Hard-liners, such as Sir Alfred Milner, High Commissioner for South Africa, wanted the Boers crushed - 'to knock the bottom out of the "great Afrikaner nation" for ever and ever.
Peace talks were held at Middleburg but the denial of an extension of the amnesty to the 'rebels' was unacceptable to the Boer side. Over a year later, almost the same terms were accepted by the Boers under the Peace of Vereeniging of May , with certain significant differences. The question of votes for 'natives' would not be raised until the colonies became self-governing as eventually happened in and, as the historian Thomas Pakenham observes, 'once self-governing, no Boer state would give the vote to Africans'.
Despite fighting for the British, the black population of South Africa derived little benefit from the war. Indeed, as Pakenham concludes, that 'it was the Africans who had to pay the heaviest price in the war and its aftermath'. Please note that these websites give a variety of perspectives on the South African War. The National Archives does not necessarily guarantee their accuracy or objectivity. These comprised two companies each of the 92nd Highlanders and 58th Regiment, and the Naval Brigade.
The Boers stormed Majuba Hill, using dead ground to reach the top, and achieved a brilliant victory. Instead, early on 27 February, the Boers stormed the mountain using dead ground to reach the top, and achieved a brilliant victory. Seven officers and 50 men were taken prisoner. Colley was among the dead. The Boers lost one man killed and six wounded, one mortally. The Pretoria Convention of 3 August did not reinstate fully the independence of the Transvaal, but kept the state under British suzerainty.
This vague concept meant that Britain retained supervisory control of the foreign affairs of the Transvaal and of its internal legislation with regard to the black societies. However, the London Convention of 27 February conferred full internal independence on the Transvaal. The discovery of gold on the Witwatersrand in made the Transvaal, until then a struggling Boer republic, potentially a political and economic threat to British supremacy in South Africa at a time when Britain was engaged in the scramble for African colonies with France and Germany.
The British believed that the Transvaal was pressing for a united South Africa under the Afrikaaners. When the scheme of Cecil Rhodes, Prime Minister of the Cape Colony, to overthrow the Transvaal government of President Kruger by means of the so-called Jameson Raid, failed in , Afrikaner nationalism again, like in , flared up all over South Africa.
The Orange Free State concluded an alliance with the Transvaal. Although Kruger was only interested in preserving the independence of the Transvaal, the British colonial secretary, Sir Joseph Chamberlain, and the British high commissioner in South Africa, Sir Alfred Milner, believed that the Transvaal was pressing for a united South Africa under the Afrikaaners.
Milner, a self-acknowledged race patriot, resolved that if the Transvaal would not reform, war would be the only way to eliminate a Boer oligarchy threatening British supremacy and to facilitate the development of the gold mining industry. In order to become involved in the domestic issues of the Transvaal, he agitated that the foreign mineworkers Uitlanders should get the vote. In the diplomatic tussle that followed, Kruger refused to budge, despite a meeting with Milner in Bloemfontein in May - June A complete political deadlock was reached.
The ultimatum had demanded that all disputes between the two states be settled by arbitration; that British troops on the borders be withdrawn; and that troops bound for South Africa by ship should not disembark. The Orange Free State joined the Transvaal in accordance with the alliance of Alarmed by the Jameson Raid, the governments of the Transvaal and the Free State started arming themselves. Alarmed by the Jameson Raid, the governments of the Transvaal and the Free State had started arming themselves.
The burghers consequently went into the second Boer War with the British-made single shot. It compared favourably with the bolt-action. They had a greater magazine capacity than the Mauser — ten rounds — but had to be loaded one round at a time, while the Mauser could be loaded quickly from clips. From their camouflaged positions, the Boers scored impressive victories at Stormberg, Magersfontein and Colenso in mid-December called 'Black Week' in Britain , and Spioenkop in January The relief of Mafeking caused tumultuous joy in Britain, making Colonel Robert Baden-Powell, commander of the garrison, an instant hero.
But by late February there was a definite change in their fortunes. All Boer fronts collapsed. The next six months was a period of great confusion for the Boers. Everywhere they were compelled to retreat. The relief of Mafeking on 17 May caused tumultuous joy in Britain, making the commander of the relieved garrison, Colonel Robert Baden-Powell, an instant hero throughout the British empire. Lured by British promises of peace and protection, many burghers surrendered.
They were called hendsoppers having 'hands-upped' by the men remaining in the field. By the end of the war they totalled 20, men — a third of the original Boer numbers. In the last six months of the war, 5, of them joined the British Army as collaborators 'joiners' , with General Piet de Wet becoming one of the leaders of the Orange River Colony Volunteers.
Meanwhile, there was a revival in the Boer military effort. In this way the resistance of about 20, Boer bitter-enders was to continue for almost two more years, in what is known as the guerrilla phase of the war. Lord Herbert Kitchener, who succeeded Roberts in November , adopted a three-fold strategy to end the war. Some towns and thousands of farmsteads were burnt or ravaged. This onslaught on Boer survival was backed up by the destruction of food supplies.
Herds of livestock were wiped out and crops were burnt. The bad administration of the camps led to poor quality of food, unhygienic conditions and inadequate medical arrangements.
Civilians suffered terribly. Black people, too, were gathered in concentration camps, partly to deprive the commandos of yet another means of getting to food producers, and to obtain black labour for the gold mines that had been re-opened by mid The British were not the first in the modern age to use the concentration camp system.
The Spanish General Valeriano 'Butcher Weyler had enforced a similar system on a far larger scale to crush a rebellion in Cuba in , leaving more than , dead. The United States authorities had also established concentration camps to suppress the insurrection in the Philippines early in In South Africa, the bad administration of the camps led to poor quality of food, unhygienic conditions and inadequate medical arrangements.
Consequently civilians suffered terribly. The Boer republics were a stumbling block for the British Empire. Gold had been mined since the early s but was discovered on the Witwatersrand, in the Transvaal, in Thousands of white and black South Africans were employed on the mines by South Africa became the single biggest gold producer in the world and this meant great growth for the independent Boer governments.
The Transvaal now also became more prominent in international finance because the importance of gold as an international monetary system. Britain was the centre of industry and trade in the world at the time and needed a steady supply of gold to maintain this position.
Neighbouring independent states like the Orange Free State and British colonies like Natal could also gain from the riches and investment brought to the country. Even though the Transvaal gold mines were the richest in the world they were also the most difficult to mine because the reefs lay so deep under the ground.
The gold had to be mined by shafts as opposed to open mines, like diamonds. Mining as an individual was not as efficient as using groups of miners with special skills. Large companies were created with local and international investment and individual miners were soon squeezed out. Prospectors streamed to South Africa from all over the world, and especially from Europe.
The Transvalers saw these foreigners, or Uitlanders, as a threat to their independence. In order to maintain its control of gold mining and the growth of the as they called them immigrant population, the Transvaal government restricted the voting rights of Uitlanders.
Only foreigners who had been in the country for 14 years or more could vote. Paul Kruger. Source: wikipedia. There were various political leaders with opposing views in power in different parts of South Africa during the s.
Rhodes was from Britain and had made his fortune in South Africa by mining diamonds. He was also a supporter of the British imperial plan to unite South Africa under British rule. Kruger was a supporter of Boer independence and the two leaders were in direct conflict with each other.
Rhodes believed that if the SAR was left to grow financially it would eventually grow in size and topple Britain from its position of power in South Africa. He specifically did not want the SAR to gain access to a route to the sea, as this would seriously affect the economies of the British colonies. By Britain was getting more confident about taking action in South Africa. Joseph Chamberlain was appointed Colonial Secretary.
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