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| Capture of Beijing (1860) | |
|---|---|
| Conflict | Capture of Beijing (1860) |
| Partof | Second Opium War |
| Date | 6–18 October 1860 |
| Place | Beijing, Imperial China |
| Result | Anglo-French victory; Treaty of Beijing |
| Combatant1 | United Kingdom; France |
| Combatant2 | Qing dynasty |
| Commander1 | James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin; Prince Napoléon; Charles Cousin-Montauban; James Hope Grant; Lord Roberts |
| Commander2 | Sushun; Guanwen; Mianxin; Yuan Shikai; Qishan |
| Strength1 | Anglo-French expeditionary forces |
| Strength2 | Qing Bannermen and Green Standard Army |
| Casualties1 | Light |
| Casualties2 | Heavy; civilian losses |
Capture of Beijing (1860) was the climactic Allied assault during the Second Opium War in which Anglo-French forces occupied Beijing and looted the Old Summer Palace and Imperial City, forcing the Qing court to sign the Treaty of Beijing. The campaign combined coordinated riverine operations, expeditionary marches, and urban assaults that linked the military leadership of United Kingdom, France, and British Indian forces with Qing political collapse and factional disarray. The capture precipitated major territorial, legal, and diplomatic changes across East Asia through the subsequent Treaty of Tientsin follow-ups and treaties with western powers.
In the wake of the First Opium War and the 1858 Treaty of Tientsin, rising tensions between United Kingdom and France and the Qing court intensified over treaty implementation, consular residence, and maritime trade rights. The death of Xianfeng Emperor and the regency of Empress Dowager Cixi coincided with internal uprisings including the Taiping Rebellion and the Nian Rebellion, weakening Qing military responses led by figures such as Yixin, Prince Gong and Sushun. Anglo-French demands for reparations, the release of prisoners taken at the Arrow Incident, and attacks on diplomatic envoys culminated in renewed expeditionary planning by commanders including James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin and Napoléon III's representatives.
Following the failure of diplomatic missions at Tianjin and the death of envoys during negotiations, Allied commanders resolved on forceful punitive action, assembling fleets at the mouth of the Peiho River (Baihe) and advancing upriver using river steamers and gunboats. The Anglo-French contingent coordinated with elements from British India and relied on logistics from Hong Kong and Shanghai, while Qing defenses organized along the riverine approaches under regional commanders like Guanwen and provincial officials such as Qishan. Skirmishes at forts and fortified towns, including actions at Taku Forts and Dagu, set the stage for the march inland and informed assault plans on the Summer Palace and the Forbidden City.
The allied command combined political and military leadership with James Hope Grant and Charles Cousin-Montauban, Comte de Palikao directing field operations under the authority of Elgin and French imperial directives tied to Napoléon III. Troop contingents included regiments from the British Army, detachments of the French Army, units from British India such as the Bengal Army, and naval brigades from the Royal Navy and the French Navy. Artillery and engineering support drew on expertise linked to campaigns like the Crimean War and employed siege methods similar to those used at Sevastopol, while reconnaissance linked to consular networks in Tianjin and Shanghai informed tactical decisions.
Allied forces targeted the Yuanmingyuan (Old Summer Palace) complex as both military objective and symbol of Qing resistance; coordinated assaults combined artillery bombardment, infantry storming parties, and sappers breaching walls. The action involved units from Coldstream Guards-like British infantry, French Chasseurs, and Indian sepoy contingents supported by naval guns from Royal Navy vessels on the Peiho River. After intense fighting and looting, the Summer Palace fell to Allied troops, where vast collections of Chinese art and European-acquired treasures were seized. The destruction of galleries and gardens, carried out under orders by senior commanders alarmed contemporaries such as Henry Loch and provoked debate in Westminster and Paris over conduct in war.
Following the fall of the Summer Palace, Allied columns advanced on the outer defenses of Beijing, overcoming barricades manned by Bannermen and Green Standard units in street fighting reminiscent of urban battles like Siege of Sevastopol. Commanded assaults breached gates and overwhelmed palace guards, compelling the retreat of the Xianfeng court to the Chengde resort and triggering the flight of influential officials including regents and princes such as Sushun. In the Imperial City and sections of the Forbidden City Allied troops occupied key administrative buildings, and widespread looting and property destruction ensued, intensifying diplomatic urgency for a settlement and involving figures such as Yuan Shikai emerging in later prominence.
The occupation forced negotiations resulting in the Treaty of Beijing (Convention of Peking), which confirmed earlier Treaty of Tientsin provisions and ceded territorial concessions, indemnities, and expanded foreign diplomatic rights at ports including Tianjin, Shanghai, and Guangzhou. The settlement legalized the presence of foreign legations in Beijing and opened additional treaty ports, affecting relations with powers such as the United States and Russia which secured separate protocols in the mid-19th century. The indemnity payments and looted collections transferred to museums and private hands across London and Paris; controversies over heritage looting persisted into the 20th and 21st centuries.
Historians assess the campaign as a decisive demonstration of Western coercion in East Asia that accelerated Qing decline and reshaped Sino-Western diplomacy, linking it to broader 19th-century currents including unequal treaties, imperialism, and global naval power projection exemplified by the Royal Navy. The sack of the Old Summer Palace remains a potent symbol in Chinese nationalist memory and in debates over cultural restitution involving institutions such as the British Museum and the Louvre. Military studies contrast Allied operational coordination with Qing strategic disarray involving figures like Prince Gong and examine how the campaign influenced later careers of officers such as Lord Roberts and administrators in Hong Kong and Tianjin. The event continues to inform scholarship in works comparing imperial interventions from the Crimean War to the Boxer Rebellion and shaping modern Sino-foreign relations.
Category:Second Opium War Category:1860 in China Category:Military history of Beijing