Item number: M550

Year: AD 1901

Material: Copper

Size: 32.7 x 6.2 x 0.7 mm

Weight: 1.7 g

Provenance: CA-Collecting and more 2026

This is a TIENTSIN clasp for the German China Campaign Medal. The medal for the clasp was instituted in AD 1901 by Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany to honour the German troops who served in China during the Boxer Rebellion.

The German China Campaign Medal was established on May 10, AD 1901, by Emperor Wilhelm II, with the bronze medal awarded to combatants and the steel medal to non-combatants. The bronze medal was awarded to all participants in military events in East Asia from May 30, AD 1900, to June 29, AD 1901, against the Boxer movement, and to those who cared for the sick and injured in the war zone. The steel medal was awarded to individuals involved in the preparation and deployment of the German armed forces, and to crew members of German shipping companies transporting troops and war supplies from and to East Asia.

The number of Bronze medals issued is around 30,000.

The number of Steel medals issued is around 18,000.

The design of the German China Campaign Medal was conceived by Kaiser Wilhelm II himself, but the execution was carried out by Professor Walter Schott, a sculptor from Berlin. The embossing services were provided by the Mayer & Wilhelm company in Stuttgart.

The German China Campaign Medal is accompanied by fourteen clasps totally, each representing significant locations of military engagements during the period of the Eight-Nation Alliance:

TAKU, SEYMOURE EXPEDITION, TIENTSIN, BEIJING, Liang-Hsiang-Hsien, NAN-HUNG-MEN, KAUMI, PEITANG-FOTS, TSEKINGKWAN, KALGAN, KITCHOU, FOUPHING, HOPHU, HUOLU

Owing to the imperatives of German Weltpolitik, the actions undertaken by the German military during the Boxer Movement were characterised by an exceptionally aggressive posture. Mirroring contemporary German colonial strategies in Africa, these operations relied upon military intimidation to advance imperial expansion, followed by the violent suppression of grassroots resistance. In AD 1897, Germany seized upon the Juye Incident to occupy Jiaozhou Bay by force; following the coerced lease of Qingdao the subsequent year, the German military command came to regard Shandong as its exclusive sphere of influence. To construct the railway connecting the “model colony” (Musterkolonie) of Qingdao with Jinan, the German authorities forcibly expropriated land, disrupting rural drainage systems and local fengshui, which in turn provoked fierce anti-German agitation across regions such as Gaomi. In response, the Governor of Kiautschou, Paul Jaeschke, dispatched naval infantry on repeated punitive sweeps into the hinterland, razing the library of the Gaomi Academy and killing hundreds of villagers in settlements such as Tidong and Shawo. This escalation of colonial violence exacerbated sectarian frictions between the local populace and Christian converts throughout Shandong and Zhili, functioning as a primary catalyst for the wider dissemination of the Boxer unrest.

As the seat of multinational concessions and the premier commercial hub of northern China, Tianjin emerged as the central pivot of Allied military operations. In early June AD 1900, amidst the rapid spread of the Boxer Movement across Zhili and the severance of railway and telegraphic communications, the German naval officer Captain Guido von Usedom led a detachment of German marines to join the multinational relief expedition commanded by British Vice-Admiral Edward Seymour. Advancing along the railway from Tianjin towards Peking, the force encountered tenacious resistance from the Front Division of the Wuwei Corps under General Nie Shicheng, alongside allied Boxer contingents. Compelled to retreat, the expedition became besieged within the Xigu Arsenal near Tianjin until relieved by reinforcements advancing from the city. Concurrently, in an effort to secure the maritime and fluvial supply routes to Tianjin, Allied naval commanders launched an assault upon the Dagu Forts without prior, explicit authorisation from their home governments. In this engagement, the German gunboat SMS Iltis, commanded by Lieutenant Commander Wilhelm Lans, served as the vanguard, engaging the Qing artillery batteries in a close-range artillery duel during which the vessel sustained multiple hits and Lans was severely wounded. The ship’s performance was subsequently elevated to mythical proportions in official discourse, becoming an iconic symbol within Imperial Navy propaganda, whilst the reduction of Dagu directly precipitated the Qing court’s formal declaration of war against the foreign powers.

