In What Ways Did Empress Cixi Contribute to the Decline of the Qing Dynasty?

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In what ways did Empress Cixi contribute to the decline of the dynasty? Empress Dowager Cixi caused the decline of the Qing Dynasty because she was greedy for power and would use unscrupulous means to seize it. In 1898, Cixi staged another overthrow against Guangxu and imprisoned him again when she found that he was introducing reforms without her approval. The coup took place on September 21, 1898 and was carried out by Manchu generals and members of the Manchurian elite. Once installed as the leader of China, the Empress Dowager cancelled all the reforms except those involving the military. She began to rule the country behind the curtain. Cixi was conservative and opposed to any reforms. She showed little concern towards the Self-Strengthening Movement. Her use of Naval funds to build her summer palace affected China's naval strength and helped to cause her defeat in the Sino-Japanese War (1894-95). However, Cixi herself declared reforms after the Boxer Rebellion (1900). But her purpose was to strengthen the Manchu regime in the face of growing discontent and an approaching revolution rather than from any ideological intentions to modernise China. Because of her ignorant and blindly anti-foreign persuasions, she believed in the magic power of the Boxers and encouraged their anti-foreign activities. This led to the Eight Power Expedition (1900) to Beijing and the harsh terms of the subsequent Boxer Protocol. As a result many people joined the revolutionary movement themselves and took part in the republican

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