The invasion of China by the Eight-Nation Alliance in 1900 was one of the great changes in China's modern history, and the reason why they sent troops so magnificently was that Cixi created an excuse for them.
Without Cixi's help, the Eight Kingdoms powers would not have been so mobilized, at least not by tens of thousands of troops and carrying guns and cannons into the Beijing Division.
We know that the reason why the great powers sent troops was because the Boxer Rebellion was intensifying at that time, and the reason why the Boxer Rebellion threatened the great powers was because the Boxer Rebellion was to resist the aggression of the great powers, which was one of the reasons why the Boxer Rebellion took the banner of "supporting the Qing Dynasty and destroying the west" as the banner.
The reason why the Boxer Rebellion intensified was because Cixi adopted an ambiguous attitude toward the Boxers, both wanting to suppress them and use their hands to teach the great powers.
The reason why Cixi wanted to teach the great powers a lesson was because the great powers deepened their interference in the internal affairs of the Qing government, and Cixi wanted to abolish Guangxu, but was opposed by the powers.
When Cixi had already decided to adopt a strategy to eliminate the Boxers, she received another message, saying that the great powers were trying to support Guangxu and forcing Cixi to return to power, and Cixi had been greedy for power all her life, so how could she easily give the power she had so hard to get to the Guangxu Emperor?
Since she refused, she could only "declare war" in anger, and the reason why Cixi dared to declare war was that the Boxer Rebellion more or less gave her some confidence.
It can be seen from this that the whole process from the outbreak of the Boxer Rebellion to the dispatch of troops by the great powers and the declaration of war by Cixi can be described as interlocking, step by step.
The news that Cixi suddenly changed her policy of suppressing and fusing the Boxers was actually a crucial link, and without this link, Cixi would not have changed to a crackdown.
At that time, after some careful consideration, Cixi had already decided to adopt a policy of purging the Boxers, because she did not dare to offend the great powers.
However, less than 24 hours after she made the decision to liquidate, she received a message that the great powers wanted to force Cixi to return to power under the Guangxu Emperor, which prompted Cixi to dare to "declare war" on the great powers in order to retain her power.
How did this news come about? This also has to be said that at that time, Duan Wang Zaiyi, who was favored by Cixi and held great power, Cixi wanted to abolish Guangxu and establish Zaiyi's son Pu Yan as emperor after the Coup d'état, if Pu Yi was really made emperor, then Zai Yi's status could be further improved, who expected that this plan was broken by the great powers.
Therefore, Zai Yi was also very angry at the behavior of the great powers, and at this time, there was a Boxer Rebellion under the banner of "supporting the Qing Dynasty and destroying the oceans", and he wanted to take the opportunity to teach the great powers a lesson, so as to once again promote The matter of Pu Juan, the "big brother", becoming emperor.
Therefore, Zai Yi secretly let people fabricate this news, so at that time, the great powers did not say that they would let Cixi return to Guangxu, but Cixi believed the news, so that he declared war in anger.
The great powers originally hoped that the Qing government would suppress the Boxer Rebellion of "supporting the Qing Dynasty and destroying the foreigners", but after a circle, the Qing government turned its head and declared war on the great powers, and in order to protect their own interests, or take the opportunity to further gain some interests, then they could only send troops.
If the Qing government and the Boxers wanted to "rebel" against the great powers and attack the embassies of the great powers, then the troops sent by the great powers naturally had a "reasonable" argument - to protect the overseas Chinese.
This "reasonable" excuse for sending troops was created by Cixi on his own initiative after several hesitations, so the powers should really thank Cixi well.
Cixi took the initiative to give the great powers a good excuse to send troops, but they could not defeat the great powers, and the southeast governors were also engaged in "southeast mutual protection", so she was also frightened to escape from the Beijing Division.
Before she left the Capital Division, she was also angry that the Boxers did not do their best to help her defend against the great powers, but also to win the forgiveness of the great powers, so a paper order went on, the Qing army no longer fought with the great powers, and in turn cleared their former "comrades-in-arms", that is, the Boxers.
Cixi ran all the way out of Beijing, and in order to completely gain the forgiveness of the great powers, another edict flew to Guangdong, asking Li Hongzhang to hurry north.
Naturally, it is to fight with the great powers and give benefits to the great powers!
If the pretext for the great powers to send troops on the table is to "protect the overseas Chinese", then the signing of the "Xinugu Treaty" has exposed the real reason for their troops.
This paper treaty was signed, the Principal and Interest of the Qing Government's indemnity was nearly 1 billion silver, and the East Jiaomin Lane was demarcated as the embassy boundary, which was actually a "country within a country", the demolition of forts, and so on.
Turning the Qing government into a "foreigner's court" was the real reason and purpose for the great powers to send troops, because in this way they could better control the Qing government and better plunder resources and wealth.
However, at that time, Cixi was so happy that she could not help herself because she only paid compensation and did not cut the land, which was really an incurable fool!
If you fall behind, you will be beaten!