Eight-Nation Alliance

Eight-Nation Alliance
八國聯軍 (in Chinese)
The eight nations with their naval ensigns, from top to bottom, left to right: Regia Marina, United States Navy, French National Navy,  Austro-Hungarian Navy,  Imperial Japanese Navy,  Imperial German Navy, Imperial Russian Navy and  Royal Navy; Japanese print, 1900
Active	10 June 1900 – 7 September 1901 (1 year, 90 days)
Country	Austria-Hungary  British Empire  France  Germany  Italy  Japan  Russia  United States
Allegiance	None (individual)
Type	Expeditionary force
Role	To relieve a siege of various legations, suppress the Boxer Rebellion, and safeguard privileges of foreign nationals and Chinese Christians.
Size	About 51,755 troops
Nickname(s)	Coalition
Engagements	Boxer Rebellion
Commanders
Notable commanders	Second: Alfred von Waldersee (September 1900 – September 1901) First: Edward Seymour (June 1900 – September 1900)

Eight Nation Alliance
The Eight-Nation Alliance in Beijing following the defeat of the Boxer Rebellion in 1901; identifiable flags in picture: Germany, Italy, France, Russia and Japan
Traditional Chinese	八國聯軍
Simplified Chinese	八国联军
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin bā guó lián jūn

The Eight-Nation Alliance was a multinational military coalition that invaded northern China in 1900 during the Boxer Rebellion, with the stated aim of relieving the foreign legations in Beijing, which was being besieged by the popular Boxer militiamen, who were determined to remove foreign imperialism in China. The allied forces consisted of about 45,000 troops from the eight nations of Germany, Japan, Russia, Britain, France, the United States, Italy, and Austria-Hungary. Neither the Chinese nor the quasi-concerted foreign allies issued a formal declaration of war.^[1]

No treaty or formal agreement bound the alliance together. Some Western historians define the first phase of hostilities, starting in August 1900, as "more or less a civil war",^[1] though the Battle of the Taku Forts in June pushed the Qing government to support the Boxers. With the success of the invasion, the later stages developed into a punitive colonial expedition, which pillaged Beijing and North China for more than a year. The fighting ended in 1901 with the signing of the Boxer Protocol.^[2]