1900: En Hai, the murderer of von Ketteler

ExecutedToday.com ^ | December 31, 2008 | Headsman

[CheshireTheCat]

On the last day of the 19th century, a Chinese officer was beheaded on the public street where he had precipitated western* military intervention in the Boxer Rebellion by killing a German diplomat.

Foreign commercial penetration — and domination — was generating domestic turmoil in China. As liberal reforms foundered in the late 1890’s, a more radical anti-foreigner movement blending spiritualism and martial arts launched the Boxer Rebellion (or Yihetuan Qiyi, in the local coinage).

In addition to massacring hated missionaries, the Boxers besieged foreign diplomatic missions in Peking … and veteran German ambassador Klemens von Ketteler was killed in a firefight on a crowded street. (The particular circumstances of the killing seem highly confused, and were immediately colored by the various interested parties’ axe-grinding; it’s sometimes called an “assassination,” but there’s no proof von Ketteler was specifically targeted, and the ambassador himself managed to get a shot off in the fray.)

Given the financial interests at stake, it would be far too much to say that von Ketteler’s death caused the military intervention that ensued, but it certainly catalyzed the conflict. The next day, China’s Dowager Empress declared war against the Eight-Nation Alliance. Within two months, Peking (Beijing) was under foreign occupation....

[Amberdawn]

And now the Chinese are invading everyone else’s country.....

[PAR35]

55 Days at Peking, starring Charlton Heston. 153 minutes.

[QBFimi]

One of the postcards in my best college buddy’s collection was a Model T Ford flatbed truck loaded with dead Chinese. It was captioned “Their Last Lizzie Ride”. Always reminds me of the Boxer Rebellion...

[L.A.Justice]

55 Days at Peking, starring Charlton Heston. 153 minutes.
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I was reminded of that film also...I have not watched that movie in a long time.