CHINA AND THE GHOSTS OF 1900: THE BRUTAL BOXER RISING AND THE CIVILIZED WORLD'S SAVAGE REVENGE

This talk will explore what could be called the first global war in human history. Namely, the armed struggles that wracked China in 1900, a year that began with insurgents who became known as the "Boxers" attacking missionaries and Chinese Christians and ended with troops marching under eight foreign flags having taken control of Beijing and begun to carry out brutal campaigns of reprisal. How did people at the time see the events? How have they been represented since then in China and in other places? What relevance do the conflicts of that violent age have for our own violent times? These are the issues the speaker will engage with in this illustrated presentation.