The Tianjin Provisional Government (also spelled Tientsin Provisional Government, Provisional Government of Tianjin, Provisional Government of Tientsin) (french: Gouvernement provisoire du district de Tientsin, Chinese ''T’ienchin Tutung Yamen'') was a government formed by the

Eight-Nation Alliance The Eight-Nation Alliance was a multinational military coalition that invaded northern China in 1900 with the stated aim of relieving the foreign legations in Beijing, then besieged by the popular Boxer militia, who were determined to remove fo ...

during the

Boxer Rebellion The Boxer Rebellion, also known as the Boxer Uprising, the Boxer Insurrection, or the Yihetuan Movement, was an anti-foreign, anti-colonial, and anti-Christian uprising in China between 1899 and 1901, towards the end of the Qing dynasty, by ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

, which controlled the major city Tianjin 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 f ...

. 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 imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speaki ...

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, and the reverse inscription in Chinese means "Tianjin– Government of Several Nations." Tianjin Provisional Government Medal.png, Tianjin Provisional Government Medal 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 in 1932

References

{{reflist Boxer Rebellion