conditions of peace, on a reorganization of the
machinery of government. The Yangtsze viceroys, the viceroy at Canton,
Yuan Shih-kai and other high mandarins repeatedly memorialized the
throne to grant effective reforms. While at Si-gan-fu the court did in
fact issue several reform decrees, but at the same time all authority
remained in the hands of reactionaries. There had been an awakening in
China, but another lesson--afforded a few years later by the
Russo-Japanese War--was needed before the reform party was able to gain
real power.

For three or four years following the signing of the peace protocol of
1901 it seemed indeed that there would be little change in the system of
government, though in some directions a return to the old state of
affairs was neither possible nor desired. On the 7th of January 1902 the
court returned to Peking--a step which marked the restoration, more or
less, of normal conditions. The failure of the Boxer movement, in which,
as has been shown, she was deeply implicated, had impressed upon the
dowager empress the need for living on better terms with foreign powers,
but the reform edicts issued from Si-gan-fu remained largely
inoperative, though some steps were taken to promote education on
Western lines, to readjust the land tax, and especially to reorganize
the military forces (though on provincial rather than on a national
basis). The building of railways was also pushed on, but the dowager
empress was probably at heart as reactionary as she had proved in 1898.
The emperor himself from his return to Peking until the day of his death
appeared to have little influence on public affairs. The most
disquieting feature of the situation in the years immediately following
the return of the court to Peking was the continued efforts of Russia to
obtain full control of Manchuria and a predominant influence in north
China. The Chinese government was powerless to stem the advance of
Russia, and the dowager empress herself was credited with indifference
to the fate of Manchuria. It was the menace to other powers, notably
Japan, involved in Russia's action which precipitated an issue in which
the destinies of China were involved. Before considering the results of
that struggle (the Russo-Japanese War) the chief events of the years
1902-1905 may be outlined.

Relations with Europeans.

The dowager empress from the day of her return from Si-gan-fu set
herself to conciliate the foreign residents