55 Days at Peking @55daysatpeking - Tumblr Blog

Members of the Boxer Uprising: a movement whereby martial artists rebelled against Christianity and other western beliefs being introduced to China by the British. Many members of the uprising practiced a form of spiritual meditation that made them believe they were impervious to the bullets of the British, resulting in many deaths.

hagleyvault

In 1898, a year before the beginning of the Boxer rebellion, the Ferracute Machine Company sent one of its employees to China to supervise the installation of coining machines in the Imperial Chinese mints in Hopei and Szechan provinces.

The employee, Henry Janvier, created lantern slides to remember his travels, and the resulting images provide a small window through which to view China on the eve of the Boxer Rebellion.

These photos are from that fascinating collection, 1987.244, Ferracute Machine Company Photo Collection

georgy-konstantinovich-zhukov

“Greetings from Metz”

(Bibliothèques-Médiathèques de Metz)

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An artist’s depiction of a Montenegrin soldier. The Kingdom of Montenegro declared war on Austria-Hungary at the onset of the war, in solidarity with her neighbor Serbia.

bantarleton

On this day in 1880 the Battle of Maiwand was fought, one of the principal battles of the Second Anglo-Afghan War. Under the leadership of Ayub Khan, the Afghans defeated two brigades of British and Indian troops under Brigadier-General George Burrows, though at a high price: between 2,050 and 2,750 Afghan warriors were killed, and probably about 1,500 wounded. British and Indian forces suffered 969 soldiers killed and 177 wounded. The battle dampened morale for the British side, but was also partly a disappointment for Ayub Khan, Governor of Herat and commander of the Afghans in this battle, because he had lost so many men to gain a small advantage. Ayub Khan did manage to shut the British up in Kandahar, resulting in General Frederick Roberts’s famous 314-mile relief march from Kabul to Kandahar in August 1880. The resulting Battle of Kandahar on 1st of September was a decisive victory for the British. The loss of the Queen’s Colour and Regimental Colour of the 66th (Berkshire) Regiment of Foot at the Battle of Maiwand, following so soon upon the loss of the Colours of the 1st/24th (2nd Warwickshire) Regiment at the Battle of Isandlwana (22 January 1879) during the Anglo-Zulu War, resulted in colours no longer being taken on active service. Painting: The Battle of Maiwand 1880, Saving the Guns, by Richard Caton Woodville c. 1882.

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jeannepompadour

“Enjoying the Village of Green Leaves” by Watanabe Nobukazu, 1903

imperialasia

Qitou (旗頭; literally meaning flag head as Manchurians were also called qiren, 旗人 flag people) was another traditional hairstyle worn not only by noble Manchurian women, but most Manchurian women. Qitou come in different sizes and forms as shown in this photoset. In the Qing Court, the Qitou got bigger towards the end of the Dynasty, as seen in the fourth picture, where Princess Der Ling (德齡) had the hugest Qitou. Qitou is also called Liang Ba To (兩把頭) as it has two ends (hence 兩 meaning two in Chinese). The two colored photos are actress Tao Xinran (陶昕然) and Tang Yixin (唐藝昕) wearing Qitou in the Tv drama the Legend of Zhenhuan (甄嬛傳)

Here’s a link to a previous post i made about another traditional hairstyle

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historyfan

CSS Stonewall.

through-the-postern-gate

Russian women farmers in traditional costume,1900

todayinhistory

July 4th 1879: End of Anglo-Zulu War

On this day in 1879, the Zulu capital of Ulundi was captured by the British, thus ending the Anglo-Zulu War. The war in South Africa began in 1878 after the murder of several British citizens by Zulus and Zulu king Cetshwayo’s refusal to accept an ultimatum which required the Zulu to surrender parts of their sovereignty. However, authorities in Britain had long been seeking pretense to launch an assault on the Zulu Kingdom to consolidate British rule in the area. The indigenous Zulu warriors had some initial success against the European invaders, including at the battle of Isandlwana in January 1879, though this victory was offset by defeat at Rourke’s Drift. The Zulu forces were decisively defeated in March 1879 at the Battle of Kambula, which paved the way for British victory in the war. On July 4th 1879, British forces attacked the royal villages of King Cetshwayo at Ulundi, where they defeated the last of the Zulu soldiers and burned the capital; this defeat essentially marked the end of the Anlgo-Zulu war. Over 1,000 Zulu died in the fighting, and Cetshwayo fled, eventually being captured in the Ngome forest in August and exiled. British victory spelled the end of independence of the Zulu nation in South Africa, and resulted in the division of Zululand.