Empress Dowager Cixi sent Li Hongzhang and Yi Kuang, the prince of Qing Dynasty, to negotiate with the great powers while rushing to the West. 190 1 On September 7th, they signed the "Xin Chou Treaty" on behalf of the Qing government. Since then, the Qing government has completely become the ruling tool of the great powers, and the semi-colonial and semi-feudal society in China has also been fully formed. In addition to these humiliating endings, what is most closely related to the 450 million people at that time is that everyone has silver debts. The Xin Chou Treaty did not allow the Qing government to cede land, but the amount of compensation was unprecedented, reaching 450 million taels of silver. This standard was formulated precisely because the Qing Dynasty had a population of 450 million at that time.
However, when the Qing government couldn't come up with so much money for a while, the powers came up with their usual trick-"installment payment". However, in addition to relieving the pressure of the Qing government, the interest on installment payment was amazing. The Qing government's compensation was divided into 39 years, and it took 980 million two systems of principal and interest to finally repay * * *. The great powers intended to return the Qing government from 190 1 to 1940, but in 10, the Revolution of 1911 broke out in an all-round way and the Qing Dynasty perished. Obviously, the 39-year installment repayment of the Qing government was definitely not completed. What about the rest of the debt?
It should be noted that the reason why the Revolution of 1911 was not obstructed by the great powers was that the bourgeoisie was willing to recognize the existing interests of the great powers in China. Therefore, after the demise of the Qing Dynasty, the nature of China's semi-colonial and semi-feudal society has not changed, and the interests of foreign powers in China have not been damaged. After assuming the liability for compensation, the government of the Republic of China will continue to pay compensation according to the treaty until the world situation changes. 19 14 When World War I broke out, China joined the Allies and sent 140,000 laborers to the European front. After the victory of the war, China stopped paying reparations to Germany and Austria as victors, while Italy voluntarily gave up the remaining reparations on 1933.
19 17 years, the October Revolution broke out in Russia, the czar government was overthrown, and the new Soviet government also announced that it would give up reparations. It should be noted that although there were 1 1 countries that declared war, only eight countries, namely Russia, Germany, France, Britain, the United States, Japan, Italy and Austria, formed a coalition to fight back. As for other countries, the proportion is less than 1%, so it is ignored in the figure. 1920, Britain and France also voluntarily gave up reparations. As for the results of compensation from the United States and Japan, it is very interesting. As early as 1908, Liang Cheng, the Qing government's envoy to the United States, confirmed that the United States lied about the war losses and took two-thirds more reparations.
Therefore, Liang Cheng lobbied the US Congress to guide public opinion. In order to maintain the international image, the United States had to announce the return of half of the reparations. However, the United States did not directly refund the money, but returned it to China by investing in the development of education. At that time, Tsinghua Preparatory School and other schools were established with the support of the United States. It is worth mentioning that the then US President Theodore? There is a passage in Roosevelt's memo: "Which country can influence China's generation of young people through education ... and gain the greatest benefits ... It is more reliable to follow the spirit of business domination ... The United States will eventually win a group of friends and partners who are both familiar with the United States and consistent with the United States ... This will enable us to win the whole empire".
Under the "trend" that countries have refunded or given up compensation, Japan has to express. The Japanese government also offered to give up compensation, but the conditions were unacceptable. In the end, the National Government chose to continue to pay reparations. In order to look good in the international image, Japan set up a fund with this indemnity to support and develop China's "cultural undertakings". Ironically, from beginning to end, no cultural group in China has successfully applied for funds. Therefore, the reparations to Japan were paid until 1939. On June 5438+1October 5438+05 of this year, the Ministry of Finance of the National Government officially announced that it would stop paying reparations.
Finally, let's calculate an account. This nearly astronomical boxer indemnity has a total principal and interest of 980 million taels and a term of 39 years. The actual payment is 576 million taels, accounting for 59%, and the actual repayment period is 37 years. The shocking figures are undoubtedly not warning us that we will be beaten if we fall behind!