boer war Flashcards
1
Q
what happened before the war started?
A
- 1815 - britain acquired cape colony from the netherlands
- 1830s - 5k boers disliked the british decision to abolish slavery and migrated north - the great trek, towards natal
- 1843 - britain annexed natal, boers founded orange free state and transvaal, disliked by zulus
- 1877 - britain took control of the transvaal
- 1879 - britain defeated the zulus
2
Q
what caused the war?
A
- boers rebelled after british refused to restore independence to the transvaal
- first boer war - british forced defeated at majuba hill
- gladstones gov agreed to recognise the transvaal and ofs as nations under the suzerainty of british crown
- 1886 - discovery of gold, transvaal became richest state in south africa
3
Q
who were the uitlanders?
A
- white immigrants from britain who wanted to make their fortune through gold
- by mid 1890s - more uitlanders than boers, wealth in the transvaal was held by british and german mine owners
- kruger said uitlanders had to live in the transvaal for 14 years before applying for naturalisation, led to british interference
4
Q
who were salisbury and chamberlain?
A
- 1895 - salisbury became conservative pm
- appointed chamberlain as colonial secretary
5
Q
who was rhodes?
A
- 1887 - established gold mining company in the transvaal
- 1890 - became the pm of cape colony
6
Q
what was the jameson raid?
A
- 1895 - rhodes encouraged uitlanders to push for voting rights
- wanted to start uprising and make kruger resign
- december 1895 - jameson led 600 armed men into the transvaal, but surrendered after fighting boer militia
7
Q
what were the consequences of the jameson raid?
A
- rhodes forced to resign as pm
- tranvaal and ofs signed military pact in 1897
- kruger purchased best european weapons for transvaals army
8
Q
who was alfred milner?
A
- high commissioner of south africa
9
Q
what happened leading up to the war?
A
- may 1899 - milner and kruger went to a conference in ofs, milner demanded law in transvaal for uitlanders to vote
- kruger rejected it and milner walked 5 june , thought kruger would eventually accept
- gov and press thought boers needed to be taught a lesson, chamberlain sent ultimatum demanding equality of british citizens in the transvaal
- 9 october - kruger issued ultimatu, gave british 48 hours to withdraw troops from the transvaal
- 11 october - boers declared war
10
Q
did military reform occur?
A
- reformers wanted to boost professionalism rather than bring up numbers
- gov didn’t want to spend money on the army
- army performed well in 1880s/90s, so not much pressure for chang
- duke of cambridge was commander in chief for army and preferred tradition
11
Q
how were the british prepared for war?
A
- october 1899 - wyndham said army was more efficient than at any time since waterloo
- officers/men hardened by colonial wars
- wolseley emphasised supply/transportation, admiralty could transport men and supplies over distance of 6k miles
12
Q
what problems were there in the army?
A
- shortage of ammunition
- red, white and blue uniforms, no khaki for the veldt
- auxiliary departments understaffed
- intelligence/staff work inadequate
- didn’t understand importance of fire from trench positions + cavalry raids
13
Q
what were the weaknesses of the boers?
A
- less than 60k men to form an army
- civilian militia - every man was expected to bring his own weapon and horse
14
Q
what were the strengths of the boers?
A
- boers already defeated the british in first boer war
- horsemen and hunters - familiar with the land
- had best weapons - smokeless mauser rifles from germany, creusot siege guns from france
- strong morale - wanted to protect their land and culture
- boers in cape colony and natal sympathised with them
15
Q
what did the british do after war started?
A
- 7 october - george white arrived in natal with 10k men
- boers had 35k men
- army corps didn’t sail from southampton until 12 october
16
Q
what happened at ladysmith?
A
- white established main base at ladysmith, sent penn-symons to dundee with a brigade
- boers attacked british camp on 20 october, penn-symons drove them back with 446 british casualties
- white retreated to ladysmith, boers had surrounded it and attacked - battle of modderspruit
- 140 killed, 1k captured, white trapped in ladysmith
17
Q
what happened in mafeking and kimberley?
A
- baden-powell had 1.2k men in mafeking, but 7k boers attacked with cronje leading
- boers hoped to starve mafeking into surrender
- early nov - 7.5k boers besieged kimberley, but the town had lots of provisions
- gave british time to recover
18
Q
what was the situation in cape colony?
A
- november - boers entered, only 7k british troops were there
- 10k cape dutch joined the boers
19
Q
what was buller’s strategy?
A
- arrived in cape town 31 october, first army corps followed 18 nov
- wanted to launch offensive up the railway line from cape town to pretoria in the transvaal
20
Q
what did buller do instead and why?
A
- didn’t want to deal with consequences of abandoning white and losing kimberley
- split army into three groups
- methuen - 20k men, to relieve kimberley and mafeking
- gatacre - 3k men, to secure northern cape from boer raids
- buller - main force, to relieve lady smith
21
Q
what happened before black week?
A
- methuen won 2 small victories at belmont and graspan (23 nov and 25 nov)
- walked into trap set by de la rey at modder river on 28 nov and lost 5k men
- boers retreated to magersfontein
22
Q
when was black week?
A
10-15 december 1899
23
Q
what happened during black week?
A
- 10 december - gatacre lost against boers in stormberg, 700 casualties
- 11 december - methuen launched attack at magersfontein, boers retaliated and 900 brits killed, failed to relieve kimberley
- 15 december - buller tried to cross tugela river with 21k men, fought 8k boers and 1.4k brits died vs 8 boer casualties
- boers had smokeless magazine rifles
24
Q
what was the situation in december 1899?
A
- buller signalled by heliograph to white that he should surrender in ladysmith
- gov replaced buller with lord roberts, who brought kitchener as his chief of staff
- 30k men from british controlled southern africa volunteered + aus, canada and nz. 180k men in total
25
what did roberts do?
