The uprising was a reaction to Western and Japanese imperialist expansion in China that included European opium merchants, political invasion, economic manipulation, and missionary evangelization.

In 1898, local organizations in Shantung (now Shandong) rebelled in response to both imperialist expansion and internal Chinese problems such as the Qing dynasty's fiscal crisis and natural disasters.

Naval vessels of the eight countries arrived at Tientsin (now Tianjin) on the northeastern coast of China by the end of May 1900, and on 1 June 1900 the first contingent of 436 armed sailors (75 British, 75 French, 75 Russian, 60 American, 50 German, 41 Italian, 30 Japanese, and 30 Austro-Hungarian) disembarked from the ships and went by train to Peking to protect Westerners and Japanese who had taken refuge from the Boxers in the Peking Legation Quarter.

A second force of the eight nations arrived in China, and the Seymour Expedition, consisting of 914 British, 540 German, 312 Russian, 158 French, 112 American, 54 Japanese, 41 Italian – including Italian marines disembarked from the protected cruiser Calabria under the command of ‘’Tenente di vascello" ("Ship-of-the-line lieutenant") Sirianni – and 25 Austro-Hungarian personnel set out from Tientsin on 10 June 1900 to march on Peking while Allied landing forces (including an Italian one under the command of Tenente di vascello Giambattista Tanca) attacked the Taku Forts on the Chinese coast.

Between 16 and 19 July 1900, the Expeditionary Corps completed its embarkation operations aboard the Italian Navigation Company steamers Minghetti, Giava, and Singapore at Naples.

On the morning of 19 July 1900, King Umberto I and Minister of War Coriolano Ponza di San Martino reviewed the force.

While the Expeditionary Corps was at sea, the Eight-Nation Alliance mounted the Gaselee Expedition, a second attempt to reach Peking composed of 10,000 Japanese, 4,000 Russian, 3,000 British, 2,000 American, 800 French, 200 German, 100 Austro-Hungarian, and 100 Italian personnel.

The international contingent appointed Imperial German Army Generalfeldmarschall ("Field Marshal") Alfred von Waldersee as its overall commander on 26 September 1900 despite strong resistance to his selection from France and the United Kingdom and lesser opposition from Italy.

On 2 September 1900, 470 men of the Italian Expeditionary Corps in China organized in three companies, two of Bersaglieri and one of marines, captured the Chan-hai-tuan forts.

Some Carabinieri, together with specialist troops, subsequently remained in the Italian concession of Tientsin even after the Expeditionary Corps returned to Italy.

The Expeditionary Corps wore a canvas uniform, colonial cork helmet, standard boots, and various types of furs and winter clothing suitable for the harsh climate of North China, where temperatures can drop to as low as −20 °C (−4 °F).

Finally, from the reports it appears that after the expedition of Calgan [a Chinese city in the Hopeh [now Hebei] region where the Great Wall meets, the theater of joint Allied operations, in which the Italian Bersaglieri also participated.