1.   In spite of the occasional alliances between the Boers and the British, the two were never good friends and this enemity resulted into three wars, i.e. first Anglo Boer war of-1881, the Jameson raid of 1895 and the Second Anglo Boer war/South African war.

 

2.   The first Anglo Boer war occurred between 1880-1881 between the British and Boers of Transvaal.

 

Causes Of The First Anglo Boer War:-

1.        The major cause was the 1877 British annexation of Transvaal which annoyed the Boers since they lost their independence.

2.        The 1877 Pedi attack on Transvaal weakened the Boers bringing in the much hated British administration.

3.        Transvaal was over indebted to the cape bankers so the British took this as an advantage.               

4.        The British were worried that the hopeless situation in Transvaal was likely to be exploited by the Zulu who therefore had to be stopped.

5.        Lord Carnarvan; a British leader wanted to bring Transvaal by force into a federation (union) led by the British.

6.        The British while in Transvaal refused to put up any council or assembly where the Boers could participate in Transvaal politics annoying the Boers.

7.        The Anglo Zulu war of 1879; forced the Boers to challenge the British since they thought the British weakened by the Zulu defeat.

8.        Gladstone's dishonesty when he refused to give the Boers independence yet he had promised them freedom during campaigns, annoyed the Boers.

9.        The long held hatred and suspicion between the Boers and the British since the days of the great trek.

10.      The British were always followi% the Boers leaving the Boers with no alternative but to fight.

11.      Transvaal had started being prosperous with small-scale mining taking place, which invited British interest.

12.      Rise Of British imperialism championed by carnavan and others.

13.      The role-played by Jourbate, Paul Kruger on the Boer side and by Carnavan. on the British side.

14.      Rise of Boer nationalism especially in the republic the Transvaal where the hard core or strong-hearted Boers lived.

15.      The immediate cause was a taxation incident in which a Boer farmer had his property confiscated for not paying tax.

16.      A band of 300 Boers started off the war when they attacked the British and got back the confiscated property.

17.      On 8th/12/1880; the Transvaal republic was re-established with Krugar as president and Jourbat as commander in chief.

18.      The issue of the mistreatment of the Utilanders.

19.      After the failure of two peaceful journeys to London by Paul Kruger to demand for independence, war became inevitable.

 

Results: -

1.     Loss of life as over 200 soldiers died especially on the British side.       

2.     The Boers defeated the British fact Majuba hill.

3.     Destruction of property especially farms.

4.     Disruption of trade and agriculture.

5.     It led to more Anglo-Boer wars e.g. the Jameson's raid and the second Anglo Boer war.

6.     It increased the hostility between the British and the Boers.

7.     It led to increase of Boer nationalism.                      

8.     It encouraged Boer unity since Orange Free State vowed to help Transvaal in future.

9.     Signing of Pretoria convention or treaty which had the following:-

10.  The Boers were given self-rule and responsibility over their internal affairs.

11.  The British were to continue being masters of Transvaal and take responsibility for the Boer foreign affairs.

12.  The British were to have limited responsibility for African Affairs.

13.  The Boers were to stop discriminating against British goods in Transvaal.

14.  The civil rights of the uitilanders were to be protected.

 

THE JAMESON'S RAID OF 1895

1.   The Jameson's raid was mainly a result of misunderstandings between the Transvaal Boers led by Paul Kruger against the British subjects, the uitilanders under the inSuence of Cecil Rhodes.

2.   The uitilanders were mainly English subjects who had gone into Transvaal to - prospect for minerals.

3.   The leaders of the raid were Lieutenant Rhodes and Dr. Jameson.

 

 

Anglo - Boer Relationship

 

13. The long held suspicions and hatred between the Boers and the British since the great trek.

14. The British since 1835 kept on following the Boers.

15. The poor military record of the British in the past i.e. the defeat by Zulu in 1879 and the British humiliation in the first Anglo - Boer war.

16. The rise of British imperialism and their desire to colonize the whole of South Africa.

17. Rise of Boer nationalism championed by Ultra very strong nationalists e.g. Paul Kruger.

18. Paul Kruger over taxed the uitilanders' goods and machines creating tension.

19. Rhode Cecil's smuggling of firearms into TransVaal to check the growing strength of the Boers created panic.

20. The role played by chamberlain the British colonial secretary; Robinson Hercules the British commissioner in South Africa and Flora Show the editor of the times.

