In the sixth issue of History Teaching (20 1 1), there is a short article "Why didn't the western powers carve up China?", arguing that China was not carved up by the western powers, which is related to China's vast territory and the absence of western troops. An article by Wang Zhenhua was published in No.4-5 issue of History Teaching in Middle School 20 12. Teacher Wang thinks that there are two main reasons why the western powers didn't carve up China. First, there are contradictions in the partition of China by the great powers. The second is the heavy blow of the Boxer Movement.

The above viewpoint is reasonable: China is indeed a vast country. When Eight-Nation Alliance invaded China, it was fiercely resisted by the Boxer Rebellion and some Qing troops. In addition, the western powers have many contradictions on the issue of dividing up China, and the division has not been implemented. In addition to the above reasons, the author believes that China has not been carved up, and the following factors can not be ignored:

1. Southeast Mutual Protection: During the Boxer Rebellion and Eight-Nation Alliance's invasion of China, many provinces in southern China refused to go to war against the orders of the Qing central government. 1900 On June 2 1 day, the Qing government declared war on Britain, the United States, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands and Austria at the same time. Liu Kunyi, Governor of Liangjiang River, and Zhang Zhidong, Governor of Huguang, were arranged by Sheng Xuanhuai, and the Shanghai Fish Road came forward to reach an agreement with the participating countries. The main content is that the Shanghai Concession is protected by various countries, and the Yangtze River and Suzhou-Hangzhou inland are protected by provincial governors. The local government in the southeast does not comply with the declaration of war, and the powers are not allowed to make waves in the southeast. This move was supported by Governor Li Hongzhang of Guangdong and Guangxi, Governor Xu Yingzhen of Fujian and Zhejiang, Governor Kui Jun of Sichuan and Governor Yuan Shikai of Shandong. Chinese mainland's evaluation on the mutual protection of southeast China is quite controversial. In the past, it was often emphasized that suppressing the anti-imperialist movement in the south was conducive to western aggression. Since the reform and opening up, more scholars have affirmed its positive role. For example, Chen Xulu thought: "Southern governors are committed to mutual protection, which also includes the intention of sizing up the situation. On the one hand, it suppressed the anti-imperialist movement in the southern region, on the other hand, it prevented Eight-Nation Alliance from going south; On the one hand, it relieved the worries of foreign powers about the south when they killed the Boxer Rebellion in the north; on the other hand, it forced the victorious foreign powers to face up to hundreds of thousands of troops stationed in the southeast when dealing with China. Many scholars in Taiwan Province Province hold a positive attitude towards Southeast Mutual Insurance. For example, Wang believes that Southeast Mutual Insurance is an unprecedented "pioneering work" and the conclusion of the insurance contract is a "good diplomatic achievement". For the southeast provinces, "this oath has been intact in the local area, avoiding the disaster of war and saving people's lives. "For the Qing government, it is particularly important to preserve the property tax in the southeast, which is the first in the country. In addition, "the self-protection of the southern province has strengthened a lot in diplomacy for future peace talks and claims to the Northeast. Dai Xuanzhi pointed out: "The Boxer Rebellion is a great miracle in modern history. Because of mutual insurance in the southeast, the turbulent China was spared from the disaster of partition. Erosion is limited to the north of the river, and there is no smoke in the southeast half. "Chen Xulu and others all think that the reason why Eight-Nation Alliance didn't carve up China has a lot to do with the southeast. The author also agrees with this view that the economic and military strength of the southern provinces is a factor that western powers have to consider, which is indeed one of the reasons why the west dare not carve it up rashly.

2. Sharp contradictions among western powers: When the western powers jointly invaded China, sharp contradictions arose due to the struggle for European hegemony and colonial division. Since France was defeated by Prussia in 1870, it has been expanding its army to prepare for war, seeking revenge and recovering lost ground. After reunification, Germany was well aware of this and actively strengthened its armaments in an attempt to isolate France. At this time, triple alliance of Germany, Italy and Austria has been formed. Italy made enemies because it failed to compete with France for North Africa, and threw itself into Germany's arms to attack France. The conflict between Russia and Austria in the Balkans has intensified, and France and Russia have strengthened political and military cooperation to deal with their respective threats. Influenced by Germany's world policy, the contradiction between Britain and Germany has intensified. In order to deal with Germany, Britain and France coordinated their positions and strengthened political cooperation. In addition, in the last decades of the19th century, the European powers set off a frenzy to carve up Africa, which caused many contradictions. 1900, Britain was deeply involved in the war with the Boers, with heavy casualties, and not many troops came to China to participate in the war. The forces of Germany, France, Russia, Austria and Italy are concentrated in Europe, while the US forces are less, and they are at war with Spain, so they have no time to carve up China. Japan is the biggest potential threat to China, but it is not a first-class country at this time. On the whole, Europe is like a big barracks. In addition, there are many contradictions among the great powers, and they are quarrelling over the treatment of China. In addition, Li Hongzhang and others adopted the policy of controlling foreign countries, which finally saved China from being carved up.

Third, Li Hongzhang's efforts: During Eight-Nation Alliance's invasion of China, Cixi fled to xi 'an with Emperor Guangxu, and the situation in the north was in chaos. The Qing government transferred Li Hongzhang from the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi to the governor of Zhili and the minister of Beiyang, and appointed him as the plenipotentiary minister to negotiate with the great powers. Han Fei said: "A strong country is easy to seek, but a weak country is difficult to seek." At this time, China was at the bottom of the national situation. Many ministers in North Korea are unwilling to take up this post for the sake of humiliating their country and taking the blame. Li, however, was not afraid of slanders, worked hard and tried to "remedy one point and keep one point" to help the stormy Qing tide over the difficulties of divide and rule. After Eight-Nation Alliance invaded China, Li Hongzhang, Zhang Zhidong, Liu Kunyi, Yuan Shikai and other ministers and officials in Xinjiang had the opportunity to directly participate in and even dominate the central political decision-making. From mutual protection in Southeast Asia to peace talks in Geng Xin, in order to cope with the crisis, they made decisive decisions at home, stabilized people's hearts, exchanged information, communicated and coordinated, actively contacted and inquired about news abroad, and tried their best to make China avoid the disaster of partition.

To sum up, the reasons why the western powers did not carve up China were that China was too big and the western forces were too small. There was a contradiction in the division of China by the western powers, and the Boxer Movement dealt a heavy blow. The mutual protection of southeast China, the sharp contradiction between western powers and Li Hongzhang's efforts are also important reasons why the powers did not carve up China.