By the late 1890s China’s Qing dynasty had been devastated by half a century of war and unrest.  Decades of foreign encroachment (unequal treaties, missionary enclaves and gunboat diplomacy) along with internal rebellions (like the Taiping) had shattered Qing military strength and legitimacy .  In northern China especially, peasants endured repeated disasters: droughts and floods … Continue reading The Boxer Uprising and the Crisis of the Qing Court (1898–1901)