The Sack of the Summer Palace, Second Opium War

Conference by Bernard BRIZAY, historian and journalist.

With its looting and burning in October 1860, the destruction of the Summer Palace in Beijing (the Yuanmingyuan) entered and remains sadly etched in history. And yet, the official history textbook in the second half of the 20th century^rd In the 19th century, Malet-Isaac didn't even mention this Anglo-French colonial expedition. In Paris, despite numerous accounts, only the shameless looting of this historical site was remembered. Victor Hugo's famous letter, which condemns this barbaric act, bears witness to this. In London, on the contrary, this victory was celebrated.