Fought from October 11, 1899, until May 31, 1902, the Second Boer War comprised the battles between the British Empire and two different republics, the South African Republic, also known as Transvaal, and the Orange Free State.
Buildup of the War
The onset of war was complex and resulted from nearly 200 years of conflict between the belligerents. Following the Napoleonic Wars, the British seized control of the Cape Colony in 1806. Due to British persecution, the Boer population migrated away from British rule in the eastern coast. Most of the people arrived in Natal, but were annexed in 1843. The Boer continued northwards and established the two republics. In 1852, the British recognized the republics. In 1877, the empire decided to annex the South African Republic, leading to the First Boer War that lasted until 1881. The British were defeated, however, at the Battle of Majuba with heavy losses.
With the discovery of massive gold deposits in 1886, a number of British returned to the region in search of fortune and employment. This made the South African Republic the richest nation in southern Africa. The British immigrants began fighting with the Boer citizens over political and economic rights. Dr. Leander Starr Jameson, the administrator of Rhodesia, led a raid in Johannesburg designed to spark an overall revolution in the region. The South African armies surrounded the column in 1895 and the plot failed.
Tensions continued to rise regarding the rights of the British immigrants and the empire used this as an excuse to attempt to take control of the gold mining industry. As negotiations between the British and the Boers broke down, an ultimatum was issued to the Boers by the British Colonial Secretary Joseph Chamberlain in September 1899. This called for full equality for the British immigrants as well as traditional residents of the Boer population. The President of the South African Republic, Paul Kruger, threatened war if the British did not remove its troops from the border within 48 hours. The British declines and war began between the empire and the South African Republic and their allies, the Orange Free State.
Conflict Ensues
The Boers launched a pre-emptive strike on British territory in Natal and the Cape Colony, laying siege to a number of British garrisons. In an effort to launch a counterstrike, the British suffered heavy casualties and failed to recapture lost territory. By 1900, fresh British troops arrived under the command of Lord Roberts and took back its territory in Natal and the Cape Colony. The army then launched an offensive in the South African Republic and captured the capital, Pretoria, in June 1900.
The Boers began to launch a guerrilla war against th British forces that lasted two more years. The insurgents raided British troop columns, railways, storage depots and telegraph sites. Lord Kitchener, now in charge of the British army, adopted a scored earth policy that destroyed a number of Boer farms and rounded up civilians into concentration camps. As the conflict protracted, tens of thousands of civilians died of disease and starvation. Finally, the Treaty of Vereeniging was signed in 1902, ending all hostilities. Both the South African Republic and the Orange Free State was merged into the British Empire in return for reparations to the Boers and limited autonomy of the region, now known as the Union of South Africa.
Sources:
Keith M. Wilson, The International Impact of the Boer War (Palgrave, 2001)
Byron Farwell, The Great Boer War (Wordsworth, 1999)
Read more: Buildup to the First Boer War: Establishing the British Colony in South Africa - #ixzz0Cabl2693
Jason Chavis - Jason lives and works out of Minneapolis. He is the author of four books, two movies and a play as well as numerous articles for a variety ...
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