In the spring and summer of 1900, the colonial powers in China experienced a violent backlash against their ‘civilizing’ and missionary undertakings in the country. In an effort to defend their interests against Chinese resistance during the so-called Boxer Rebellion, the war against the ‘Boxers’ marked one of the first occasions of international co-operation in the face of a perceived common enemy. However, the unity between the Great Powers produced by the shared goal of defending the principles of the Occident against the Orient did not last much longer than the initial outrage with which the horrific violence of the revolt was received. The hope of future co-operation closer to home proved unfounded. None of the governments involved really trusted the others, or played a straightforward game, and Germany under Wilhelm II's leadership was no exception.

In the war against the Chinese, as so often on other occasions during Wilhelm's reign, for Germany, and for Wilhelm, there was more at stake than avenging the horrors inflicted upon scores of foreign victims, or the assassination of the German envoy in Peking, or even of staking a claim in China. Rather, Wilhelm wanted to demonstrate to the world that Germany was a power to be reckoned with, and he wanted to be seen to be playing an important role in international affairs.