The Tianjin Provisional Government (also spelled Tientsin Provisional Government, Provisional Government of Tianjin, Provisional Government of Tientsin) (, zh, t=天津都統衙門)
[medal]
British Museum was a government formed by the
Eight-Nation Alliance
The Eight-Nation Alliance was a multinational military coalition that invaded northern China in 1900 during the Boxer Rebellion, with the stated aim of relieving the foreign legations in Beijing, which were being besieged by the popular Boxer ...
during the
Boxer Rebellion
The Boxer Rebellion, also known as the Boxer Uprising, was an anti-foreign, anti-imperialist, and anti-Christian uprising in North China between 1899 and 1901, towards the end of the Qing dynasty, by the Society of Righteous and Harmonious F ...
in China, which controlled the major city
Tianjin
Tianjin is a direct-administered municipality in North China, northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the National Central City, nine national central cities, with a total population of 13,866,009 inhabitants at the time of the ...
and its surrounding areas from 1900 to 1902.
After the Boxers seized much of Tianjin in June 1900, the city was recaptured by the Eight-Nation Alliance in July 1900. Seven of the members of the Eight-Nation Alliance (Russia, the United Kingdom, Japan, Germany, France, the United States, and Italy) established the Tianjin Provisional Government on 30 July 1900. The government was first known as the Viceroy's Government and was renamed the Tianjin Provisional Government on 14 August.
The Tianjin Provisional Government had military control over Tianjin, Chinghai, Ningho and some other regions, with 8 subordinate executive organizations. It had a patrolling team of 900 allied forces gunmen directly under its control. The Norwegian railway engineer and former officer
Benjamin Wegner Nørregaard, who had worked in China for the last few years, was employed as a sort of minister of labour, and also designed the monumental government headquarters.
Most of the United States
15th Infantry Regiment arrived in Tianjin on 16 August 1900, as part of the
China Relief Expedition
The China Relief Expedition was an expedition in China undertaken by the United States Armed Forces to rescue United States citizens, European nationals, and other foreign nationals during the latter years of the Boxer Rebellion, which lasted ...
. The Tianjin Provisional Government existed until 15 August 1902, when it returned control of its territory to the Chinese
Qing
The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...
government. The Eight-Nation Alliance however maintained a military presence in the area to ensure open access to Beijing.
Tianjin Provisional Government Medal
The Tianjin Provisional Government Medal was presented to members of the Provisional Government. It was designed by J. Chevet and manufactured by the Japanese firm of
Tenshodo. 12 gold, 60 silver, and 153 bronze medals were issued.
The obverse shows the
flags of the seven alliance members who formed the government along with its French name, and the reverse inscription is its Chinese name.[
Tianjin Provisional Government Medal.png, Tianjin Provisional Government Medal (obverse)
Tianjin Provisional Government Medal reverse.png, Tianjin Provisional Government Medal (reverse)
Known recipients of this very rare medal include:
* Benjamin Wegner Nørregaard (Gold)
A bronze medal was donated by Paul Bauer (Austrian consul general, Tianjin) bronze) to the ]British Museum
The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...
in 1932[
]
References
{{reflist
Boxer Rebellion
Provisional governments