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==Foreign Interests in China==

Western foreigners in China, after the arrival of Marco Polo in the 13th century, began to see China as a place for economic opportunity and for mass conversion to Christianity. In the 19th century, it was mainly Britain and its powerful navy that began to increase its presence in China and control of trade in the region.<ref>For an overview of how trade and drugs in particular fueled British interaction and ultimately increased interest in China see: Lovell, Julia. 2011. Ya Pian Zhan Zheng = The Opium War: Drugs, Dreams and the Making of China. London: Picador.</ref> One particular commodity of interest was opium, which became a product of increased demand in the West in the early to mid 19th century. Two main wars were fought over access to opium, which China had fought to restrict in trade, with the British, assisted by the French and United States in the second war, successfully defeating the Chinese in both wars. The Second Opium War (1856-1860), as it was called, was the most critical, as it was the key war that led to the opening of China to many countries, traders, and missionaries. The presence became affiliated with legations and it allowed the British, French, the United States, and Russia bases of operations and great access to China, including in Beijing and key port cities. This began a period of rapid increase in Western influence in China, which was increasingly seen by many Chinese as largely favoring Western interests and against their own.<ref>See Chow, Gregory C. 2007. Knowing China. New Jersey ;London: World Scientific.</ref>

The Boxers remained controversial figures in China. Some Chinese historians and individuals see the Boxers as largely ignorant peasants who were misguided and xenophobic. On the other hand, China experienced a wave of nationalism in the early 20th century that paved the way for the transition between the last royal dynasty and modern China. This nationalism had seen the Boxers as being Chinese nationalists who were standing up to for their cause and fighting an aggressive foreign occupation. <ref>Purcell, Victor. 2010. The Boxer Uprising: A Background Study. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pg. 271.</ref> In the decades that followed the Boxer Rebellion, Chinese anti-imperialists and nationals began to use the Boxer Rebellion as a rallying cry that helped to bring about political change within China. The Boxer Rebellion also exposed divisions within China, namely those who looked to the West and those who aspired for nationalism. China descended into a chaotic period after 1911-1912, when the last emperor of China abdicated, with warlords and factionalism replacing various parts of China. Soon, the influence of Communism began to affect China and the Chinese Civil War (1927-1950) was in part shaped by the events of the Boxer Rebellion. <ref>For an overview of key events that shaped China from 1911 to the Chinese Civil War see: Clubb, Edmund. 1964. 20th Century China. New York, N.Y.; Columbia University Press.</ref> Resentment to the West, including what was seen as Western Capitalism, lingered in many areas and many peasants and young intellectuals had joined the Communist party which was seen as a cure for China’s ills brought about by the Western encroachment initially and then the collapse of the state all together in 1911-12.<ref>Sheel, Kamal. 1989. Peasant Society and Marxist Intellectuals in China: Fang Zhimin and the Origin of a Revolutionary Movement in the Xinjiang Region. Princeton: Princeton University Press.</ref>

We can conclude that in many ways the Boxer Rebellion was seen as a Western victory that allowed the great powers to continue their trade and political policies in China; however, as is often the case, the events had more of an impact on local populations. Resentment to the West continued for decades and may have ultimately pushed a large number of peasants and some urban intellectuals to take up the Communist cause in the Chinese Civil War.