414 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

a railway to Vladivostok and Port Arthur, through Manchu-
ria : France to do the same on the Tongking frontier; and
Germany obtained railway and mining rights in Shantung.
This was the beginning of another spate of greedy scramble
on the part of all the imperialistic vultures.

The murder of two German missionaries in Shantung in
1897 provided the much looked for casus belli. The Ger-
mans seized Kiaochow Bay and created a naval base there.
The British thereupon, to hold the balance, leased Wei-hai-
wei and established a " defensive circuit" around Hong-Kong;
France did the same with Kuang-chow Bay and the southern
borders of Yunnan ; and Russia in Port Arthur and Talien-
wan. This last caused Japan such great annoyance that
it led to one of the most epoch-making events in History,
viz. the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-5 (which will be dealt
with later). For the present she obtained Fukien.

These happenings were not without great repercussions on
China. They brought the Chinese Dragon to bay in the
famous "Boxer Revolt." It was the Chinese replica of
the great Indian Rising of 1857. ' In 1899 the Boxers, or
"Fists for Justice and Peace," arose in Shantung. Begun
as an anti-dynastic movement, it was astutely turned into
an anti-foreign attack. Spreading over the north-east, it
was taken up by the court party and the dowager; many
foreigners, mostly missionaries, were killed or officially execut-
ed, thousands of Chinese Christians were murdered, the
foreign legations were destroyed, all save the British Lega-
tion, which was besieged by the Chinese and relieved by the
allied forces on August 14, 1900.'1 The results of this will
be assessed in the next chapter.

The awakening of Japan is unique and unparalleled in

1. Soothill, A History of China, pp. 65-6.