of the United States, and that he would consider their consent final and irrev ocable.
The intense anti-foreign sentiment among the Chinese reached a crisis in the Boxer uprising of 1900. The murder of many of the missionaries in the N. provinces, and finally the isolation of Peking and the siege of the legations, called for forceful intervention on the part of the powers. The first interna tional relief expedition under Admiral Seymour left Taku on June 10; was un able to reach Peking, and was forced back by the Boxers. It was only able to retreat with the greatest danger and difficulty, and but for timely re-enforce ment would undoubtedly have been cut to pieces. On June 17 the Taku forts Boxers, who were constantly being re enforced by Imperial troops. The court fled into Shensi before the allies reached Peking. The subsequent military opera tions consisted chiefly of punitive expe ditions to the S. and W. Negotiations for peace were at once begun. On Dec. 4, the powers sent a joint note to the Chinese peace commissioners, to be sub mitted to the emperor. The note de manded, among other acts, the execu tion of the leaders in the massacre of foreigners and the payment of an in demnity, which in October, 1901, was fixed at $735,000,000. On the ratifica tion of the indemnity agreement and 11 other articles of concession, the foreign troops were withdrawn from Peking.
On the close of the Boxer movement at the mouth of the Pei-ho river were reduced, having opened fire on the inter national squadron anchored in the bay. On. July 14 the city of Tien-Tsin was taken by the allies and made the base of the international expedition for the relief of the legations in Peking, which started on Aug. 4. Peking was entered Aug. 15, after some hard fighting, and the foreign ministers, and their families, the legation guards, and the people who had made their way in safety to the le gations for protection, were relieved. The raising of the siege, which had ex isted from June 11, was most timely, as the ammunition of the besieged was al most exhausted, and all of the foreigners were suffering greatly from confinement and the apprehension of a terrible fate in case they should be unable to hold out against the continuous attacks of the and the return to Peking of the Imperial family (Jan. 7, 1903), the Manchurian
question came to the foreground. Rus sia's shifting policy with regard to the evacuation of Manchuria brought about the Russo-Japanese war. The result of it is that, according to the treaty of Portsmouth, Manchuria, with the excep tion of a part of the Liao-tong Peninsula, was returned to China (1905). In the same year a strain between China and the United States was brought about by the restriction of Chinese immigration, in consequence of which all American goods were boycotted in China. In the following year China was asked to intro duce certain reforms into her administra tion. These were to a certain extent carried out, one of them being the aboli tion for ten years of smoking opium. In September, 1907, the Emperor issued an edict that within 9 years the first Im perial Parliament would be convened. Commissions were sent to Europe to study commercial and educational mat ters. In 1908 the Central Government obtained increased power in consequence of a reform program arranged by com mon consent of the Empress mother, the Emperor and the Viceroy Yuan Shih-kai. On Nov. 14, 1908, the Emperor Kwang hsii died and was succeeded by his three year-old nephew Puyi. One day later the Empress Dowager, whose influence in the Central Government was great, died. The ruler of China became the Regent Tchun, the father of the infant Emperor.
China became a republic on Feb. 12, 1912. The Manchu dynasty had its last representative in the infant emperor Pu yi who abdicated on that date when he was six years old. The first full Presi dent of the new republic was Yuan Shih kai, who was elected Oct. 6, 1913, for a period of five years.
The Government adopted resembled in its main lines that of the United States. There were two houses, the Senate hav ing 264 members and the House of Rep resentatives 596 members. The cabinet contained nine members, the Premier be ing appointed by the President and the eight other members being chosen by the Premier with the President's approval. The capital was Peking, as it had been under the Empire.