There was a war in history that plunged ancient China into disaster, and that was the Eight-Nation Alliance's War of Aggression against China. It lasted for more than a year and was a dark period in China's modern history.
The capital fell, the imperial palace was ransacked, the royal family members were forced to flee, and even the "Xinqiao Treaty" was signed, and every Chinese had to pay one or two **, which is undoubtedly a huge shame for a country.
However, the war not only destroyed the foundation of the dynasty, but more seriously, it dealt a fatal blow to the legitimacy and authority of the Qing Dynasty. Since then, both at home and abroad, people no longer respect and revere this **.
After only 11 years, the Qing Dynasty fell, an irreparable tragedy, like a wall falling and no one willing to lend a hand.
History textbooks often summarize the lesson of failure as "if you fall behind, you will be beaten", but this statement is somewhat general and requires a deeper understanding. For example, in an event in history, when the Eight-Nation Coalition attacked Tianjin, it occupied an arsenal.
When they opened the gate of the arsenal, they were stunned by the scene in front of them. A large number of advanced ** are stored in the arsenal, all of which are imported, including artillery and rifles of various calibers.
This story tells us that the Qing army at that time was not lagging behind, and they were even ahead of some countries in military equipment.
Of course, you read that right, the Qing Dynasty army had the most advanced ** in the world at that time. So the question is, why don't they use these powerful ** at a critical moment in the war?
The answer lies in the senior officers of the army. In the old-style army, there was not a single officer who did not ** silver. And a large part of their ** money comes from appropriations from superiors.
Therefore, when applying for funds, they prefer to quote an outrageously high amount in order to fill their pockets. At that time, there was no auditing system, and they had no way of knowing where the imperial court's money was spent.
So, these ** exist purely for the sake of showing the façade. After all, the army defending the Jingshi cannot be too poorly equipped. Therefore, they will buy a large number of advanced ** equipment, as for how this equipment is used, whether it needs to be trained, it has nothing to do with them.
As a result, an ironic scene took place, where the invaders captured the ** library and used the *** inside to fight back against the Qing Dynasty troops who came to besiege them.
In this story, we can see that corruption was very common in the Qing army. The generals were primarily concerned with how to protect their power and interests, not how to improve the strength of the army.
In battle, they don't care about winning or losing, the most important thing is that they can make a profit. Next, we are going to tell another story, the Qing army attacked the embassy area of Dongjiaomin Lane.
After Cixi declared war on the Eight-Nation Alliance, she decided to take the initiative to attack. The foreigner's army is not easy to mess with, so they chose the foreigner's embassy under their noses as the target.
Under international law, an embassy is equivalent to the territory of a foreign state, and a forcible attack is tantamount to aggression. However, Cixi was used to being bullied by foreigners, and she decided to earn some face for herself.
As a result, hundreds of Qing troops set up cannons and aimed them at the embassy area. The Qing army also had an overwhelming advantage in strength, and as long as an order was given, it would not be a problem to raze the embassy district.
What happened next, however, was surprising. According to statistics, in the next few months, the Qing army fired a total of more than 4,000 shells and more than 1 million bullets, but the buildings in the embassy district were unscathed.
Is this because the artillery shells of the Qing army are not obedient? What is even more puzzling is that during the attack on the embassy, the Qing army continued to send melons, fruits and vegetables to the embassy.
There were even Qing soldiers and foreign soldiers guarding the embassy who did business! What kind of war is this, it is clearly filming at the Hengdian Film and Television Base. Since war has been declared, why does the Qing ** still have to "open the net" to foreigners?
All this was known only to the commander of the Qing army at that time, Rong Lu.
Rong Lu, this name is labeled as a "diehard" in textbooks. It is true that he once opposed the Wuxu Reform, but because of the army in his hands, he became a powerful figure in the court.
In Cixi's eyes, he is also a celebrity, and many affairs depend on his support. So, when Cixi wants to fight foreigners, as Rong Lu, who supports her, should she be dutiful and loyal to the foreigners to the end?
However, this is not the case. Rong Lu is not unreasonable, he clearly understands that confronting foreigners will not solve the problem, but will bring trouble to himself.
He knows that although he has been labeled as a "diehard", he is not a "main battle faction" who blindly shouts and fights, but a politically minded person. He understood that once the foreigners won the war, they would definitely not let go of those who supported them.
As the commander of the attack on the embassy, if he really had a hard fight with the foreigners, he might become the target of their retaliation. So, he made a decision to both fight and not be able to fight.
The beating is for Cixi to see, and if you don't fight, you are for foreigners. This decision, in the end, helped him not to be held accountable after the Eight-Nation Coalition occupied Beijing, and was even considered by them to be a rare "enlightened figure" in China.
Rong Lu failed to serve Cixi wholeheartedly, and before the coalition forces broke through Beijing, he chose to flee to Baoding, and even Cixi could not persuade him to stay. When the Qing Dynasty was in a national crisis, those in power only considered their own small calculations.
What follows is the story of the Qing army, and although a few of them paid a huge price in the war, most of them did not really fight the foreigners, because their only mission was to protect Cixi and the emperor.
When the Eight-Nation Coalition reached the city of Beijing, they were surprised to find that the number of troops guarding the capital was very small. Although the main force of the Qing Dynasty had an absolute superiority in numbers, and the troops guarding Beijing were not inferior to the foreigners, equipped with several machine guns aimed at the invaders, the troops guarding Beijing were still too few.
The main forces were all protecting the imperial palace, and when Cixi began to flee, they escorted the imperial relatives all the way. This also explains why the defenders of the city gate were slow to receive reinforcements, so they had to fight alone, and were finally broken by the enemy army one by one.