 

Effects:-

1.     Cecil resigned as prime - minister of the cape.

2.     The mistreatment of the utilanders increased.

3.     The British were defeated and humiliated.

4.     Robinson was recalled as governor of the cape and replaced by Milner Alfred.

5.     It prepared the whites for the second Boer Anglo Boer war.

6.     Boer nationalism increased and they vowed to fight together in future against the British.

7.     Boer hatred against the British increased.

8.     Dr. Jameson was captured alive leading to his imprisonment.

9.     The British international relations were affected as she was isolated and condemned.  

10.  The German King sent a congratulatory telegram promising military help against the British in future.

11.   British - Boer alliance at the cape collapsed.

12.  Victorious Paul Kruger became more popular and was re-elected as president of Transvaal.         .    

13.  The British achieved nothing since the raid, ended as a Fiasco (great failure).

 

Why the British lost the war

1.     The uitilanders refused to co-operate with the British.

2.     Uitilanders were more business minded disregarding politics.

3.     Kruger was warned before.

4.     Cecil project was not supported by the British government.

5.     Jameson and Rhodes went in to Transvaal with only 500 men.

6.     The British under estimated the Boer strength.

7.     Paul Kruger's ambush gave Jameson no chance.    

8.     'Lt. Rhodes failed to convince the Uitilanders to rebel.

9.     The Boers had built a very strong force.

10.  Not all Uitilanders were British supporters.

11.  The Boers were very much determined.   

 

NB:   It should be noted that Anglo Boer relations in the second half of the 19^th century were mainly dominated by minerals and Uitilanders. The minerals have already been tackled. We should however, look at the uitilanders before proceeding to the second Anglo Boer War.

 

Who Then Were the Uitilanders

1.     These were people mainly Europeans who came to South Africa during the mineral revolution.

2.     Their main target of settlement turned out to be Transvaal, a Boer Republic.

3.     Once in Transvaal they were not allowed to take up citizenship.

4.     The word uitilanders is a Boer word meaning foreigners.

5.     The uitilander number was not great in 1880 but by the gold discovery of 1885 they had tremendously increased.

6.     They came to prospect for minerals but some of them were iXioney lenders.

7.     Some were very rich peoples who wanted to heavily invest in minerals to accumulate wealth.

8.     While in Transvaal most preferred to live in the Rand mining area.

9.     The uitilanders comprised of the Australians, Newzilanders but most of them were British citizens.

10.  The uitilanders were politically sympathetic to the British and were close to Cecil Rhodes.

11.  They later posed a security threat to the Transvaal Boers of Paul Kruger.

12.  Paul Kruger denied them civil and political rights.

13.  They were partly responsible for the outbreak of the Anglo Boer wars.

14.  They were a disorganized lot with no clear leader that's why Cecil Rhodes exploited them.

 

A Brief History About Paul Kruger And Cecil Rhodes Paul Kruger (1825-1904)

1.     He was born in 1825 at the Cape i.e. before the Great Trek.

2.     He had an event full and adventurous early childhood.

3.     His early life was in short full of hunting and fighting.

4.     As a kid he participated in the great trek and witnessed the story of Piete Retiefs painful death.

5.     All 12 years he participated in Portigieters battle against the Ndebele at Vegkop further shaping his attitude.

6.     As a grown up he had a forceful personality and good oratory skills which made him so popular among the Boers.

7.     As- a Voortreker he was strongly opposed to the British and their imperialism

8.     He was a strong advocate in Boer superiority and purity.

9.     He actively participated in the great trek wars and rose to commandant general by 1880.

10.  In 1883 he was elected into presidential chair, a post he won again in 1888, 1893 and 1898.

11.  As a leader he concentrated on keeping the territorial integrity of Transvaal.

12.  His career was to see a strong Transvaal with their entire conservative and hostile attitudes towards Africans.

13.  In 1877 Kruger started directly conflicting with the British after the Transvaal annexation.

14.  It was him who led to attack on the British in 1880 and later he was declared Volksroad president.

15.  He was later to lead the Boers to a victory at Majuba in 1881.

16.  He became the leading proponent of the humiliation and persecution of uitilanders whom he denied civil and political rights.

