Siege at Peking, The

China at the end of the nineteenth century was a country in crisis. The Manchu dynasty was in its death throes, held together by the indomitable will of the Dowager Empress. Foreign powers were dismantling her Empire and treating her age-old civilisation with contempt. Missionaries and traders between them were corrupting the very soul of China. The siege was the cry of rage of a humiliated and ancient culture. The armed forces of eight European powers took part in its relief and the results were disastrous for China. Aside from an indemnity of sixty million pounds, the Western powers quickened the pace of change in China once more. The Siege directly led to the overthrow of the Manchu dynasty in 1911. It was the last great co-operative endeavour of the European powers before the First World War.