The Boer War

1
The Boer War

• Aim To work out why it happened and why did the
  British win?

2
The Background It was in S.Africa

• Dutch farmers were there first, the British moved
  into the area at start of 19th Century
• GB bought it off the Dutch govt in 1814
• GB Boers didnt get on as GB abolished slavery
  1833 Boers used them a lot
• 1843 Boers moved to Natal,Transvaal OFS
  Native tribes attacked them, GB helped fight the
  natives off
• GB then decided to claim Natal for themselves to
  help themselves fight against natives Boers
  were forced to leave Natal stay in Transvaal
  OFS

3
So what started the problems?

• Transvaal badly governed by Boers
• Boers attacked by local Zulus GB again helped
  defend them. To secure it, GB now took over
  Transvaal in 1877 promising self-govt later on
• GB defeated Zulus Boers demanded self-govt,
  but GB delayed. In response Boers attacked GB and
  won at Battle of Majuba Hill GB accepts defeat
  and agrees to hand self-govt to Boers.

4
In 1886, Gold was discovered in the Transvaal

• How do you think this would have affected the
  situation?

5
Uitlanders

• British Immigrants found out about the Gold and
  moved to the region to dig for it.
• Boers called the immigrants Uitlanders
• Paul Kruger ( T-vaal president ) denied them
  political rights and taxed them heavily
• What reaction do you think this provoked from the
  British?

6
Dr Jameson
7
The Jameson Raid

• In 1895, Jameson planned a raid to attack Boers
  in order to help Uitlanders
• Why did he do this? Was he acting alone? Did he
  have other interests or influences?
• In GB it was presented as an attempt to save
  women children
• Some Historians say it was an attempt to win back
  some land with the blessing of Chamberlain?
• What do you reckon?

8
Did Jameson win???
9
No! Why not?

• It was badly planned.
• Jameson crossed the border with only 470 men and
  consequently he was easily defeated by the Boers.
• At the time it may have seemed that this defeat
  didnt really matter, but it did have its
  consequences.

10
TheAftermath

• Immediately after the event Chamberlain distanced
  himself Rhodes ( PM of Cape ) resigned.
• However Some historians have suggested that
  Chamberlain was deeply implicated, and they had
  an agreement that if it went wrong Rhodes would
  resign and make it look like his fault.
• Not everyone was convinced by GBs innocence
  unfortunately.

11
How do Germany come into it?

• German Kaiser was appalled at what he saw as GBs
  act of aggression
• He sent a Telegram to Kruger congratulating him
  on the Boers success.
• The Telegram encouraged Boers to think they would
  get German support if they stood up to the
  British.
• The Boers were encouraged to arm themselves
  heavily they now believed GB was going to
  attack them and they were ready for war.

12
The war

• In 1897 GB demanded talks to improve the
  treatment of the Uitlanders when the Boers
  refused they had a perfect excuse to move troops
  in. GB made it look like they had tried to
  negotiate and that the Boers were being awkward.
• In 1899 GB moved troops onto the borders, and
  waited the Boers declared war

13
How did the war progress?

• To start with, GB were defeated as they werent
  expecting the Boers to be so prepared.
• Eventually though, after a series of battles, GB
  took control for several reasons

14
Strength of Numbers
15
Concentration Camps??

• GB controversially rounded up women children of
  Boers and put them into concentration camps. This
  was universally criticised as it resulted in
  20,000 deaths due to the conditions
• Eventually they were forced to sign a peace
  treaty in 1902 and GB ended up taking over 2 Boer
  provinces.