Following the capitulation of the Dagu Forts, the urban centre of Tianjin rapidly became a theatre of intense street fighting. From mid-June, the German marine detachments and Allied garrisons stationed within the foreign concessions were besieged and subjected to heavy bombardment by Nie Shicheng’s modernised forces—equipped with Krupp artillery and Mauser rifles—as well as Boxer cohorts, including female auxiliary units such as the “Red Lanterns” (Hongdengzhao). Severe see-saw battles erupted repeatedly around the Tianjin railway station and along the perimeter of the concessions. The German landing forces mounted a resolute defence under heavy fire and participated in the sorties to extricate Seymour’s beleaguered column from the Xigu Arsenal. By mid-July, the Allies massed substantial reinforcements to launch a general assault on the walled native city of Tianjin; German infantry and artillery units formed one of the primary assault contingents, participating in the storming of the South Gate and the breaching of the city walls. Following the fall of Tianjin on 14 July, German and Allied contingents initiated severe punitive measures throughout the city, encompassing arson, the systematic plundering of commercial premises and government treasuries, and the indiscriminate summary execution without trial of civilians suspected of being Boxers or their accomplices. Subsequently, the Allied powers instituted a military administration under martial law, known as the Tientsin Provisional Government (Tianjin Dutong Yamen). German officers were intimately involved in its governance, enforcing measures such as the demolition of the city walls, the requisition and regulation of canal grain transport, and the rigorous surveillance of Chinese residents, thereby transforming Tianjin into a fortified strategic base for the eventual advance on Peking and the accumulation of military provisions.

Following the capture of Tianjin and the relief of the Peking legations, German military operations expanded into large-scale “punitive expeditions” (Strafexpeditionen) under the direct command of Field Marshal Count Alfred von Waldersee, the Allied Supreme Commander. Upon learning of the killing of the German Minister Plenipotentiary, Baron Clemens von Ketteler, Kaiser Wilhelm II delivered his notorious “Hun Speech” (Hunnenrede), issuing orders that no quarter be given and no prisoners taken—an imperial directive that directly shaped the operational doctrine of the German East Asian Expeditionary Corps (Ostasiatisches Expeditionskorps) upon its arrival. Although the main military outcome had already been determined and the Qing imperial court had fled to Xi’an, Waldersee established his supreme headquarters in Tianjin as a central logistical and staging hub, launching dozens of pacification sweeps into the hinterland of Zhili—including Baoding, Liangxiang, and Zhangjiakou—as well as the borders of Shandong. During these expeditions, German forces systematically burned villages, destroyed temples, and enforced collective punishments alongside public executions, thereby extending militarised violence across a defenceless rural society.

In AD 1901, Field Marshal von Waldersee and the Expeditionary Corps returned to Germany; following the signing of the Boxer Protocol, German garrison forces in China were progressively reduced. In AD 1914, the German garrison was defeated by Anglo-Japanese allied forces during the Siege of Tsingtao. In AD 1917, following the Beiyang Government’s formal declaration of war against Germany, the final remaining German legation guards were disarmed and repatriated, bringing an end to Germany’s military presence in China.

物件編號: M550

年代: 公元 1901 年

材質: 銅

尺寸: 32.7 x 6.2 x 0.7 mm

重量: 1.7 g

來源: CA-Collecting and more 2026

此物件為德國中國遠征紀念獎章上的 天津 銘牌。銘牌的獎章於公元1901年由德國皇帝威廉二世所設立，是為了表揚在義和團起義期間在中國服役的德國軍隊而設計。

中國紀念獎章於公元1901年5月10日由威廉二世皇帝設立，並授予參戰者銅質獎章，非參戰人員則為鋼質。銅質紀念獎章授予在東亞軍事事件中的所有參與者(從公元1900年5月30日至公元1901年6月29日參加對抗義和團運動)，以及在戰區照顧病患和受傷人員的男女。鋼質紀念獎章頒發給參與德國武裝部隊組建和部署準備的所有個人，以及德國航運公司運輸船隊的船員，用於運送東亞地區的軍隊和戰爭物資。 

銅質紀念獎章的發行數量約為 30,000枚。

鋼質紀念獎章的發行數量約為 18,000枚。

中國紀念獎章的設計來自威廉二世皇帝本人，但獎章的製作是由柏林的雕塑家Walter Schott教授完成的。司徒加特的Mayer & Wilhelm公司則提供了壓花服務。 

中國紀念獎章共附有14個銘牌，為八國聯軍期間重要的戰事地點:

TAKU(大沽)、SEYMOURE EXPEDITION(西摩爾遠征)、TIENTSIN(天津)、BEIJING(北京)、Liang-Hsiang-Hsien(良鄉縣)、NAN-HUNG-MEN(南紅門)、KAUMI(高密)、PEITANG-FOTS(北塘要塞)、TSEKINGKWAN(紫荊關)、KALGAN(張家口)、KITCHOU(膠州)、FOUPHING(阜平)、HOPHU(後堡)、HUOLU(獲鹿)

