The Imperial Decree of declaration of war against foreign powers (Chinese: 宣戰詔書) was a simultaneous declaration of war by the Qing dynasty on June 21, 1900 against eleven foreign powers which held varying degrees of influence in China: Russia, the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Austria-Hungary, Belgium, and the Netherlands.
[1][2] Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao were helping the young Guangxu Emperor to start the Hundred Days' Reform, which was "too fast, too ambitious, and lacked any sense of political reality"[3] and they approached Yuan Shikai's help to stage a military coup to topple the conservative forces of the Manchu Court.
Yuan Shikai instead of taking side with the reformers, revealed the plot which included the executions of top conservative powers.
Empress Dowager fought back by putting the young emperor under house arrest and regained the power at the Court.
The official declaration of war was worded in such a strange manner that it indicated nothing more than the strongest form of a persona non grata note...