Sunday, August 9, 2015

Can you help me write 10 questions about the Boxer Rebellion?

Historians often concern themselves with what are called the "five w's" of journalism"—who, what, when, where, and why. If you can ask these five questions about the Boxer Rebellion—who were the Boxers, when did the rebellion take place, where did the rebellion take place, why did the rebellion take place—that should be a nice start to your assignment.  
Since that's only four questions, you need to ask six more in order to complete your assignment. Historians often look at how a certain act of history is perceived by those who lived through it—this will also give you an incentive to find primary source materials, such as newspaper clippings from the time period. Look at how the Rebellion and the military response to it was perceived by both China and one Western power, the United States.  
You could also look at how both the Boxers justified their actions and how the US-led coalition justified their reaction—this could be your next two questions.  
Finally, for the most important question of all—look at the impact of the Boxer Rebellion. The rebellion started when young Chinese men, afraid of losing their culture to European powers gaining spheres of influence which were colonies in everything but name only, started killing Westerners. The US intervened to protect foreign consulates, and the US State Department created the Open Door Policy, which gave all nations a free hand to trade in China and protected Chinese sovereignty. Ask the question, "What makes the Boxer Rebellion important today?" Its diplomatic ramifications affected WWII, which is why the Japanese army committed a war crime by invading China.  

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