Remember when the US Army invaded China? Don't remember marching on Beijing? I do.

Wow this is amazing thanks for putting this thread together. I finished high school in 2005 and there was no mention of this anywhere in our history books which honestly doesn't surprise me because the only things that were included were those that paint our country in a positive light. Even more amazing is that when I took history in college there was yet still no mention of this. This is why I love and still come to ATS despite all the doom and gloom haha. Learn something new everyday...thank you my friend

Whilst I was never taught this in school (UK) as I specialised largely in american welfare reforms and WW2 when it came to history, it does not surprise me if this has been omitted from the past - often many events are brushed under the rug as they are detrimental to the reputation (or should i say facade) that the US holds up as being the knight in shining armour, riding around on its horse (cruise missiles) and saving the day (blowing up innocents and causing humanitarian catastrophes). However many do make good points that this should not be viewed as a pro-chinese incident, as they indeed have their bad parts of history and even today are committing atrocities in the name of 'war on terror' to acquire resources, and thus they aren't a far cry from our governments/coalitions.

However I do believe this is another example of a long list of america's attempts at global economic dominance, ranging from the extermination of the native population (almost literally) to present day. The modern day efforts were largely kickstarted post WW2 when eisenhower and his buddies recognised that the middle east was "the most strategically important area of the world" emphasizing the loss of control being "far worse than the loss of china".

It is rather ironic that people suggest america makes the world a 'safer place' when you look at its history; it has supported some of the most ruthless dictators (including you're old pal saddam), take a look at these names if you have the time although im sure some are familiar : Ceausecu, Suharto, Marcos, Duvalier, Chun Doo-Hwan, Mobutu the list goes on. Someone mentioned saddams brutality, and whilst it was good to have him removed the methods were most erroneous indeed. Perhaps sanctions on weapons in the period 1991-2001 to iraq would have reduced much of the brutality caused by him, however we chose to sanction vital necessities including food and medicine which "killed hundreds of thousands of people [innocents], devastated iraq's civilian socitey, strengthened the tyrant, and compelled the population to rely on him for survival". Evidence of this is shown by the resignation of the two international diplomats who administered the programs, Denis Halliday and Hans von Sponeck calling the sanctions "genocidal". Not so good now. Another piece of conveniently omitted history is our support of saddam in crushing the Shi'ite rebellion ('91), which may have overthrown his government without the need for invasion years later (but wouldnt have allowed for US economic control, thus went against).

There are hundreds of examples of similar nature attributed to america, and whilst i agree they are not alone in their worldwide terrorism, they are indeed a major cause for it today. Another obvious example would be Clintons bombing of the sudanese chemical factory which was supposedly for 'chemical weapons' but was really for the country's major source of pharmaceuticals and veterinary medicines resulting in the deaths of "several tens of thousands". Let us also not forget a few more facts that havent been shouted about in american history : their foreign policy is largely the cause of terrorism (due to retaliation) and recent invasions (past decade) have caused the reverse effect, a spike in terrorist recruitment as well as the proliferation of nuclear and chemical weapons in order to act as a deterrent against invasion from what is globally seen (besides the US) as a mad dog without a leash, a 'rogue superpower'. Let us also have the history books remember americas abstention from UN acts to ban chemical weapons and to further the disarmament of nuclear weapons, as well as the militarisation of space (yes china did vote against it, US not so much). Also reversing POST WW1 (!!!!!) agreements on germ warfare.

So yes in conclusion it seems this may be another piece of american history that we dont particularly hear about that often or is portrayed with a pro-US stance, but this is indeed a norm as evident by my above comments. Sorry if i went a little off topic in the middle but I wish to educate people on various factual/historical points which have largely been omitted from mass media/public eye, for obvious reasons.

PS I am not 'Anti-american', I am anti-corporate governments ANYWHERE, the US being a notable culprit, and i have respect for the american people and their interest in politics and their own liberties, however often it is too easily turned into blind nationalism (hitler anyone?). EDIT: can't forget american food, great stuff, i remember in miami when i had those silver dollar pancakes, awesome.

reply to post by muzzleflash


It was taught in school

No one remembers because no one cares. :/

Originally posted by rbilly001
I just pulled it off of wiki, en.wikipedia.org...

