The Second Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902)

- aim of war to the British public was to protect the Uitlanders (British citizens) in the Transvaal whose rights were being infringed by the Boers. 

- however - there was also an economic motive - discovery of gold in the Witwatersand (Boer region) which Britain wanted. Massive British businessman - Cecil Rhodes - also wanted to construct a 'Cape to Cairo' railway across Africa - had to capture Transvaal to complete the jigsaw.

- Lord Salisbury aimed to carry on Benjamin Disraeli's foreign policy of 'splendid isolation' when he became PM in 1895, but his colonial secretary, Joseph Chamberlain, undermined this. 

- war was sparked when the leader of the Transvaal, Paul Kruger, declared war due to British troops amassing on the Transvaalian borders threatening the Boers on 12 Oct 1899.

- Britain's attempts to resolve the poor treatment of Uitlanders at the Bloemfontein Conference did not work, caused us to put pressure on Boers, war declared Oct 1899. 

- the British force of 250,000 were inadequately trained and supplied with inferior Lee-Metford rifles compared to the Boer Mauzer rifles which they brought from the Germans.

- superior numbers should have won, (Boer forces made up of 50,000 men), but underestimation of the enemy allowed a string of Boer victories. 

- the British failure to adapt to Boer guerrilla tactics, poor recon, inferior weaponry (including artillery) and knowledge of the land meant Britain lost a lot. Fierce Boer defense of their home. 

- superior Boer marksmanship (aided by the range provided by the Mauser rifles) gave Boers the edge in conflict. 

- British had inferior Howitzer cannons, Boers brought Creusot 'Long Tom' cannons from French.

- Boers attacked much to British surprise, many failed British retaliations caused embarassment. 

- the Boers quickly besieged three British towns, Mafeking (13th Oct), Kimberley (14th Oct) and Ladysmith (2 Nov).

- Ladysmith was in the most danger of falling (35,000 Boers surrounded), and Kimberley the least, all were bombarded by 'Long Tom' cannons from afar however. Despite daring resistance led by individuals such as Robert Baden-Powell (Mafeking) - there was still threat. 

- attempts to break these sieges, led by General Redvers-Buller, were so bad that the week in which they occured was known as 'Black Week'. Stunned the British public. 

- Buller split his already quite small fighting force into three, (a mistake) each one aimed to relieve one of the beseiged towns.

BATTLE OF STORMBERG (10 DEC 1899):

- aimed to relieve Mafeking - force led by General Gatacre lost 700 men after severely underwhelming the Boer threat - a failure.

BATTLE OF MAGERSFONTEIN (11 DEC 1899):

- aimed to relive Kimberley - force led by General Methuen lost 900 men - a failure. 

BATTLE OF COLENSO (15 DEC 1899):

- aimed to cross the Tugela River to relieve Ladysmith, poor recon by Buller despite being a former reconnaissance officer (unaware of Boer sniping positions/bridge location etc.), clever damming of river by Boers forcing British troops to wade through water to cross (making them easy targets) and general military incompetence (positioning artillery crews in the vicinity of Boer snipers allowing them to be picked off) coupled with smokeless powder used to conceal Boer firing positions meant Buller lost 1400 men whilst the Boers lost 8. The worst of the three in terms of losses - a massive failure. 

- marks the beginning of phase two - British offensive. 

- 24 Jan 1900.

- another defeat for Buller - an attempt to push back the Boers into their own territory. Buller went up the smaller of the 'twin peaks' - so was easily picked off by Boer snipers who arrived late and simply took up position on the larger of the two hills. Poor scouting and topographical knowledge again. 

- 1750 British casualties, 300 Boer. Buller's final embarassment as after this he is replaced as General by Lord Roberts and Lord Kitchener. 

18-27 Feb 1900 - a successful British offensive planned by Lord Roberts but executed by Kitchener. 

- Roberts arrived with 200,000 men as reinforcements, overwhelmed the Boers with sheer number. Allowed the British to herd the Boers into a bottlenecked area, trapping them and allowing artillery to blow them apart along with cavalry usage. 

- despite this, Roberts still attempted several frontal attacks, a naive tactic which just resulted in more British casualties than was necessary - still the Boers are underestimated. 

- Roberts' refusal of Piet Cronje's truce so the Boers could collect and bury their dead heightened tensions between the British and the Boers. 

- after Paardeberg the three beseiged towns were relieved and the Boer capitals of Bloemfontein and Pretoria were captured by Roberts (despite supply issues). British thought the war was over, Roberts returned to Britain along with many soldiers - they were wrong - the war would persist for another 18 months. 

- Boers attacked in small groups at random points - cut railway lines, ambushed British garrisons and sniped British soldiers. A nuisance for the British. Unorthodox method of warfare. 

- the Boers were led by General Christiaan de Wet - who was never captured. Supported by locals.

- total war for the Boers as they had to defend homeland - even women got involved in fighting. 

- the Boer aim was never to win (they understood this was impossible) but to annoy the British for so long that they would force the British to negotiate a more favourable peace agreement. 

- Britain failed to adapt to this new means of warfare - and were pretty incompetent as a whole. 

- Britain eventually adapted after a year, conservatism prevalent. Small skirmishes common.

• 4000 miles of barbed wire was lain across Boer territory, hindered their mobility. 
• 8000 'blockhouses' were constructed by Kitchener, placed at strategic positions (supply depots, train lines etc.) to defend from Boer attack. Basically impregnable. 
• locals evicted - stopped them aiding the Boers and gave the British supplies. 
• farm burning/scorched earth policy - started by Roberts in 1900 but continued by Kitchener - quite self explanatory - destroyed Boer way of life - 30,000 burned during the war - overkill. Ruined land for decades after - nothing could grow on it. 
• concentration camps (once again a Roberts idea that Kitchener gets the bad rep for) - built to house Boer locals and POWs. Not designed to kill, but neglect on behalf of those in charge of them meant many died from disease. Camps quickly became overcrowded, at its height in September of 1901 160,000 prisoners were split across 35 camps - 4,000 to a camp. 

- 22,000 out of the 28,000 Boer deaths caused by the camps were children. Including Afrikaaners, 40,000 died in the camps due to the negligence of the men in charge. Gained notoriety in Britain. 

- all these methods may be considered brutal yet effective at breaking the back of Boer resistance.

- after roughly a month of negotiations between April-May 1902 - Boers agreed to accept a British protectorate, giving up control of foreign policy and the goldfields which Britain wanted so badly. SOS for Africa, Milner, was initially going to reject these proposals but Kitchener stopped this. 

- this was known as the Treaty of Vereeniging - and ended the war, with South Africa becoming a dominion of the British Empire. Boers were then given self-governement in 1907 after Britain had taken all the gold, with them also being given £3 mil to repair the land which Britain damaged by burning the farms - not enough. Good for both sides. 

- 22,000 British killed, war cost £250 mil in total for Britain - worth it?