Villagers in North China had been building resentment against the expansion of foreign power extraterritorial spheres of influence and concurrent increased adoption of Christianity by Chinese individuals after the Sino-Japanese War of 1895. After a drought followed by floods in Shandong province forced farmers to flee to cities and seek food, violence and murder began to spread across Shandong and the North China Plain, targeting foreign property, Christian missionaries and Chinese Christians. In June 1900, Boxer fighters, allegedly convinced they were invulnerable to foreign weapons, converged on Beijing to fight with traditional means, with the slogan "Support the Qing government and exterminate the foreigners." Foreigners and Chinese Christians sought refuge in Beijing's Legation Quarter.