I also found this interesting quote

"Allied troops eagerly raped women, the Germans and Russians were reported to have behaved savagely, they bayoneted their rape victims. Disgusted American marines attempted to restrain the Germans with violence, one was wounded as a result. The Allies covered up their atrocities by labeling all Chinese dead as Boxers. Other troops raped any more or less attractive women they could find. One U.S. Marine wrote that the Germans and Russians, in particular, bayoneted these women after raping them.[12] However, the Japanese did not engage in atrocities, a Japanese officer was shocked by the looting and they behaved courteously to Chinese civilians".

I have some material on this from another history class I took later in college, I will see if I can dig it up to see if the military numbers match up.

Very nice addition. I didn't know the Marines got into altercations over these issues.

That is really really interesting information. TYVM for bringing it up, and making a great contribution to the discussion. And thanks for the link, I will continue reading it now.

Originally posted by JerryB08
Wow you remember that? You must be pretty old. it was over a 100 years ago. Oh also your memory is going too.

Oh, that's classic given what you're about to say...

Originally posted by JerryB08
because At the time China was in a civil war.

No, it wasn't. The Chinese Civil War didn't begin until 1927!

Originally posted by JerryB08
And one of the sides decided to massacre a city. It was called the Raping of Nanking or how ever you spell it.

Wow.. That wasn't the Boxer Rebeliion or even the Chinese Civi War, that was the Second Sino-Japanese War and happened in 1937. Man, you're confused..

Originally posted by JerryB08
Your entire thread is deceptive and historically inaccurate

No, your post is deceptive and historically innacurate.

Originally posted by JerryB08
. It was an expedition to save the Chinese. That China requested!

Wrong again! The Boxer Rebellion was the Chinese Empress setting this Society of warrior types upon the foreigners. The Chiense declared war on the foreign powers and besieged all the Embassies, leading to the intervention by the Alliance.

Originally posted by JerryB08
The dead Chinese were mostly from other Chinese. The communists.

Wrong, again... If you're still on about Nanking, that was up to 200,000 dead Chinese murdered by the Japanese.

In 1937.

In a different War.

Originally posted by JerryB08
But I'm sure you will say that the history books lied because you were there. it is true that the US 4th Marines and the Imperial Japanese army, the Italian marines stayed there for like 30 years. It was supposed to be to protect the Chinese which the united states did until they were moved to the Phillipeans to try and thwart to the Imperial Japanese invasion. Now that was a massacre.

Man, what the hell are you smoking. You've now squeezed a fourth war into the mix which is some 40 years after the events described in the OP.

Originally posted by Geoneo99
Nothing new (at least for me)...
You have to read this book, folks.
The Conspirators Hierarchy: The Committee of Three Hundred by John Coleman

Great suggestion.

Here is the Amazon Link to that book for anyone interested.

And here is a secondary link from another website discussing the topic

reply to post by muzzleflash

I had no clue about this war! Never ever heard of it being referred to either names that you have told! It pis*es me off to know we were not taught about this in high school! Thanks!

Originally posted by merkaba93
And we've also got the Phillipine-American war memory holed into oblivion too. US Army rounding up civillians and burning them alive in buildings and such.

There is nothing new under the sun.

Wiki Link

Great addition for the topic.

It seems that the Spanish-American War really led the US into all kinds of ridiculous imperialistic campaigns. Really sad and regrettable.

An important point is that many people believe that the explosion on the USS Maine was not a mine placed by the Spanish but instead an accidental discharge within the magazine compartment of the ship.

However the media and many people within government jumped on the "war with Spain" bandwagon and used it as propaganda to accomplish various geopolitical goals. I tend to think the magazine explosion was the most believable theory.
Link to wiki on USS Maine

Originally posted by roadtoad
In possibly the biggest one-sided war ever. The chinese had no guns, the death odds were 20,000 to 2..

Not true in the slightest. The Chinese had western weaponry and artillery too you know.

And the casualties were more like 3000 Alliance troops and several thousand Chinese Chritians compared to around 20,000 Chinese troops. So more like 10-1.

And your nonse about WASP's doesn't make sense as Russians, Japanese, French and Italians were involved too you know, all of which are neither Anglo Saxon or Protestant.

reply to post by muzzleflash


lmao. Never did i attack you, take a pill. I simply attacked the premise of your argument.

General Butler discussing american interests in china is no conspiracy. Its known by anyone who cares to learn that america acted out of economic interest throughout the 20th century on all international military ventures. Its no big secret conspiracy, as you seem to think.

Alterior motives are not conspiracies, and American History is not hiding anything from you. You can read what General Butler said in its origional form, so i dont see what the problem here is?

