Num 3: The Anglo-Boer War

In this blog entry I will focus on the Anglo-Boer war, which took place in South Africa. The Anglo- Boer war can be divided into two main parts. The ‘first’ war took place from December 1880 to March 1881 and the ‘second’ war took place from 1990 to 1992. Bryce Courtenay’s novel The Power of One, includes numerous references to the Anglo-Boer, although this story is set at a later stage.

The country of South Africa became known, in the 1800s, for its rich diversity in valuable minerals found in its soils. The British realized the great potential wealth they could gain by mining minerals such as diamonds and gold, and they took over the region of Cape Colony in 1877. The “Boers” were the white farmers in South Africa who were descendants of Dutch
and French and they were greatly angered by the British.

On 16^th of December 1880 the ‘Boers’ declared independence from Great Britain and they fired gun shots at Potchefstroom, marking the start of the first Anglo - Boer war. On the 20^th December 1880, the ‘Boers’ ambushed and destroyed a British army convoy near Pretoria and they continued to besiege the British defeating them at numerous places. On 8 February 1881 another British force barely escaped destruction at the “Battle of Schuinshoogte”. In the end the British government signed a peace treaty, on 23 March 1881, returning the Transvaal Republic to the "Boers".

The ‘second’ Anglo – Boer war took place from 1990 to 1992. By September 1900 the ‘Boer’ republics were once again under British control.  However, it was very difficult for the 250,000 British troops to effectively control such a large territory, and this led to the ‘Boers’ beginning to fight for independence. The ‘Boers’ resorted to a new guerrilla style of warfare, as they were able to move around with considerable freedom. The ‘Boer’ forces did as much damage as possible to the British, before enemy reinforcements became too much to handle. They were able to successfully attack the British because the British were disadvantaged by the size of the territory; unfamiliarity with the terrain and their inability to match the mobility and skills of the ‘Boers’. In the end the British responded by burning down the farms and homes of the ‘Boers’. They put ‘Boer’ women and children in concentration camps, subject to appalling conditions. In the end 26,000 ‘Boer’ women and children and 14,000 black and coloured people were to die in appalling conditions. The ‘Boers’ were forced to surrender and on 31 May 1902 the war ended with the signing of the peace treaty of Vereeniging in Pretoria.

The Anglo-Boer War was a very dark period in the history of South Africa. The events that took place at this time, eventually led to problems between the different racial groups of South Africa. The results included racism and segregation between certain groups. The Power of One includes a lot of information on the problems which stemmed from the Anglo- Boer War.