A Boxer rebel holding a banner that says, "By Imperial Order - Boxer Supply Commissariat", c. 1900. The Boxer Rebellion, better known in Asia as the Yihetuan Movement, was an uprising againsy Western Colonialism that took place in China between 1899 and 1901, toward the end of the Qing dynasty. It started when the Yihetuan, known in English as the "Boxers", rebelled against foreign trades and the figure of Colonialism, which Western countries as Great Britain, Germany, or the U.S. had started to implant in China. When the violence in the streets escalated, foreigners and Chinese Christians, who also had been persecuted, sought refuge in the Legation Quarter. Fearing a self-attack to the crown, Empress Dowager Cixi supported the Boxers and on June 21 issued an Imperial Decree declaring war on the foreign powers. Diplomats, foreign civilians and soldiers as well as Chinese Christians in the Legation Quarter were placed under siege by the Imperial Army of China and the Boxers for 55 days. The Colonialist forces were gathered in the Eight-Nation Alliance, and sent 20,000 armed troops to China, which quickly ended with the superior but bad equipped Imperial Army, and relieved the siege of the Legations. In 7 September 1901 it was approved the severe execution of government officials who had supported the Boxers. The end of the war opened the Eight-Nation Alliance the doors of exacerbated commerce and control of China’s economy.