There was a Chinese nationalist uprising in 1899-1900 against foreigners, the representatives of alien powers, and Chinese Christians. Expulsion of all foreigners from China was the ultimate objective of the uprising. The name Boxers (Yi He Quan) refers to "The Society of the Righteous and Harmonious Fist," a loose English translation of a Chinese term also meaning "righteous harmony band." In 1899 the Boxers, a secret society of Chinese, began a campaign of terror against Christian missionaries in the northeastern provinces. Although the Boxers were officially denounced, they were secretly supported by many of the royal court, including the dowager empress Cixi (Tz'u Hsi). Economic and political exploitation of China by various Western powers and Japan and humiliating military defeats inflicted by Great Britain in the Opium War (1840-1842) and by Japan in the Sino-Japanese War (1894-95) were the main causes of Chinese resentment.

Bengal Lancers escort Count Alfred von Waldersee, commander of the forces that suppressed the Boxer Rebellion, to the Forbidden City.

They made a movie of the event, called "55 Days in Peking," starring Charleton Heston.