It's not that they can't resist, it's that they really can't keep fighting. Beijing's city defenses were impregnable, and if the Qing army went all out, it was still possible to win. In addition, it is worth mentioning that in the process of attacking Beijing, many ordinary people acted as foreigners.
They explored the way for foreigners, set up cannons, carried corpses, and did all kinds of hard work, just to get a few copper plates.
The picture above shows the Eight-Nation Coalition climbing the city walls, and the people next to them do not see them as invaders, but as new masters who are about to ascend the throne. We don't have to be harsh on them, because what they think of as "country" is just a dragon chair in the Forbidden City, and they don't care who sits on it.
So, was the Qing army really vulnerable in this war? The answer is no. The Empress Dowager Cixi fled west from the Forbidden City, and the Germans were in hot pursuit. Among the Eight-Nation Alliance, the Germans were the only ones who proposed to punish Cixi.
The German minister of that year, Klinder, was shot dead by the Qing army in the city of Beijing. The German army is known as the king of land warfare in Europe, and even France and these army powers are in awe of it.
Just when the Germans thought that they would break through all the way and capture Cixi alive, they were blocked on the front line of Niangzi Pass.
In this battle, the Qing army showed its strength to make the enemy fearful, and the German army failed in many attacks, leaving hundreds of corpses behind. In the end, the battle resulted in the loss of thousands of German troops, making it the most killed enemy of the Qing army in modern times.
Why did the Qing army lose continuously when defending Beijing, but it could become a strong army on a hill like Niangzi Pass? The reason is simple: they want to protect the imperial court, to be exact, the queen mother.
Only when the enemy threatens the side, this court will go all out. Only when Cixi's life was threatened, the Qing army's army would go all out. Others, whether it is sovereignty or territory, or even the capital, can be handed over to others.
Therefore, the fundamental reason why we lost this war so badly is that everyone in the court, from the top-level rulers to the grass-roots officers, is planning for their own interests, resulting in repeated mistakes in coordination and command, and those who want to fight cannot get support, and finally lose all their money.
For the Qing Dynasty, defeat means losing sovereignty and dignity, but what really makes it lose the support of the people is the performance in dealing with the aftermath.
1.Once upon a time, foreigners captured the city of Beijing and demanded that the culprits be punished. The Empress Dowager Cixi knew that the culprit was herself. But the problem is that the imperial court is currently inseparable from Cixi, and the foreigners also understand this.
However, a scapegoat must be found. Soon, Cixi found her target: first of all, those who fought the main battle, although they could do nothing but shout empty slogans, but they were still loyal to the imperial court, including many Manchu princes, whether they really hated foreigners or not, loyalty to you, that is certain.
But Cixi can't manage so much anymore, and not killing a few big people is not enough to calm the anger of foreigners. As a result, some were executed or ordered to commit suicide, and some even died in anticipation of the mercy of the Empress.
Of course, the most unfortunate thing is that the Boxers, who shouted the slogan of "helping the Qing to destroy the foreigners" to help the imperial court resist the foreigners, during the war, they paid their greatest efforts and sacrifices, although they were just a group of rabble, but they contributed to the Qing court after all.
Now, in order to curry favor with the foreign powers, Cixi did not hesitate to order the extermination of the Boxers. The Boxers fell victim in this way. At the moment when the Qing court raised its sword, many people finally came to their senses.
2.The capital was captured by foreigners, and they demanded that the culprit be punished, and the Empress Dowager Cixi understood that the culprit was herself. However, the imperial court could not do without Cixi, and foreigners also understood this truth.
But you'll have to find a few scapegoats. Cixi quickly found a target, first of all, those who fought the main battle, although they could only shout empty slogans, but they were loyal to the court, including many Manchu princes, whether they really hated foreigners or not, their loyalty to Cixi was unquestionable.
However, Cixi could no longer care about this, and not killing a few important people was not enough to appease the anger of the foreigners, so some people were executed or ordered to commit suicide, and some even died and still begged for Cixi's mercy.
Of course, the most unlucky were the Boxers, who shouted the slogan of "helping the Qing to destroy the foreigners" to help the imperial court resist the foreigners, and during the war, they gave their greatest efforts and sacrifices, although they were only a group of rabble, but they did for the Qing court after all.
Now, in order to curry favor with the foreigners, Cixi did not hesitate to order the extermination of the Boxers. The Boxers fell victim in this way. At the moment when the Qing court raised the butcher's knife, many people finally saw the truth.
In today's world, a country's credibility is the most important asset. Without credibility, the State cannot gain the trust of the people and implement effective policies and management. However, during the Qing Dynasty, the rulers of the imperial court had no regard for the lives of the people, which led"Gengzi Incident"The tragedy.
This incident made people realize that the prestige of the imperial court has been lost, the orders of ** cannot be carried out, the bureaucrats are only concerned with self-preservation, and the people have lost trust in **.
Such a bankruptcy of the country's credit made the Qing Dynasty's dominance crumbling and eventually to its demise. Therefore, we should cherish the credibility of the country and preserve and develop it as the most important asset.
No matter when and where, only when the country's credit is guaranteed can the country gain the trust and support of the people.
Power may bring greed, vanity, and fear, but it does not confer mission and responsibility. In fact, it is the mission and responsibility that form the understanding of the concept of "the state".
As the American scholar Benedict Anderson has pointed out, the nation is an "imaginary community" that is not a physical existence or an oppressive existence like power.
It is abstract, like money, and its existence depends on people's trust, especially from the top down. To put it simply, the country as an "imaginary community" is to let everyone believe in the unseen and fight for it.
It is also the cornerstone on which the modern state is built. A society cannot be called a modern state if it has its own interests in mind from top to bottom.
And this is the real reason for the Qing Dynasty's crushing defeat to the Eight-Nation Alliance.