17.  "Go back and tell your people that I shall never give them anything. I shall never change my   policy. Now let the dam burst." Was how Kruger told the uitilanders when they requested for their rights.

18.  By 1893 his hard-lined attitudes had alienated him from many Boers and he narrowly won that election.

19.  In 1895 however Dr. Jameson led a raid that saw Kruger re-gaining his popularity after humiliating the British.

20.  Kruger hated very much Cecil Rhodes and was happy when he resigned after the Jameson Raid.

21.  In 1899 Kruger lost the second Anglo-Boer war to the British and fled into exile in Europe.

22.  On 14th August, 1904 Krueer died in exile.

 

Cecil Rhodes

Two countries in Africa were to be named after this man i.e. Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) and Northern Rhodesia (Zambia).

He was the leading British imperialists in Africa especially southern and central Africa.

He was the richest person in the mining industry of central and southern African.

He was an Englishman and was born to a clergyman.

At 17 years he joined his brother on a farm in South Africa to recover from illness.

When minerals were discovered Rhodes with his brother's help managed to buy some mines.

By 1881 he had formed the De-Beers consolidated company which stands up to now.

At 34 years he bought his rival Barney Barnato becoming a monopolist of Diamonds in South Africa.

Even when Gold was discovered he became one of the leading players at the Rands.

His company De-Beers became the basis of his political ambitions.

He believed that the British were most suited to rule a federated South Africa indeed he was one  of the supporters of the federation..

He dreamt of building a Cape-Cairo railway as an instrument to further his imperial schemes.

He also dreamt of painting the whole of Africa with the British colours. He thus hated Portuguese and Germans 'expansion into central and southern Africa.

The British South African Company was formed to specifically handle imperialism.

By 1890 the British South African Company had received a royal charter.

In 1890 Rhodes sent 200 settlers and 500 policemen into Shona territory clashing with the Ndebele who thought that the Shona were under them.

In 1893 Rhodes defeated the Ndebele and their King Lobengula fled northwards.

Rhodes then turned his attention to the Boers especially those of Transvaal.

His forceful Federation schemes saw him order a raid on Transvaal in 1895.

The 1895 raid destroyed Rhodes relationship with the Boer leaders at the cape especially Hofmyer a man who had helped Rhodes into the Premiers chair in 1890.

Rhodes resigned as Cape Premier after the abortive 1895 raid.

Rhodes bitterly clashed with Kruger and their relationship will be seen in the next heading. Rhodes became a very important supporter for the rights of the Uitilanders.

 

Relationship between Kruger and Cecil Rhodes (Uitilanders1

1.     Since Rhodes was the champion of the uitilanders' rights, this brought him into conflict with Kruger.

2.     Kruger the Transvaal president strongly hated the uitilanders.

3.     Kruger made the uitilanders life very difficult by denying them civil and voting rights in Transvaal.

4.     Kruger over taxed the uitilanders and forced then not to publicly use English and that their children had to attend classes from Boer schools.

5.     The disgruntled Uitilanders appealed to the British who attacked the Boers and lost in the Anglo Boer war of 1880-81.

6.     The Pretoria convention restored some order but the Uitilanders and their new ally Rhodes continued scheming for the annexation of Transvaal.

7.     The Uitilanders in 1890 appealed to Rhodes for help and Rhodes started training a secrete army in Bechuanaland.

8.     Dr. James was appointed as commander of this secret army and was told to annex Transvaal on to British cape colony.

9.     When Kruger who was worried about the increasing number of Uitilanders continued with his arrogance, Rhodes ordered Jameson to act.

10.   The Jameson raid of 1895 was thus organized but was terribly defeated by the Boers.

11.   Kruger actually thereafter intensified his persecution of the Uitilanders i.e. continued overtaxing hem and denying the fat contracts,

12.   After 1896 however, Rhodes was no longer cape Premier and therefore he should not be referred to afterwards.

13.   Kruger further extended the voting period to seven years and restricted uitilanders freedom of  association.

14.   All this prepared South Africa for the second Anglo Boer war.

15.   The British who were alarmed at Krugers extremism started mobilizing for war.

16.   In 1899 a Uitilanders was murdered and Kruger did nothing to punish the murderer.

17.   The British sent troops to Transvaal Boarders and ordered Kruger to hang the murderer.

18.   Kruger instead ordered the British to withdraw in 48 hours or face war.

19.   The British refused to withdraw and the second Anglo Boer war of 1899-1902 started.

20.   Kruger was defeated by the British and fled into exile where he died in 1904.

21.   The 31st May 1902 Vereeniging Treaty restored peace between the Uitilanders and the Boers.

 

THE SOUTH AFRICAN WAR ( THE SECOND ANGLO BOER WAR).

