Western Traditions Historical Context Presentation Boer Wars By: Austin Hennings

1. THE BOER WARS
By: Austin Hennings

2. Background
• First Boer War 1880 – 1881
• Transvaal Rebellion
• Second Boer War 1899 – 1902
• Also known as The South African War

3. What’s in a Name?
• British
• Boer Wars
• Boers
• Wars of Independence
• Afrikaners
• Anglo – Boer Wars

4. Boer Defined
• Boer
• Dutch and Afrikkan word for farmer
• 1835 – 1845
• 15,000 Voortrekkers moved out of Cape Colony across the Orange
river into the interior of South Africa
• Formed 2 Republics
• Transvaal
• Orange Free State
• Lifestyle
• Pre-Capitalist society
• Stock Farmed
• Pre-Gold Rush

5. Causes
• “Scramble for Africa”
• 1870’s
• European powers attempt to
colonize
• British Involvement
• Late 19th century
• Stronghold
• Unbroken Line
• Britain wanted unbroken territory
from North to South Africa

6. First Boer War (1880 -1881)
• Boer People
• Opposed British Rule
• Government of Transvaal was in trouble
• Passive diplomacy
• 1880 British upheld annexation – turned to armed resistance
• Boer Army
• Commando, Guerilla like warfare build on speed and precision
• Citizen Army
• No Uniforms worn
• Unpaid Service

7. Continued…
• Results
• Boers
• 1 death
• 6 wounded
• British
• 87 men and 5 officers dead
• 123 men wounded
• 50 prisoners of war
• What happened
• Pretoria Convention
• August 3, 1881 kept Transvaal under British suzerainty
• Left Farmers Alone
• London Convention
• February 27, 1884 granted full independence to Transvaal

8. Between Wars
• Gold Discovered
• 1886 on the Witwatersrand
• Made Transvaal potentially threat to British
• British settlers began to arrive and work in
the mines
• Cecil Rhodes
• Prime Minister of the Cape Colony
• Attempted to overthrow Transvaal
Government in 1896 (Failed)
• Thus Afrikaner Nationalism grew
• Alliance Formed
• Between Orange Free State and Transvaal
• Multiple Takes on Alliance

9. Causes Part II
• Boer Reasons
• Protect their way of life (rich history)
• Resisted British Laws including anti-slavery
• Didn’t grant rights to British coming into country
• British Reasons
• Continued attempts to conquer Boers
• Encouraged settlers to move to Boer Republics
• British didn’t want Boer’s to grow into an Enemy
• Steps toward war
• British demanded rights, Boer President Paul Kruger
presented Ultimatum but both sides disagreed
• October 11, 1899 war broke out
• Orange Free State joined Transvaal in compliance with their
alliance

10. Second Boer War (1899 -1902)
• Boers
• Started off strong (advanced weaponry from Germans)
• After Numbers became to much began Guerilla style warfare
• British
• Overtook Orange Free State in a matter of months (1900)
• Other wins followed
• Scorched Earth tactic
• Had troops from Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and India
• Prepared their forces for World War One
• Casualties
• British
• 22,000 men lost (13,000 from disease)
• Boers
• 7,000 men in field
• 27,000 (women and children in Concentration Camps)
• 20,000 Native Blacks also died in the Concentration Camps

11. Concentration Camps
• Poorly Organized (Lack of food and
supplies)
• Spread of Disease (Typhus and
Cholera)
• Led to National Press (Great Britain
being condemned by other
countries)
• Many Blacks died but went
unreported because of racial
tensions

12. Aftermath
• Treaty of Vereeniging
• Orange Free State and Transvaal given to Empire with a chance to one day self govern
• Britain pays reparations for damage done (est. $3 million)
• Very little celebration in Britain as war had become unpopular with the masses
• World Views
• Methods to gain victory deemed barbaric
• Caused political unrest for the Conservative Government
• Social reform in choosing military as many men were unfit for service
• Afrikanner nationalism used these actions to promote Nationalism
• South African War ( a.k.a. the Anglo-Boer War) remains the most terrible and
destructive modern armed conflict in South Africa’s history. It was an event
that in many ways shaped the history of 20th Century South Africa. The end
of the war marked the end of the long process of British conquest of South
African societies, both Black and White'. - Gilliomee and Mbenga (2007).

13. Eventual Impact
• The Union of South Africa was formed in 1910 as a British dominion (like
Canada)
• The Boers formed the most powerful voting block within the country
• In 1948, they formed the Apartheid, a system of government which
introduced racist policies against minorities
• This caused South Africa to get kicked out of the British Empire and
become a republic
• The Apartheid fell apart in the 1990’s and South Africa is now ruled by a
black majority
• 1994 Nelson Mandela Elected President

14. Bibliography
• Websites
• http://www.sahistory.org.za/south-africa-1806-1899/first-anglo-boer-war-1880-1881
• http://www.sahistory.org.za/south-africa-1652-1806/south-african-war-1899-1902-second-anglo-boer-
war
• http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/victorians/boer_wars_01.shtml
• http://www1.somerset.gov.uk/archives/sli/boer.htm
• Book
• The Great Boer War By: Arthur Conan Doyle
• The Origins of the South African War By: Iain R. Smith
• New History of South Africa By: Hermann Gillomee, Bernard mbenga
• Quotation as well other facts
• Essays
• The Boer War – A struggle for Mastery in South Africa By: Frank McDonough (History Today)
• The Boer War and the Media By: Kenneth O. Morgan (Queens College, Oxford)
• Video
• South Africa: The Boer War Parts 1,2,3,4,& 5
• Link to part 1. 2-5 listed on the side viewer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJMNtI0Pm-U