本論文旨在探討1900年義和團事件爆發之後，英國政府對於「聯軍」所採取之政策，其中包括英國如何看待「聯軍」以及英國自身的參與情形。全文含導論、結論共分為六部分。第一節導論是一個歷史解釋與史學史的回顧，反省傳統的「八國聯軍」的概念有何問題，並解釋中、西方對此事態度之差異，最後說明本文選擇英國作為探討對象的理由；第二節探討自義和團亂事惡化以降至外國聯軍攻入北京期間，英國政府如何看待救援使館與各國出兵事宜；第三節呈現英國政府對於聯軍統帥任命事宜的態度、以及德國政府試探英國的經過，並兼論各國軍隊尚未集結華北之前英國政府採取的措施；第四節集中論述聯軍佔據北京之後，英軍在後續聯軍軍事行動中所扮演的角色，並藉由拳亂禍首懲處事宜的談判過程突顯英國政策思維；第五節闡述英國政府對於英軍留駐北京的考量，及其對於聯軍撤出北京問題的態度；第六節則就諸章節所述予以簡要的結論與評價。

The military actions taken by the foreign powers in Northern China during the Boxer Uprising (1900-1901) have been interpreted by Chinese historians as an international coalition, which is traditionally called ‘The Eight-Nation Alliance.’ However, the whole incident was too complicated to be oversimplified into the cooperative invasion of the Western imperialism. For the Boxer Uprising was really an unforeseen accident to the Great Powers, many of them wanted to take a conservative stance under such conditions in order to maintain the "status quo". While Britain held the greatest commercial interests in China, she was especially conservative in coping with the incident. Therefore, this essay is intended to illustrate the British policy towards the international allied troops in the incident of Boxer Uprising in China, which provides an explication for international relations and the thinking of the foreign Powers at that time. The topics in this research include the attitude of British Governments towards the dispatch of relief force to Peking, the appointment of the commander-in-chief of the Allied troops, and Britain’s own role during the incident. This paper is divided into six sections as follows: 1. Reflections on the historical interpretation of the ‘The Eight-Nation Alliance’. 2. British Government’s perspectives to the nature of the foreign relief force. 3. Britain’s attitude towards the nomination of the (German) commander-in-chief of ally troops. 4. ‘Checks and balances’: The role of the British forces in Peking. 5. the British Government’ concerns about the international occupation of Peking. 6. Conclusion