The Anglo-Boer War in South Africa

After the Voortrekkers were defeated by the British in Natal in 1842, the Great Trek moved on further north-east and eventually the trekkers settled north and south of the Vaal river. First, they formed the independent Transvaal to the north, which would later become the South African Republic.

In the meantime, the Cape Colony had spread further and all the land between the Vaal and Orange rivers was declared British territory in 1848. The English, however, had not taken into account the strong resistance of the Boers who had already settled there. Because the area was economically of little interest to them, they soon gave it up again. On the 23rd of February 1854, the contract of Bloemfontein was signed, which led to the foundation of the Orange Free State.The "Oranje Vrystaat" developed into a politically and economically successful republic. But this positive process was overshadowed by various negative events in the second Boer state, the South African Republic in Transvaal (today Mpumalanga). By now British sentiment was in favoured of amalgamating their own colonies and the Boer republics into one union, with the primary purpose of gaining possession of the Transvaal gold mines.

The Premier of the Cape Colony, Sir Cecil Rhodes, first tried to achieve this union through a putsch that failed due to wariness on the part of Paul Kruger, President of the Boer Republic. Soon the new Governor of the Cape, Lord Alfred Milner, succeeded with the use of armed force. The Orange Free State, which had formed an alliance with the South African Republic, became involved in the conflict. On October 11, 1899 a war broke out between these two Boer Republics and the two British colonies of Cape and Natal. (Please click on "Next".)


Left: Paul Kruger. Right: his arch enemy Cecil Rhodes. Bottom: British soldiers in the Anglo-Boer War (Cape Archives, colouring © KGH)