrants grew old, and their descendants naturally lost their feelings for Britain and their European homeland, they were native Australians, their homeland was Australia, so they cared more about Australia than they cared about Britain. Slowly, they feel that their fate should be in their own hands.
More importantly, at the end of the 19th century, the descendants of the Dutch in the British colony of South Africa demanded independence, and the British mobilized the main forces deployed around the world to suppress it, which was the "Boer War". The British garrison, which had been in charge of Australia's defence, was also fully transferred to South Africa. Taking advantage of the emptiness of the British defense, the rising Germany openly declared that "we also demand territory under the sun", and moved around New Guinea; and France was also stepping up its expansion around Australia... This made the Australians feel a direct threat, and at the moment the suzerainty of Britain was powerless to protect them. So they resolved to create a unified federal state with their own responsibility for armaments and defense.
After lengthy negotiations, the British finally agreed in principle to Australia's independence on a highly dominion-like basis. In March 1900, representatives of the Australian colonies gathered in London for final negotiations before the formation of the Commonwealth, and they planned to submit a draft Federal Constitution to the British Parliament in July.
At this time, Britain, as the head of the great powers, was facing an embarrassing situation: South Africa was still engaged in the "Boer War", at this time East Asia was in a hurry, and Britain had no troops to adjust, so it could only recruit troops from other colonies.
Australian colonial governments also received conscription orders from the British government. Unexpectedly, they did not care about British affairs and were about to become independent from Britain, but generously stated that as soon as the "motherland called", they would immediately send troops to the war.
This is because, in the critical window of time for imminent independence, assisting in the invasion of China has become an important chip for Australia in exchange for British recognition of its independence.
Three
Eight-Nation Coalition officers pose for a group photo at the Forbidden City
However, the main force of the Australian Army has actually all sailed to South Africa, and it is certainly too late to form a newly formed and trained force, so it can only send the navy to go out.
On 29 June, the Colonial Government of Victoria first offered to send a force of about 200 men, ready to go within a week at its own expense. Colonial governments have also expressed their support. Within a month, an Australian-Chinese dispatch force was formed: a combat warship from the South Australian colonies and a sailor force from each of the new South Wales and Victoria colonies. Among them, the salary of Victorian troop soldiers was 7.6 shillings per day, much higher than the 5 shillings in New South Wales, because the Victorian colony had gold mines.
On August 7, the British troop carrier Salamis arrived and carried the Australian Expeditionary Force from Sydney Harbour to distant China.
On 26 August, Australian troops arrived in Hong Kong and docked at Victoria Pier. As early as August 14, the Eight-Nation Alliance invaded Beijing, and Empress Dowager Cixi and the Guangxu Emperor fled the capital, and the entire Beijing-Tianjin region was in chaos. The belated Australian army, which arrived in Tianjin on August 29, was incorporated into the "First Army of the British Army of the Chinese Field Army".
Here, they were divided into two parts: Victorian troops in Tianjin, and New South Wales troops continuing to march into Beijing. In the diaries left by the soldiers, the Australians recorded the atrocities of the Allied forces: the Russians were the fiercest, and in the Hedong region of Tianjin occupied by the Russians, there were ruins everywhere they went, and they destroyed almost every village and lifted the roof of every house. The Russians also forced Chinese coolies to work, shooting them on the spot or drowning in the river when they were done; by contrast, the Hexi region of Tianjin, jointly occupied by Japan, the United States, and Britain, "at least the houses were still intact." ”
Four
The Eight-Power Coalition Executes "Boxers"
In early October, the New South Wales Force was ordered to Beijing. At this time, the coalition forces continued to rule the city of Beijing, and they were arresting the "boxers" every day and sending them to the suburbs to be beheaded. In the chaos of killing, blood, death, and looting, the evil of human nature was magnified, and the Australian Expeditionary Force quickly became the "brutal army" they had written in their diaries a few days ago.
In the diaries of Australian soldiers after entering Beijing, the process of robbing and kidnapping tickets was recorded in detail: during the march, they often broke into the surrounding countryside to collect antiques and uncovered the calligraphy and paintings on the walls of ordinary people's homes. They characterize this as "passing the time of boredom."
They also carried out a kidnapping and mass murder in the goryeo town of Shunyi on the outskirts of Beijing. During the robbery in the town of Goryeo, the Australian army was resisted by the local people, so the Australian commander ordered the arrest of two local gentry and demanded that the local people pay 35,000 taels of silver as a fine. After the people began to raise funds, the commander heard that a large number of Boxers had come to support, so he mobilized more soldiers to retaliate against the local people, killing about 40 people.
The Australian Expeditionary Force remained in China until March 1901. On their return home, the Australians took two souvenirs from China: a 16th-century copper cannon made for China by Spanish missionaries, and an ancient bronze bell. These two "souvenirs" are still preserved in the war memorial in Canberra.
And, on their return, they were no longer British troops: in July 1900, the British Parliament approved the draft Constitution of the Commonwealth of Australia. On January 1, 1901, the Australian Commonwealth held its founding ceremony and Australia was born. In this sense, Australia can be regarded as the "ninth country" after the "Eight-Power Alliance".