由於德國的「世界政策」(Weltpolitik)，德軍在義和團運動期間的行動，顯得十分激進。與同時期德軍於非洲的政策相似，以軍事威嚇推動殖民擴張，再以暴力鎮壓基層抵抗。公元1897年，德國藉巨野教案武力佔領膠州灣，翌年強租青島後，德軍便將山東視為其專屬勢力範圍。為了貫通「模範殖民地」青島與濟南的鐵路建設，德方強徵土地並破壞農村排澇與風水，引發山東高密等地的激烈抗德運動。對此，膠澳總督耶施克(Paul Jaeschke)多次派出海軍陸戰隊深入內陸掃蕩，焚燬高密書院圖書館並在提東、沙窩等村落屠殺數百名鄉民，這種殖民暴力的升級直接激化了山東與直隸一帶的民教矛盾，成為義和團風暴擴散的原因之一。

天津作為列國租界與北中國經濟樞紐，成為聯軍軍事行動的核心。公元1900年6月上旬，隨著義和團運動在直隸地區迅速蔓延，鐵路與電報線路被切斷，德軍海軍軍官烏澤多姆(von Usedom)率領德國陸戰隊分隊加入英國海軍中將西摩爾(Edward Seymour)統率的聯軍遠征隊，自天津沿鐵路強行進軍北京，但旋即遭到聶士成統轄的武衛前軍與義和團的頑強阻擊而被迫回撤，最終受困於天津附近的西沽武庫，直至被天津方向的援軍解救。與此同時，為了打通通往天津的水上補給通道，聯軍在未獲本國政府明確授權的情況下對大沽砲台發動攻擊。在這場戰鬥中，由蘭斯(Wilhelm Lans)少校指揮的德國砲艦「依爾底斯號」(SMS Iltis)扮演了先鋒角色，在近距離與清軍砲台展開激烈砲戰並多次中彈，蘭斯亦受重傷；該艦在戰鬥中的表現隨後被德國官方高度神話化，成為帝國海軍宣傳中的英雄象徵，而此次砲擊大沽更直接促使清廷向各國宣戰。

大沽砲台陷落後，天津城區旋即淪為巷戰戰場。自6月中旬起，駐守天津租界的德軍陸戰隊與各國部隊遭到聶士成現代化部隊(配備克虜伯大砲與毛瑟步槍)及義和團(包括「紅燈照」等組織)的重重包圍與猛烈砲轟，天津火車站與租界邊界多次爆發慘烈的拉鋸爭奪戰。德軍登陸部隊在猛烈砲火下頑抗，並參與了對西沽武庫受困西摩爾聯軍的解救突圍行動。到了7月中旬，聯軍集結重兵對天津老城發動總攻，德軍步兵與砲兵部隊作為攻城主力之一，參與了強攻南門及突破城牆的血腥戰鬥。7月14日天津城陷落後，德軍與聯軍部隊對城內展開了毀滅性的報復，包括縱火、大規模掠奪商舖與官銀、無差別搜捕並未經審判就地處決被懷疑為拳民或協助者的平民。隨後，聯軍在天津成立了實行軍事戒嚴的臨時殖民政權「天津都統衙門」，德軍軍官深度參與其中，推行拆毀城牆、控制漕運及嚴密監控華人居民的軍事管制措施，使天津徹底成為聯軍後續向北京進軍與囤積軍需的戰略基地。

在天津被攻陷以及北京解圍之後，德軍在華行動進一步擴大為由聯軍統帥瓦德西(Alfred von Waldersee)元帥親自指揮的大規模「懲罰性討伐」(Strafexpeditionen)。德皇威廉二世在得知駐清公使克林德男爵被槍殺後，發表了著名的「匈奴演說」，下達「絕不留情、不收俘虜」的指令，直接形塑了德軍東亞遠征軍(Ostasiatisches Expeditionskorps)抵達後的作戰方針。儘管大局已定、清廷已逃往西安，抵達天津並設立指揮總部的瓦德西仍以天津為兵力集結與後勤樞紐，向直隸腹地的保定、良鄉、張家口以及山東周邊發動了數十次殘酷的掃蕩行動。德軍在這些遠征中系統性地焚燬村莊、破壞寺廟、實施連坐懲罰與公開處決，將軍事暴力延伸至毫無防衛能力的農村社會。

公元1901年，瓦德西元帥與德國遠征軍先後返德，隨著《辛丑條約》的簽訂，德國駐華部隊也陸續縮編。公元1914年，德軍於青島戰役中被日英聯軍擊敗；公元1917年，北洋政府對德宣戰，德軍最後的使館衛隊被遣返，德國在華軍事存在就此終結。