Although the great powers divided China was defeated by 1895, the starting point for the real division of China was the Eight-Nation Alliance invasion of China. After the Eight-Nation Alliance invaded China, a situation map showed the current situation of China being divided, so this made China's demise very close. Later, thanks to the escalation of the conflicts between the great powers on the eve of the First World War, China's problems were shelved, which allowed China to preserve its basic territory after experiencing the 1911 Revolution and not faced a split situation like some European countries.
But many of the eight countries that once showed off their power in China have disappeared. Except for the United States barely maintaining its position as a superpower, among the other seven countries, they have either declined or perished, and two of them have already perished. So which two countries have fallen from former powers to a state of perishing?
1. China's neighbor was once a great power
China's revolution originated from the new ideas delivered by October Revolution , which indirectly triggered the May Fourth Movement. It has a profound influence. What is unexpected is that the Soviet Union, which is far ahead in thought, was once a great power, and it is Tsarist Russian . Tsarist Russia has a very long history. It was already in its twilight years when it lived to the 20th century. Therefore, when Tsarist Russia, which was on the surface, had constant conflicts and uprisings often broke out when it was constantly invading China's territory.
The continuous domestic uprisings have already exhausted Tsarist Russia. So after Tsarist Russia could not gain any advantage in China, it began to turn to Europe for interests, which also made history sound the death knell for it. Despite many reforms, Tsarist Russia is still an agricultural country, essentially no different from China. The only advantage is that Tsarist Russia occupied a large area of territory and the army that supported the war.
Due to the years of war, Tsarist Russia's treasury has long been in short supply. Therefore, after suffering from food production reduction, Tsarist Russia could not even pay for money to buy food and provide relief to the people. This made Tsarist Russia become a weak country that was about to perish before participating in the World War . After joining the war to fight for interests with other European powers, Tsarist Russia suffered heavy losses, which eventually triggered a series of chain reactions in the country, which also made Tsarist Russia survive.
The history of Tsarist Russia's demise is very referenceative for later generations. In addition, Tsarist Russia's invasion of China can be said to have continued from the early stage of the Qing Dynasty to the demise of the Qing Dynasty, which made it an old rival to China. Therefore, the demise of Tsarist Russia in the Eight-Nation Alliance is undoubtedly good for China's development. It is also the demise of Tsarist Russia that has caused new ideas to flow into China, laying a solid ideological foundation for China's future revolution, which is of profound significance.
2. The collapsed Austro-Hungarian Empire
Count the powerful countries in the Eight-Nation Alliance. Judging from the background of the times at that time, the Austro-Hungarian Empire was undoubtedly a military and economic power. Unlike Tsarist Russia, the Austro-Hungarian Empire had already transformed into an industrial country at that time, so the Austro-Hungarian Empire could be regarded as a country with more say in the Eight-Nation Alliance at that time. It was such a powerful country's power to show its power when invading China but its power was destroyed in less than twenty years.
At that time, the Austro-Hungarian Empire began to participate in the world war with the idea of dividing up Europe and achieved many excellent results. However, in the end, it was forced to pay a heavy price due to its defeat, so the disintegration of the country was inevitable. The country later split into close to German Austria and Hungary 2 close to Eastern Europe. After a defeat in a war, although the Austro-Hungarian Empire no longer existed, its successors still demanded China's compensation back then, which shows that the essence of the great powers has not changed. The difficulty in nature made Austria and Hungary later followed Germany into the fascist camp in World War II , and began to invade and expand vigorously, causing serious harm to the world.
Thanks to the later construction of socialist camp , Austria and Hungary, once a fascist country, came out completely and became a normalized country, and established good relations with the New China. Therefore, the history of invading China was recognized by the two countries and a certain form of diplomatic political apology was given. Therefore, the two countries began to improve their relations with China, and gradually made the two countries one of China's firm partners.
From past invaders to today's partners, China's diplomatic actions have really touched these two countries, not only allowing them to see past mistakes, but also seeing China's magnanimous side. After falling from the former great powers to destruction, they were transformed into a normal country again. Whether it is the Soviet Union, the heir of Tsarist Russia, today's Russia, or Austria and Hungary, the successors of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, their history has witnessed the rise and fall of imperialism and also seen the glorious side of China's peaceful rise today. This contrast makes people feel that China has chosen its development path.
3. Conclusion:
When China today has become an indispensable and important part of the world, compared with the eight countries that invaded China, the two destruction countries are different from the past. Not only have they experienced the pain of the demise of imperialism, but they have also become the recipients of the development of today's Europe. Therefore, when this makes contemporary people feel regretful for China's humiliated history in modern times, they can't help but feel sincerely proud of the achievements made by China today.
