The United States Marines in North China, 1894-1942

Like most foreign troops stationed in China, the United States Marines' mission was to protect the American embassy and American consulates, missionaries, tourists, and other citizens in China. During the half century covered by this book, the Marines saw China as it would never again be. The Opium Wars and Boxer Rebellion gave the Europeans a certain standing, with prerogatives and privileges that were looked upon by everyone, even the Chinese, as a natural order of existence. The author discus