ABSTRACT
The summer months of 1900 saw a mighty transformation of the east Asian scene. By the autumn the armies of the powers were in control of the provinces around Peking, while the armies of Russia had moved in in great strength to occupy strategic points in China's three eastern provinces. This was in retaliation for the actions of the Boxers in north China culminating in the siege of the foreign legations in Peking from 4 June to 15 August (which will be discussed briefly in this chapter) and for the slightly later outbreaks in Manchuria (which will be considered in more detail in the next chapter). The Russian occupation of Manchuria was to drag on for year after year and be a major cause of the Russo-Japanese war.