The second Anglo- Boer war was the last clash between the Boers & the British. It's sometimes called the Gentleman's/white mans' war. It was fought to determine the master of South Africa and solve the long misunderstandings between the Boers & the British.

 

CAUSES OF WAR:-

1.     Presence of war mongers i.e. Kruger on the Boer side Chamberlain and Alfred Milner on the British side.

2.     The poor past military record of the British encouraged the Boers e.g. they had defeated them in the first Anglo Boer war Jameson's raid.

3.     The Zulu had also humiliated the British at Isandthlwana in 1879.

4.     The long held suspicion between the Boers and the British since the days of the Great Trek.

5.     The Boers were determined to defend their hard won economical & political independence.

6.     The rise of Boer nationalism championed by ultra nationalists like Paul Kruger.

7.     The British feared that the Germans would ally with the Boers to push them out of South Africa.

8.     Rise of British imperialism and desire to federate South Africa.

9.     The scramble for the mineral wealth of South Africa.

10.  The British attempts to follow up and surrounding the Boers in Natal, Transvaal and Orange Free States.

11.  The increased number of the utilanders and Kruger's refusal to honour their political and economic rights.

12.  The re-election of the nationalistic, hard line and determined Kruger caused excitements.

13.  The economic war between the Boers and the British e.g The British over taxed Transvaal goods.

1.     In 1887, Kruger constructed a railway line into Portuguese Mozambique cutting off trade with the British.

2.     Kruger's action of closing all the roads to the cape annoyed the British.

14.  Kruger's extension of the voting period, banning of English and closing British schools annoyed  the British.

15.  The British wanted to wash away the previous humiliations by the Boers on them in their last  wars.

16.  The German congratulatory message to Kruger, made the Boers expect help from the Germans.

17.  The alliance of Transvaal and Orange Free States plus promised aid from Nataal and cape encouraged the Boers.

18.  Milner's stationing of troops around Transvaal after the murder of a utilander by a Boer man.

19.  Kruger's ultimatum (intimidating order) of 48hrs annoyed the British.

20.  Kruger's preferential treatment of Germans annoyed the British

21.  Failure by Kruger to punish a Boer farmer who had killed a uitilander.

 

RESULTS:

ON THE AFRICANS

1.     Loss of life, over 20,000 Africans died and more 20,000 Boers died in the camps.

2.     Depopulation because in total over 200,000 people died.

3.     Destruction of property especially the farms.

4.     Disruption of agriculture and trade.

5.     Starvation, famine and diseases.

6.     African chiefs lost land and Africans were disarmed by Baden Paul.

7.     Africans mineral workers suffered greatly because they were punished for deserting work during war.

8.     Africans totally lost hope of getting back their independence.

9.     Suffered in the concentration camps e.g. over 100,000 were there by the end of the war.

10.  A road to apartheid was cleared and Africans were to suffer the more.

11.  African Nationalism was boosted especially with the formation of ANC.

 

ON THE WHITES: -

1.     Boers were totally defeated.

2.     Boers became victorious on paper.

3.     Boers lost independence as they were placed under British rule.

4.     It led to the South Africa union.

5.     The Boers were to be compensated with 30 million pounds.

6.     The British were to release all Boers from concentration camps.

7.     The English and Boer languages were to get equal status in South Africa.

8.     The Boers were to deny Africans the right of voting in their republics.

9.     The whites were to control the politics of South Africa.

10.  Boers were to stop discriminating British goods.                     

11.  Kruger was sent to exile where he died in 1904.

12.  The old Boer rulers lost power & new men like Herzog, Botha and Smuts came up. -                                                   

13.  The British stopped supporting the rights of the Africans.  

14.  It increased Boer unity, solidarity & nationalism.

15.  The war was very costly to both the Boers & the British.