The Eight-power Allied Forces Through Foreigners' Camera

China Before the Invasion of the
Eight-Power Allied Forces

The Entering of
Envoys and Legation Guards into Beijing

First Setbacks of
the Allied Forces
and the Capture of Tianjin

The Capture of
Beijing by the
Eight-Power Allied Forces

The War Before Negotiations and the Signing of the
Protocol of 1901

China Under the Protocol of 1901

French Pierre Marie Alphonse Favier (1873-1905) was bishop of Beijing's Pehtang Cathedral. In 1899, he was appointed chief bishop of French Catholicism in Beijing. The Qing Government granted him the official uniform of the second rank as an indication of courteous reception. On May 18, 1900, being informed of the sanguinary conflict between the Boxers and the church in Baoding Prefecture, about 100 kilometers from Beijing, he requested the French Government send troops for protection. The French envoy discussed this with the envoys of Britain, the United States, Russia, Germany, Japan, Italy, Austria, Spain, Portugal and Belgium in Beijing, and decided to move troops from Tianjin to Beijing to organize legation guards. After the signing of the Protocol of 1901, the Roman Catholic Church conferred the title "Religious Guard " to Favier, while the French Government granted him a medal.