Duitsland, keizerrijk. Award medal for “Den Siegreichen Streitern” in the revolt “Boxer Rebellion” (1900-1901)

Bronze medal “Den Siegreichen Streitern” “1900 China 1901” Reverse: Eagle fighting with snake.

The China Commemorative Coin (German: “China-Denkmünze”) is an award established on May 10, 1901 by Kaiser Wilhelm II as head of state of the German Empire. It is therefore not a Prussian award. This is special because during the Second Empire each of the German states awarded its own orders and decorations and there were few Imperial German decorations.

In May 1900, a revolt had broken out throughout northern China threatening the interests of the countries with concessions in China’s major cities and leased areas. The animosity against these powers was mainly caused by a secret nationalist and xenophobic group that called itself “the Association of Righteous and Harmonious Fists”. Abroad, these men were called the “boxers”. The revolt is known as “Boxer Rebellion”.

Eight Great Powers; Germany, Austria-Hungary, the United States, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, Japan and Russia decided to deploy an international army of 150,000 men under the overall command of German Field Marshal Count von Waldersee to rescue their besieged compatriots in Beijing and put down the rebellion in the provinces. Allied forces reached Beijing on August 14, 1900, but a peace treaty with China was not signed until September 7, 1901.

This medal was awarded to the German participants of the international expedition that ended the Boxer Rebellion (1900-1901) and the 55-day siege of the European diplomatic quarter in Beijing. To be entitled to the medal, one had to have been in China between May 30, 1900 and June 29, 1901.

The medal is made of steel or bronze. The obverse depicts a crowned eagle clutching the belly of a dying Chinese dragon.

Wilhelm II was a monarch who personally interfered in everything, and in the case of the expedition to China his interest tended towards hysteria. He waved the troops off with the now infamous “hunnen speech” in which he compared the modern Germans with the ancient Huns and called for extreme violence so that “no Chinese would even dare to look at a German in the wrong way”. Wilhelm also came up with the sketch of the fighting eagle and dragon depicted on the obverse. The engraving is by Professor Walter Schott and the minting of the more than 40,000 medals was provided by the Firma Mayer & Wilhelm in Stuttgart.
The bronze medal for combatants features on the reverse the monogram of Wilhelm II crowned with the new German imperial crown within the circular inscription “DEN SIEGREICHEN STREITERN 1900 CHINA 1901”.

Actual dimensions:
diameter: 32.7 mm,
thickness: 2.45 mm,
weigth: 16.66 gram.

View the photos for a good impression.

in Munten en postzegels / Munten (wereldwijd)