Why did the Qing court make a 180-degree turn and slap itself in the face?

In fact, before officially declaring war on foreign countries, Cixi herself was also oscillating between war and peace. On the one hand, Cixi has always hated foreigners, and really hopes to use the Boxers to suppress the arrogance of outsiders, let out a bad breath, and at the same time take this opportunity to depose Guangxu; But on the other hand, Cixi also knew that the Qing Dynasty's national strength was weak, and it was impossible to defeat even Japan if it was defeated, let alone defeat the Eight-Nation Alliance.

The reason why Cixi issued that edict declaring war was because she received a false information from Zai Yi that foreigners wanted to force her to return to Guangxu, but she was furious for a while, lost her mind, and dragged the entire Qing Dynasty to give her the power to accompany her to the funeral.

When the Eight-Nation Alliance was about to invade Beijing, Cixi found out that the foreigners did not ask her to return to Guangxu at all, and she was deceived by Zaiyi and others, so her attitude towards the foreigners changed greatly, and she changed from being incompatible to wagging her tail and begging for mercy.

In the later "Edict of Guilt", Cixi also shirked her responsibility, declared war on foreigners with her own self-interest, said that she was held hostage by the Boxers, and accused local officials of not handling the direct conflict between the missionaries and the common people, which led to the invasion of the Eight-Nation Alliance. Such brazenness can be described as a rare sight in a century

It's a pity that due to the arrival of Li Er, history happened in advance, and there was no way for Cixi to declare war like the great powers.1 The Empress Dowager Cixi was afraid that the ministers of various countries had jointly forced her to return to power, and Emperor Guangxu came back. 1. The Empress Dowager Cixi was afraid that the ministers of various countries had jointly forced her to return to power, and Emperor Guangxu came back.

2. The Boxer entered Beijing for tens of thousands, the powerful were attached to it, the Beijing division was chaotic, and the tail was not gone, so it was better to point the spearhead at the foreigners, so that they could kill each other and the fishermen benefited.

3. It is possible to be confused for a while, and a little bit believe in the "invulnerability" of the Boxers.

4. Since the year of Xianfeng, I have been oppressed by foreigners for a long time, and it is inevitable that there will be a slight rebound.

To sum up, the Empress Dowager of the West and the ministers in the Wuxu coup d'état wanted to use the boxers to consolidate their power internally, and to use the people's vigorous anti-foreign movement to intimidate the foreigners and force them to collect their traces.

The edict declaring war is attached as follows:

For more than 200 years, I have been deeply benevolent and generous, and all those who come to China from afar, the ancestors and the ancestors, do not wait for tenderness. During the years of Guangxian Feng, they were in the same market. He also begged to preach in our country, and the court persuaded people to be kind and reluctantly agreed. In the past 30 years, I have been arrogant and arrogant, bullying my country, encroaching on my land, ravaging my people, and extorting my property. The court accommodated a little, and they were responsible for their ferocity, day by day, and they did everything, oppressing the common people in the small way, and insulting the sacred in the large. Our country is naked, angry and depressed, and everyone wants to get it and is willing. This is the origin of this righteous burning of churches and massacres of parishioners. The court still does not provoke, like the former protector, for fear of hurting the ears of our people. Therefore, he issued another decree to declare a ban, defend the embassy, and show mercy to the people. Therefore, the day before yesterday, there was an oracle from the boxers who were all my children. Originally, the folk religion explained the suspicions, and the court subdued the distant people, and it was the end. Yesterday there was a public note from Du Shili, ordering me to withdraw from the Dagukou Fort and take care of him, otherwise I would be attacked by force. The threatening words are intended to be rampant and shake Kisuke.

I have not been rude to him in the way of neighborly friendship on weekdays, he claims to be a country of indoctrination, but he is rude, arrogant and stubborn, and takes a break with himself. I have been in the imperial army for 30 years, treating the people like descendants, and the people also wear me like the emperor of heaven. The situation is that the saint is in the universe, the kindness is been, the marrow is reduced to the muscles, the ancestors rely on it, the gods are touched, everyone is loyal and angry, and there is nothing in the generations. I shed tears to tell the first temple, generously swear to the master and apprentice, rather than trying to survive, ashamed of ten thousand mouths, if a big tart felling, a duel between male and female. He summoned ministers and ministers for several days to consult and conspire. In and Shandong provinces, there were no less than hundreds of thousands of volunteers who gathered unexpectedly on the same day. As for the five-foot boy, he can also fight to defend the community.

He is still deceitful, and I rely on heaven's reason; He relies on his strength, and I am afraid of people's hearts. No matter our country's faithful armor, etiquette and righteousness, everyone dares to die, since the land is more than 20 provinces, and the people are more than 400 trillion, why is it difficult to fire the fierce flame and the prestige of the country! They have the same hatred of the enemy, charge into battle, donate funds or donations, help the salary, and the court does not hesitate to reward the loyalty. Gou Qi was born from the outside, retreated from the battle, was willing to rebel, and even became a traitor, and was immediately punished severely, and there was no leniency. The ministers of Erpu Heaven, each of them have a loyal heart, and they vent the anger of gods and men, and I have high hopes.