Page "Boxer Rebellion" Paragraph 25

The next morning, the German envoy, Klemens Freiherr von Ketteler, was killed on the streets of Beijing by a Manchu captain.

The other diplomats feared they also would be murdered if they left the legation quarter and they defied the Chinese order to leave.

The legations were hurriedly fortified.

Isolated legations, such as the Spanish and Belgian, and foreign businesses were abandoned.

Most of the foreign civilians, which included a large number of missionaries and businessmen, took refuge in the British legation, the largest of the diplomatic compounds.

Chinese Christians were primarily housed in the adjacent palace ( Fu ) of Prince Su who was forced to abandon his property by the foreign soldiers.

On June 21, Empress Dowager Cixi declared war against all foreign powers.

However, a number of regional governors including Li Hongzhang and Zhang Zhidong quietly refused to cooperate.

Shanghai's Chinese elite supported the provincial governors of southeastern China in resisting the Imperial declaration of war.