The Boer War, South Africa 1899-1902: Summary Of A Bloody Conflict

The Boer War, was fought in South Africa from 1899-1902 between the British Empire and the Boer Republics of Orange Free State and Transvaal .
Also known as the second Boer War, the Anglo-Boer War and the South Africa War.

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Despite their numerical disadvantage the Boers delivered a series of devastating defeats on the British, especially at Spion Kop and during Black Week when they defeated the British 3 times in 5 days at the battles of Magersfontein, Stormberg and Colenso.

Eventually the British were to send an army of 450,000 to defeat the Boers and the President of the Boer Transvaal, Paul Kruger, fled into exile.

The Boers, however, conducted a guerrilla war for nearly two years.

The British under General Herbert Kitchener, adopted a scorched earth policy against the Boers, burning farms and crops and killing livestock, in an effort to deprive them of supplies.

Most controversially, they placed Boer civilians in camps - which were named Concentration Camps.
Limited food rations, insanitary conditions, sparse medical care and indifferent management contributed to death rates that at one stage were running at 34%.

A massive international outcry resulted into a new and improved regime in the camps but the damage was done.

In May 1902 the Boers signed a peace treaty at Vereeniging.

Within 5 years both former republics had achieved self government, and in 1910 they joined the British colonies of the Cape and Natal to form a new country - South Africa.The first Prime Minister of this new country, was the former Boer general, Louis Botha.
He was succeeded by another former commando leader, Jan Smuts.

The British were to lose over 20,000 troops - 8,000 killed by the Boers and 14,000 to disease.
The Boer war cost the government over £200m in the money of the day.

It had taken an army of 450,000 (four times the size of the British Army sent to the Crimean War) to suppress the Boer Army of about 50,000.

The Boers lost 6,000 killed in action but it was the human cost of the concentration camps that they would remember. 26,000 of their women and children died.


That resentment would give rise to the National Party and when they came to power in 1948, the establishment of Apartheid.

The Anglo-Boer War presents us with a plethora of characters who found their way into history:

Future South African Prime Ministers (Louis Botha and Jan Smuts), the British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill (who was captured and escaped from the Boers), Sherlock Holmes creator (Arthur Conan Doyle), the founder of the Boy Scouts (Robert Baden-Powell) and Mahatma Ghandi.

Boer generals like Christiaan de Wet and Koos de la Rey.

Emily Hobhouse the British anti-war campaigner who exposed the conditions in the concentration camps.

Chapters:
0:00 The Boer War
2:28 The Boers
3:35 Uitlanders
6:34 War begins
9:30 Black Week
12:00 Marching to Pretoria
15:42 Boer Commandos
18:05 Concentration Camps
21:55 Britain loses Peace
26:18 The History Chap

#boerwar #secondboerwar #theanglo-boerwar#militaryhistory #britishempire
#robertbadenpowell #jansmuts #louisbotha
#winstonchurchill #emilyhobhouse


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My name is Chris Green ("The History Chap") and I am on a mission to share the amazing history of Britain so that we can appreciate where we have come from and why we are here.



Just for the record, I do have a history degree and continue to have a passion for the subject I studied.

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Disclaimer: All opinions and comments expressed in the 'Comments' section do not reflect the opinions of Chris Green Communication Ltd t/a The History Chap. All opinions and comments should contribute to the dialogue. Chris Green Communication Ltd does not condone written attacks, insults, racism, sexism, extremism, violence or otherwise questionable comments or material in the 'Comments' section, and reserves the right to delete any comment violating this rule or to block any poster from the channel.

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