[4] After the Boxers seized much of Tianjin in June 1900, the city was recaptured by the Eight-Nation Alliance in July 1900.

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 Eight-Nation Alliance however maintained a military presence in the area to ensure open access to Beijing.

[2][5] The obverse shows the flags of the seven alliance members who formed the government along with its French name, and the reverse inscription is its Chinese name.