All i see is a thread with a false premise thriving on anti-american sentiment that is undeserved. Once again, you downplay historical context, and amplify anti-american sentiment to make it seem like theres some kind of conspiracy here. When really, your just presenting a warped version of history in an attempt to discredit modern america... which makes no sense since were talking about over 100 years ago.

Do you remember the boxer rebellion? i dont think so.

Dont pretend that the Imperial era wasn't solely concerned with acquisition, ownership, and economic interests. Dont pretend that the Boxers were somehow righteous and true, only to be stomped out by twisted american imperial interests.

China was an underdeveloped nation rich in natural resources with unfortunate geography. When foreign interests were threatened, of course those stakeholder countries took action to lay rest to the uprising. This is a theme that has been repeated over and over throughout history.

But, of course, we cant look at it with reason and consideration for historical context. as far as we care, TPTB and their control over china was threatened, so america forged an alliance with all the other powers to invade rebel china and seize control of their assets.

No need to mention that there was considerable chinese support for foreign occupation, and that many Chinese christians lost their lives defending them. Just as it isnt worth noting that survey texts might not necessarily include the Boxer rebellion because it is insignificant to the greater history that surrounds it. Instead, lets call it a conspiracy orchistrated by evil american imperial forces.

Originally posted by thefirstrasta
So yes in conclusion it seems this may be another piece of american history that we dont particularly hear about that often or is portrayed with a pro-US stance, but this is indeed a norm as evident by my above comments. Sorry if i went a little off topic in the middle but I wish to educate people on various factual/historical points which have largely been omitted from mass media/public eye, for obvious reasons.

Thank you for the awesome post. I am really glad you put the effort into articulating your ideas and concerns.

You taught me a few things, as I am researching some of the dictators / issues you brought up.

I do not think you were off-topic because truly this thread is a discussion about how history has been withheld from us and when it is not, it is skewed, downplayed, or outright lied about.

This is all very important when it comes to understanding our current world conditions and why our politics are so volatile and dare I say ' mentally deficient'. We are suffering from a memory problem primarily, and the secondary problem is that when we do remember something, it is taken out of context and twisted to protect international corporate interests.

You show me an OP that remembers the Boxer Rebellion..

..and I will show you the oldest person on ATS.

With so much history to review on the 20th century i don't think they really cover the boxer rebellion in school anymore and when you compare it to WWI, WWII and all the other wars of the 20th century the boxer rebellion was a block party.

reply to post by muzzleflash


they have that painting in our History hallway

reply to post by muzzleflash

Well, yes, of course I know about the US involvement in putting down the Boxer Rebellion. But then I do have a Masters in Modern East Asian History and Military History.

China has a very, very long memory. The Chinese have not forgotten the Opium Wars nor the Boxer Rebellion. While the U.S. wastes its wealth and resources on foreign wars, on trillion dollar military budgets, on 1,000 bases around the world, on propping up too big to fail predatory corporations, on multi-million dollar payouts to corporate executives, on shifting jobs overseas...... The "Middle Kingdom" and its vast diaspora spread throughout the world are smiling their way toward world economic dominance. There's no rush. Chinese history reaches back thousands of years, and they know it's going to keep stretching forward.

Wow, I just learned about the "Boxer Rebellion" in History class a few months ago (only 16). Just like you said, it was downplayed quite a lot. It was only mentioned in a single paragraph and it seemed like we were the good guys. Thanks for this info, good to have in case of any debates. Might need to bring it up with my History teacher as well.

This is exactly why the MSM and government hate sites like this...because we bring up topics that they don't want anyone to remember.
good find OP. I remember learning about the boxer rebellion in an AP class, but I dont believe we spent much time on it.
the more you look into the history of America, the more you realize just how evil we are.
Our government sterilized 60,000 people at least(probably more since I learned it in a college class) in the 1920s/30s.
We also congratulated Hitler on his sterilization programs for the Jews.

reply to post by muzzleflash


I had US History in an international school where this was taught. I suppose it is not part of the usual curriculum taught in American high schools on American soil.

No, I was only talking about the marine's march on the forbidden city. Most chinese didn't even know it happened, because the chinese power structure squashed it, and made it look like the americans weren't even involved, much less had become the first foreign power to penetrate the forbidden city.
The marines took the american missionaries and hightailed it out of there.
The other wars with the other westerners took place later, and yes, chinese christains were slaughtered as well.
But the 20,000 to 2 kill ratio is an accurate number for the '55 days in Peking', only.