The Second Anglo-Chinese War resulted in more foreign encroachment in China. The 1858 Treaties of Tientsin permitted foreign missionaries in the interior, foreign legations in Beijing, and eleven more ports opened to foreign trading interests. The Sino-Japanese War of 1894-95 culminated ten years of intrigue in Korea, and the Treaty of Shimonoseki forced China to recognise its independence, cede Formosa to Japan, and open four more ports to foreign commerce. That war also prompted a European scramble for political and economic concessions to counter growing Japanese and Russian influence. Educated Chinese concurrently demanded internal reform of the Manchu regime to prevent further foreign inroads. In 1899 Britain secured a 99-year lease of Kowloon (opposite Hong Kong), and a 25-year lease of Weihaiwei to counter the Russian occupation of Port Arthur. Germany, Italy, France, Austria-Hungary also gained concessions. A series of natural disasters further fueled Chinese resentment of foreigners.

     Secret Chinese societies, most notably the "Righteous Harmonious Fists" (called Boxers by the foreigners), embodied opposition to the aggressive foreign presence, and began persecuting its most visible manifestation, namely missionaries and their Chinese converts. The Boxers operated with considerable sympathy of the Imperial Court. Foreign demands for Imperial suppression of the Boxers only fueled the problem. Widespread rape, pillage and murder led to foreign reinforcement of their legations in Beijing. As chaos spread, the legations appealed for more help from an eight-nation fleet standing off the coast at Tientsin. Foreign seizure of the forts guarding Tientsin led to Chinese declaration of war.

• Death Toll, by Matthew White (Historical Atlas of the 20th Century)
• Officers Killed, by Stephen Lewis.

Vice Admiral Sir Edward Seymour

Lt-Gen. Sir Alfred Gaselee

Brig-Gen. A.R.F. Dorward

• Taku Forts May-June 1900

Tan, Chester C. The Boxer catastrophe. New York: Columbia University Press, 1955.

Scharf, Frederick A.; Harrington, Peter. China, 1900 : the eyewitnesses speak; The Boxer Rebellion as Described by participants in letters, diaries and photographs. Greenhill Books, 2000. ISBN 1853674109 {publisher's notice}

Nicholls, Bob. Bluejackets and Boxers, Australia's Naval Expedition to the Boxer Uprising. Sydney : Allen & Unwin, 1986. ISBN 0868617997

• General History
  • The Boxer Rebellion, by J. Buschini.
  • Der Boxer-Aufstand 1899-1901, by Marcus A. König (Kriege der Neuzeit)
  • Role of the United States Marines During the Relief of Peking, The Boxer Rebellion, 1900, by John W. Guy
• Chronology
  • Jahreschronik 1900-1913, by Bernd Marek (Chronologische Kriegsgeschichte)
• Australian Participation
• Boxer Uprising: China 1900-1901 (Australian War Memorial)
• Boxer Rebellion, by Ted Harris (Digger History) 
• Victorian Naval Brigade to China, 1900-1901 (Defending Victoria)
• War Against the Boxers, by George Odgers.
• United States Participation
• Documents of the Boxer Rebellion (China Relief Expedition), 1900-1901 (US Navy)
• Marine Expeditions, 1899-1920 (US Marine Corps)
• Role of the United States Marines During the Relief of Peking, The Boxer Rebellion, 1900, by John W. Guy
• Research Collections and Guides
  • British Army: Campaign Records, 1816-1913 (TNA Research Guides: Military Records Information 25)
• Web Catalogues
  • Boxer Rebellion, 1900, index of links by Simonides.