Imperial Chinese Armies 1840–1911 (Men-at-Arms Book 505)

An in-depth analysis of the Chinese Armies that fought a series of increasingly fractious wars over nearly a century, this history begins with a run-through of the Chinese forces that combated the British and French during the two Opium Wars. It goes on to trace the forces who were drawn into internal wars and rebellions in the 1850s and 60s, the open warfare in North Vietnam, the string of defeats suffered during the First Sino-Japanese War, and the Boxer Rebellion. Providing an unparalleled insight into the dizzying array of troop types and unique uniforms, this is a history of the sometimes painful modernization of China's military forces during one of her most turbulent periods in history. An in-depth analysis of the Chinese Armies that fought a series of increasingly fractious wars over nearly a century. Beginning with a run through of the Chinese forces that combated the British and French during the two Opium Wars, this history goes on to trace the forces who were drawn into internal wars and rebellions in the 1850s and 60s, the open warfare in North Vietnam, the string of defeats suffered during the First Sino-Japanese war and the Boxer Rebellion. Providing an unparalleled insight into the dizzying array of troop types and unique uniforms, this is a history of the sometimes-painful modernization of China's military forces during one of her most turbulent periods of history. During the last 70 years of the Qing Dynasty, the armies of Imperial China faced both a chronic state of internal rebellion and repeated incursions by Western and Japanese forces. Although well over a half million strong, Chinese armies were very diverse in their armament, leadership, appearance, and military value. This book describes how, in one of the most turbulent periods in its history, the Chinese Army went through a painful period of modernisation, finally emerging as the New Army at the dawn of the twentieth century. The text is illustrated with prints and rare photographs, and with eight meticulous colour plates showing uniforms, insignia, weapons, equipment and flags Beskriver den kejserlige kinesiske hær i perioden 1840-1911. Bogen fokuserer især på den Kinesiske-Japanske krig, opiumskrigene og Boxeropstanden. Med illustrationer af uniformer, udrustning og våben