The Eight-Nation Alliance invaded China, why didn't the people of the Qing Dynasty swear to fight the foreigners?
The invasion of the Eight-Nation Coalition was a bloody scar in Chinese history. At that time, Cixi and Guangxu hurriedly fled westward, leaving the people of Beijing to face the foreign powers, but why did they not resist foreign enemies like warriors, but instead chose to cooperate with the foreigners, and even willingly served them? In many historical documents, we have seen some photographs taken by the foreigners at that time, depicting that strange and sad scene: the allied troops were approaching the city, but the people in the city did not have the slightest desire to resist, but instead assisted the foreigners, and even participated in the construction and logistics work. Why is this happening? There are many reasons for this, so let's find out one by one!
The structure of people inside and outside the capital has created this phenomenon. Under the Qing Dynasty, the Han Chinese were the majority, but they were treated far less than the Manchus. The Qing government imposed a strict hierarchy, dividing ethnic groups into three, six, and nine classes, with the Eight Banners being the highest Manchu and the Han being the lowest. Only the nobles of the Eight Banners were allowed to live in the city, while the Han Chinese could only live in the suburbs outside the city. This class distinction led to Han Chinese dissatisfaction with the Qing government, which did not make much sense for their confrontation with the Manchu regime. When the Eight-Nation Coalition invaded, the first people to encounter it were often the Han people outside the city, who had long lost trust in the Qing government and had no incentive to resist foreign enemies for it.
The brutality of the coalition forces was intimidating to the populace. The Eight-Nation Coalition Army wantonly looted and slaughtered in the city of Beijing, and for three days and three nights, corpses were strewn all over the city, blood was dripping with blood, buildings were overturned, and the streets were in disarray. Such a tragedy made the surviving people feel extremely frightened, and they were afraid of angering the foreigners again, so they chose to obey and even help the foreigners, hoping to save their own lives and the safety of their families.
Moreover, China's long period of feudal rule had made it accustomed to the obedience of the common people. For thousands of years, the Chinese people have lived in the shadow of feudal imperial autocracy, and they are accustomed to being oppressed and submissive. In such a social environment, people have long forgotten how to stand up for resistance, especially in the face of foreign invasion, they are more inclined to choose safety and obedience.
And most importantly, the people lack adequate arming and organization. At the time of the invasion of the Eight-Nation Alliance, the Qing government's army was already vulnerable, and the ordinary people were even more defenseless, unorganized and unarmed, and simply unable to put up effective resistance. Instead of fighting to the death, choose obedience in order to survive.
When the Eight-Nation Coalition invaded China, the people of Beijing chose not to resist for a number of reasons: distrust and powerlessness caused by class differences, fearing the brutality of the coalition forces, the obedience of long feudal rule, and the lack of adequate armament and organization. This history teaches us that the resistance of the people needs to be sufficiently organized and strong, and that it needs to be based on a strong belief in justice.
The Eight-Nation Alliance, the people of the capital, foreign invasion, feudal rule, Chinese history