In the spring, allied naval commanders began attacks on Chinese forts on the coast and urgent messages were sent to Europe for armed reinforcements. Finally, on 21 June, the empress dowager declared war on the eight foreign powers and fled the capital. A 55-day siege of the Foreign Legation Quarter by the Boxers followed, providing the Western press with ample copy on European heroism, and what they saw as savage oriental acts of irrational barbarism against the ‘civilised world’.
