Page 38 - Conflitti Militari e Popolazioni Civili - Tomo II

540 XXXIV Congresso della CommIssIone InternazIonale dI storIa mIlItare • CIHm

derstand the history of twentieth-century South Africa (including the country’s political de-
velopment) without knowledge of or insight into the traumatic history of the Anglo-Boer
War and the consequences it had for the country’s white, black, brown and Asian inhabitants.
Indeed, the war left deep spiritual and psychological scars whose powerful effects continue
to be felt in the third millennium.

the scene is set
The causes of the Anglo-Boer have to be evaluated in the context of the renewed interest
that Europe took in Africa, especially since about 1875, the renewed scramble for colonies,
and Britain’s colonisation of large parts of Africa (see the Cape-to-Cairo ideal preached by
many British imperialists). By the end of the nineteenth century, the question was: Who
would in the foreseeable future be in charge of southern Africa? Two small Boer republics
stood in the way of British supremacy in the region. So, the causes of the conflict of 1899 to
1902 should be seen against the above-mentioned background, and can be summarised as the
culmination of a very long struggle between British imperialism and Afrikaner nationalism.
Milestones along the way included events such as the following: the establishment of the two
independent Boer republics; the failed British federation efforts; the discovery of diamonds
at what became Kimberley, and the consequences of this discovery; the British annexation
of the Transvaal (1877) and the Transvaal War of Liberation (1880-1881) that followed; the
discovery of rich gold deposits on the Witwatersrand (1886); the financial interests of the
mining magnates; the fact that thousands of foreigners (“uitlanders”) flocked to the gold-
mines, their agitation for political rights, and the Jameson Raid (29 December 1895 – 2 Janu-
ary 1896); and the failed Bloemfontein Conference (31 May – 5 June 1900). 1
The Anglo-Boer War was the 226 of 230 wars, campaigns and punitive expeditions in
th
which the British Army took part in the 64 years of Queen Victoria’s reign from 1837 to
1901. One would think that the British Army (and British politicians) would have been
2
experienced enough by 1899 to have prepared in good time and thoroughly for a war against
the Boer republics. in practice, however, this was not the case and although many British
3
subjects held the view that the war would be something of the past by Christmas of 1899, the
war would eventually last longer than two-and-a-half years. The Boers also had false expec-
tations about the coming conflict, mainly because they still thought and planned in terms of

1 As far as the causes of the war are concerned, see, for example, I.R. Smith, The origins of the South African
War, 1899-1902 (London, 1996), passim; I.R. Smith, “The origins of the South African War (1899-1902): a
re-appraisal”, South African Historical Journal 22, November 1990, pp. 24-60; G.D. Scholtz, Die oorsake
van die Tweede Vryheidsoorlog 1899-1902 1-2 (Johannesburg, 1948), passim; M.J. Hugo, Die Kruger-ulti-
matum: vier maande van spanning (M.A., University of Pretoria, 1943), passim; J.C. Boltman, In how far
was the quarrel between Sir Alfred Milner and the Pretoria government on the franchise question the real
cause of the South African War of 1899 to 1902? (M.A., University of Cape Town, 1943); S. Trapido, “Im-
perialism, settler identities and colonial capitalism: the hundred year origins of the 1899 South African War”,
Historia 53(1), May 2008, pp. 46-75.
2 B. Farwell, Queen Victoria’s little wars (London, 1973), pp. 364-371.
3 For an outline of the poor preparations made by the British for the war, see, for example, A. Wessels, Die
Britse militêre strategie tydens die Anglo-Boereoorlog tot en met die Buller-fase (D.Phil., University of the
Free State, 1985), pp. 204-256.