The Eight-Nation Alliance refers to the joint expeditionary force sent by the Qing Dynasty to Britain, Russia, France, the United States, Japan, Germany, Italy, and Austria in 1900 to fight against the xenophobic Boxers in the name of protecting embassies and overseas Chinese in Beijing, and between the Qing Dynasty, which once supported the Boxers. The total strength of the Eight-Nation Coalition changed during the war, reaching a maximum of more than 120,000 troops, but the actual number of troops participating in the war was about 30,000 or 40,000.
First, the composition of the strength of the Eight-Nation Alliance.
The composition of the forces of the Eight-Nation Coalition was very unbalanced, with the Japanese and Russian armies accounting for the vast majority, followed by the British, American, and German armies, and the French, Italian, and Austrian armies being relatively few. This is mainly because Japan and ** have geographical advantages and can mobilize a large number of troops to China in a short period of time, while countries such as Britain and France need to transfer troops from their homeland or colonies, which takes a long time, while Austria-Hungary and Italy are not military powers and send fewer troops. According to historical data, the composition of the forces of the Eight-Nation Coalition is shown in the following table:
Country |Strength (man) |Proportion (%)
Japan | 20840 | 35.4 |
United Kingdom | 12020 | 20.4 |
United States | 3420 | 5.8 |
France | 3420 | 5.8 |
Germany | 8000 | 13.6 |
Italy | 900 | 1.5 |
Austria-Hungary | 700 | 1.2 |
Total | 58850 | 100 |
As can be seen from the above table, the Japanese army is the largest among the Eight-Nation Alliance, accounting for more than one-third of the total strength, followed by the Russian army, accounting for about one-fifth of the total strength, the British army also accounts for about one-fifth of the total strength, the American army and the French army each account for less than one-sixth of the total strength, the German army accounts for about one-seventh of the total strength, and the Italian army and the Austrian army each account for less than two percent of the total strength.
Second, the change in the strength of the Eight-Nation Alliance.
The strength of the Eight-Nation Coalition went through several phases of change during the war, which were mainly divided into the following four phases:
The first stage: from June 10 to July 14, the coalition forces set out from Tianjin and attacked Beijing, with a strength of about 160,000 people, including 8,000 Japanese troops, 4,800 Russian troops, 3,000 British troops, 2,100 American troops, 800 French troops, 50 Austrian troops, 53 Italian troops, and the German army did not participate.
The second stage: from July 14 to August 14, after the coalition forces occupied Tianjin, they continued to advance towards Beijing, with a strength of about 590,000 people, including 2 Japanese soldiers10,000 people, 1 Russian army30,000 people, 1 British army20,000 people, 3 US troops4 thousand people, 3 French troops4 thousand people, German 08 thousand people, Italian army 09 thousand people, Austrian 07 thousand people.
The third stage: from August 14 to mid-October, after the coalition forces invaded and occupied Beijing, they successively increased their troops, and the strength was about 1050,000 people, including 3 Japanese soldiers50,000 people, 4 Russian troops10,000, 10,000 British troops, 3 U.S. troops4 thousand people, 1 French army2 thousand people, German 08 thousand people, Italian army 09 thousand people, Austrian 07 thousand people.
The fourth stage: from mid-October to September 7, 1901, after the allied forces signed the "Xinchou Treaty" with the Qing **, they gradually withdrew their troops, with a strength of about 120,000 troops, including 40,000 Japanese troops and 4 Russian troops50,000 people, 1 British army50,000 people, 1 US military50,000 people, 06 thousand people, German 06 thousand people, Italian 02 thousand people, Austrian 01 thousand people.
From the above changes, it can be seen that the strength of the Eight-Nation Coalition showed a trend of first increasing and then decreasing during the war, reaching more than 120,000 at the highest and only 1 at the lowest60,000 people, an average of about 650,000 people. The actual number of troops participating in the war was even smaller, because some of the troops were stationed in Tianjin, Dagukou, Shanhaiguan and other places, and did not directly participate in the battle to attack Beijing.