Editing Boxer Rebellion (section)

== Russian invasion of Manchuria ==
{{Main|Russian invasion of Manchuria}}
[[File:Russian soldiers during the boxer rebellion.jpg|thumb|Russian officers in Manchuria]]
The Russian Empire and the Qing dynasty had maintained a long peace, starting with the [[Treaty of Nerchinsk]] in 1689, but Russian forces took advantage of Chinese defeats to impose the [[Aigun Treaty]] of 1858 and the [[Treaty of Peking]] of 1860 which ceded formerly Chinese territory in Manchuria to Russia, much of which is held by Russia to the present day ([[Primorye]]). The Russians aimed for control over the [[Amur River]] for navigation, and the all-weather ports of [[Dairen]] and [[Port Arthur naval base|Port Arthur]] in the [[Liaodong]] peninsula. The rise of Japan as an Asian power provoked Russia's anxiety, especially in light of expanding Japanese influence in Korea. Following Japan's victory in the [[First Sino-Japanese War]] of 1895, the [[Triple Intervention]] of Russia, Germany and France forced Japan to return the territory won in Liaodong, leading to a de facto Sino-Russian alliance.

Local Chinese in Manchuria were incensed at these Russian advances and began to harass Russians and Russian institutions, such as the [[Chinese Eastern Railway]], which was guarded by Russian troops under [[Pavel Mishchenko]]. In June 1900, the Chinese bombarded the town of [[Blagoveshchensk]] on the Russian side of the Amur. The Russian government, at the insistence of war minister [[Aleksey Kuropatkin]], used the pretext of Boxer activity to move some 200,000 troops led by [[Paul von Rennenkampf]] into the area to crush the Boxers. The Chinese used arson to destroy a bridge carrying a railway and a barracks on 27 July. The [[Boxer attacks on Chinese Eastern Railway]] and burned the Yantai mines.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lensen |first=George Alexander |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HvhEAAAAIAAJ |title=The Russo-Chinese War |publisher=Diplomatic Press |year=1967 |page=14}}</ref>