Ruling the Qing Empire Through Half a Century of Crisis

Empress Dowager Cixi dominated Qing politics for nearly five decades following the 1861 Xinyou Coup. Acting as regent for her son, the Tongzhi Emperor, and nephew, the Guangxu Emperor, she skillfully balanced court factions to maintain imperial supremacy. While conditionally supporting technological initiatives during the Self-Strengthening Movement, she ruthlessly crushed the 1898 Hundred Days' Reform to preserve conservative rule, imprisoning the Guangxu Emperor. Her fateful backing of the Boxers in 1900 led to foreign occupation and the humiliating Boxer Protocol. Despite initiating late Qing reforms in her final years, her authoritarian rule ultimately deepened the dynasty's collapse.

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