In 1900, the Eight-Nation Coalition rushed into our Chinese land with great vigour, burning, killing, looting, and doing all kinds of evil.
The eight countries were Great Britain, the United States, France, Germany, Russia, Japan, Italy, and Austria-Hungary. They robbed the mainland of countless treasures, and forced the Qing government to sign unequal treaties.
More than 100 years have passed, and China has now stood up and become a well-known world power. What about the eight countries that bullied us back then?
There are two countries that have completely cooled down
Austria-Hungary and Tsarist Russia, the two "ruthless characters" in the Eight-Nation Alliance, have now disappeared in the long river of history, which is also embarrassing.
However, the Austro-Hungarian Empire itself is like a "porcelain doll" glued together, and its internal ethnic contradictions are intricate.
The rulers were only concerned with maintaining their own rule, suppressing internal expansion and external expansion, which eventually intensified internal contradictions. The First World War became the last straw that crushed the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
The attrition of the war made the crumbling empire even worse, and national independence movements surged everywhere. Eventually, in 1918 the Austro-Hungarian Empire fell apart, split into a bunch of small states, and withdrew from the stage of history.
Tsarist Russia, as the former "gendarme of Europe", could not escape the fate of annihilation.
For a long time, under the rule of the tsars, Russia had sharp social contradictions, a huge disparity between the rich and the poor, and the people lived in dire straits.
The First World War dragged Tsarist Russia into the abyss, and the defeat of the war intensified the domestic contradictions, and finally triggered the "February Revolution", Tsar Nicholas II was forced to abdicate, and the Romanov dynasty, which had ruled Russia for more than 300 years, came to an end.
However, the turmoil did not subside, and the outbreak of the "October Revolution" allowed Russia to say goodbye to the old era and establish a new socialist state, the Soviet Union.
These two once-formidable empires eventually came to an end.
A few countries remain
So apart from these few countries, what is the situation of the rest of the country now? If you want to say that the most beautiful of the eight-nation alliance in those years, Britain must be counted as one.
Thinking that it was known as the "empire on which the sun never sets", and the earth was full of their colonies, it could really be described as "the sun never sets", and Britain at that time, the leader of the industrial revolution, had a strong economy, and the navy swept the world, and no one dared to provoke easily.
As a result, the two world wars completely crippled Britain.
The colonies have become independent one after another, and the "British Empire", which was once all over the world, has suddenly become a small British Isles, which is really embarrassing.
The economy is also not as good as before, and the former "sun never sets" can now only be regarded as a second-rate country, and it has to follow the United States all day long and be a little brother.
Not to mention that the British themselves are still restless and insist on "leaving the EU", and as a result, they are in a state of anxiety, with constant domestic contradictions and economic development.
France was also a ruthless character back then, and Napoleon's story was heard from a young age. But now apart from perfumes, red wine, and luxury goods, there seems to be nothing else to do.
Economic development is slow, there are a lot of social problems, strikes and demonstrations are carried out at every turn, and the people of the whole country take holidays if they disagree, which is quite inefficient.
Although Germany's economic strength is not bad, it has never been politically united.
The various political forces in the country have been noisy and noisy, but they have never been able to form a unified national will, and they have not been able to stand up in the international arena.
Italy has vividly interpreted the words "no more glory". I think that Italy was also a well-known Roman Empire, spanning Europe, Asia and Africa, and was powerful in all directions.
What now?
The economy has been stagnant, relying on tourism and luxury goods to support the façade, and it is also in debt all day long, and Greece is about to become a brother. The glory of the past can only be found in the history books.
And, of course, Japan.
The crimes committed by Japan in China are too numerous to mention. However, the Japanese Government not only does not reflect on history, but also spends its days thinking about expanding arms and warfare in a vain attempt to restore its former "glory."
What makes people even more infuriating is that they still meddle in the Taiwan issue from time to time and stir up trouble at our doorstep.
But then again, Japan is now facing a lot of troubles of its own, the economy is stagnant, the aging population is getting worse, young people don't want to have children, and it is estimated that the future will not be easy.
In addition, Japan's discharge of nuclear sewage is equivalent to standing on the opposite side of the world, and now there are many countries in the world that have completely cut off relevant foreign trade with Japan.
As for the United States, although it is still the world leader, it also has the meaning of being strong from the outside and doing things from the middle. Domestic contradictions are becoming more and more prominent, shootings, racial discrimination are emerging one after another, the gap between the rich and the poor is getting wider and wider, and social divisions are becoming more and more serious.
Moreover, the United States has waged wars everywhere and wielded the big stick of sanctions everywhere in recent years, which has also made many countries dissatisfied.
In the long run, it may not be certain that the United States will be able to sit firmly on the throne of "world boss," and perhaps at that time, the United States will also suffer unimaginable disasters.
Feng Shui takes turns, and no one can escape the laws of history
Compared with these declining countries, China is no longer the weak country that was slaughtered by others, but has a very large voice in the world.
Over the past few decades, China has undergone tremendous changes. The economy is developing rapidly, the scientific and technological strength is advancing by leaps and bounds, and the international status is getting higher and higher.
Now China is the world's second largest economy, with a very complete industrial system, and the living standards of the people are also rising.
In the past, China had to work hard to build a car and an airplane, but now high-speed rail, aircraft carriers, Beidou satellites, these high-tech things, we can build them ourselves.
In the past, we were poor in China, and many countries didn't take us to play, but now all countries in the world are rushing to do business with us, made in China, Chinese brands, and have face all over the world.
What's more, our China is now militarily strong, and no country dares to bully us casually.
We have a strong army that guards every inch of the motherland; We have a strong navy, sailing on the thousands of miles of the motherland's sea frontier; We also have a strong air force to protect the blue sky of the motherland.
Epilogue:
If you fall behind, you will be beaten, and only when you are strong can you straighten your waist and speak, and you will not be bullied by others.
We Chinese have endured hardships and suffered hardships, but it is precisely because we have experienced these hardships that we understand the preciousness of peace more and cherish today's hard-won happy life.
And the countries that bullied China at the beginning can now see that they have encountered different problems, which may be the "feng shui rotation".
Reference: CNKI "Review of the History of the Eight-Nation Alliance's Invasion of China" Xiaorong