From October 1899 to May 1902, Great Britain engaged in a very destructive war against the two Boer republics, the Transvaal and Orange Free State, in South Africa as part of their goal to maintain and expand the British Empire in the New Imperialism. Amidst competition among the leading European nations for control over African countries and their natural resources in the New Imperialism, the British were determined to have their stake in the scramble for Africa (McKay 681). Their attention was drawn to the Transvaal and Orange Free State republics of South Africa when gold was discovered there in 1886, convincing them of South Africa’s importance to their colonial expansions. As Great Britain made their imperial motives clear to the South Africans, the Boers, who had lived in the northern republics for years, were as determined to defend their land from British imperialism and face the world’s leading imperial nation. This clash between the British and Boers led to a tragic war called the South African War, or the Anglo-Boer War, that was a large colonial conflict in the twentieth century. From my research, it was evident that the South African War was not only destructive for the soldiers on both sides but also for the Boer and black native civilians living in South Africa who had nothing to do with the conflict.
The Boers suffered heavily throughout the course of the South African War. Since the entry of the British capitalists into South Africa, the Boers resolved to fight to keep their isolated community free of British influence. They found their freedom and independence under serious threat as British colonial officials grew in power and influence in South Africa. With the support of Jewish financiers like Barney Barnato and Alfred Beit who were actively involved in the mining industry in the country, the British gained control over the diamond industry in South Africa and a large part of the gold industry in the world. Though the Boers made their living from farming and not mining, they felt threatened by the British ambitious goals with the mining industry and their increasing influence through it. It was a clear sign to the Boers that the British had the purpose of establishing imperial rule over the northern regions that they claimed their own. A group of 10,000 Boers had moved there in the Great Trek of 1835-1842 to avoid British rule in the Cape Colony and had lived there for years. At the start of the war, some of the Boer families had been there for seven generations. To the Boers who were against imperialism and would never submit to foreign rule, fighting the British meant fighting for their lives –their land, freedom, and way of life. In facing the large British force, the Transvaal and Orange Free State required all male burghers to have a rifle and supply of bullets and shells. All Boer males between the ages of 16 and 60 were also encouraged to fight. This meant that the Boers who fought were mostly farmers and informal soldiers. As a result of the war, the Boers did not just live to farm and meet their everyday needs but to fight to be able to keep their independence and political rights. Over 7,000 Boer fighters lost their lives in the war.
In addition to the casualties suffered by the Boer fighters who wanted only to live in freedom, the hard-fought war also had tragic effects on Boer and black native civilians. From my research, scholars argue that the war was not only a military clash between British and Boer combatants but also against civilians. As the British brutally responded to the Boers’ guerilla tactics after they had occupied the two Boer republics, they made sure that the civilian population would not be able to provide any support to the guerilla fighters. The British commander, General Kitchener, ordered his troops to burn down farms and villages, wipe out the livestock and crops, and force women and children into concentration camps. According to reports of the British ruthless acts, about 30,000 farms were burned down, 18 concentration camps held a record of 116,572 Boers, and almost 28,000 of them, mostly children under the age of 16 and women, died in the camps. The reformer Emily Hobhouse visited the camps and reported all that she saw, informing the world of what the civilians in the hands of the British. Because of the terrible conditions in the camps, the Boer prisoners mainly died from deadly epidemics such as typhoid, dysentery, and measles that easily spread, and most children died from undernourishment and starvation. The western world was horrified to know that the British went as far as destroying the civilians’ way of life and imprisoning them in camps where they died in thousands. Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman, who would later become Prime Minister, described the way the British dealt with the civilians as “methods of barbarism.” John Dillon, a Member of Parliament, also spoke out against the actions of the British and argued that Europe would urgently take action if Germany had treated the French civilians in the same way in their takeover of Paris in 1870. The black natives, on the other hand, were also directly affected by the war. Although the British initially gave blacks noncombatant roles as scouts and dispatch runners, they eventually armed at least 10,000 of them and placed them in direct combat. As the British did this, it was interesting to find that it increased the racial tensions between the Boers and black Africans. The Boers feared that the blacks would rise to a higher level in society than them as they worked with the British, while they were in the lowest status as enemies of the British. However, about 115,000 blacks who did not serve in the war were also taken to the camps, where more than 12,000 of them died.
The British conquest of South Africa in the Boer War of 1899-1902 showed the aggressive and determined attitude of the British about imperialism. Despite the presence of the Boers in the South African areas that were abundant in gold and diamonds, the British resolved to fight for imperial rule over the country. Believing that they could easily take over South Africa and defeat the Boers and black Africans, they first established themselves there as influential capitalists and financiers and in the process, provoked the Boers to go to war against them. As the Boers proved to be strong-willed and tough fighters however, the British resorted to policies that brought terrible destruction to the lives of the civilians and more division between the Boer and black native groups in South Africa.
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