- arrived in january 1900
- issued new tactical guidelines, insisted on recon before attacking, avoided frontal attacks in mass formations and more use of cover by infantry and artillery
- buller left in charge of natal
26
what did kitchener do?
improvised transport system of wagons to reduce dependence on railway lines
27
what happened at spion kop?
- 24 january - british troops captured summit of spion kop (hill)
- fog lifted and they were surrounded by boer gun emplacements on surrounding hills
- 1.3k casualties, brits retreated back across the tugela
- 5 february - buller attacked botha at vaal krantz and was defeated again
28
how was kimberley relieved?
- 10 february - kitchener and roberts launched offensive
- had doubled mounted infantry, but didn't have supplies to sustain them
- situation sorted when they found out john french had successfully relieved kimberley
- 17 february - roberts attack failed to take boers at paardeberg against cronje, bombarding them into submission instead
- 28 february - cronje surrendered with 4k men
29
how was ladysmith relieved?
- 14 february - buller made his 4th attempt, slow progress
- 26 february - buller successfully crossed tugela and defeated botha north of colenso
- ladysmith was relieved
30
how was mafeking relieved?
- roberts advanced into ofs and captured bloemfontein 13 march
- forced to delay for 6 weeks - supply shortage + outbreak of typhoid led to 1k deaths
- sent small force to mafeking who relieved it
- baden-powell became national hero, had tied down 7k boers in mafeking
31
what successes followed?
- may - roberts continued advance, annexed ofs 28 may
- 31 may - johannesburg captured
- 5 june - pretoria captured
- hunter fought last major boer force in ofs, didn't capture steyn but forced 4.5k men to surrender
- roberts cut boers off from outside world 21 july
- 21 august - roberts broke boers defensive position at bergendal
- kruger fled to europe, botha led the rest of the boer army to the transvaal high veldt
32
what followed these successes?
- 3 october 1900 - transvaal formally annexed
- troops returned home
- november 1900 - roberts sailed home and was given £100k by the gov
33
what tactics did the boers use in 1900?
- commandos sent to home districts where they knew the terrain well
- struck fast and hard and vanished before british reinforcements arrived
34
what were blockhouses?
- kitchener wanted to restrict boer movement and protect supplies, built 8k fortified blockhouses which housed 6-8 men each
- linked with barbed wire, stretched over 4k miles and parcelled veldt into small areas
- british troops communicated through the telephone and telegraph cable
35
what was the scorched earth policy?
- started by roberts
- burnt farms thought to be giving help to the commandos
- kitchener continued this - destroyed property and crops, salted fields and poisoned wells
36
what were the concentration camps like?
- set up as refugee camps for boer families
- undermined their will to resist in the short run, but freed boers from responsibility for their families
- inadequate food, poor shelter, bad hygiene, shortage of medical facilities, overcrowded
- measles, typhoid and dysentery spread
- 20k women and children died across 40 camps, approx 1 in 4 of the inmates
- thousands of black africans removed from boer areas and placed in separate camps, 12k died
37
what criticism was there of the camps?
- 1901 - radical liberals denounced the camps, broderick defended them by calling them voluntary + the boers were comfortable
- campbell-bannerman (liberal leader) didn't support liberals initially due to duty to support gov during war + risk divides in liberal party
- emily hobhouse - visited camps and published report in june 1901, led to outcry
38
what was the fawcett commission?
- all woman commission led by millicent fawcett
- conducted tours of the camps from august-dec 1901 to confirm what hobhouse said
- recommended measures
- 1902 - death rate for white inmates dropped to 2%
- kitchener instructed commanders to not bring in women and children in december 1901 - guerrillas had to care for their families
39
how were black africans involved?
- british increasingly recruited black men as scouts, watchmen in blockhouses and auxiliaries
- 1902 - 30k black people had served in the british army
- black africans were pro-british
40
how did the war end?
- 31 may 1902 - treaty of vereeniging
- boers given £3 million for reconstruction purposes - milner in charge of reconstruction
- britain agreed to restore boer self government
- 1910 - union of south africa formed from ofs, cape colony, natal and the transvaal
41
what were the casualties of the war?
- 22k british deaths - 7k in battle, the rest by disease
- 100k troops wounded or diseased
- 7k boer soldiers died
- 20k boer civilians and 12k black africans died in concentration camps
42
what did the war cost?
- required services of 450k british and colonial troops
- cost taxpayers £217m
- 1901 - cost the treasury £140 to defeat one boer soldier
43
what political parties were there?
- liberal party - nonconformist, working class voters, supported ireland establishing its own government
- conservatives - opposite of all
44
what support was there for the war and the empire?
- most mps supported the war in 1899 and so did most britons, due to patriotism and pride in the empire
- felt superior to all other white nations
- believed british rule improved the quality of life for 'lower races'
45
how did the press change during the war?
- 1890s - more britons could afford to buy daily newspapers
- costs of producing newspapers fell due to technical improvements + ad revenue
- 150 newspapers catered to the publi
- higher literacy rate
- used by politicians to spread ideas + people to keep themselves informed
46
how did the daily mail impact press?
- launched in 1896
- cost half a penny
- had readership of nearly a million by 1900 - more than other newspapers
- fiercely imperialist - marked itself as the voice of the empire
47
how did war correspondents impact the war?
- had huge political control due to their access to news + control over its dissemination
- buller depicted as a buffoon in the news due to contempt for press + inability to present his side of the story
- roberts went out of his way to butter up press
- baden-powell became a hero due to his press coverage
48
how did other media impact the war?
- war captured in photographs
- bioscope invented in 1895 - public could see moving pictures from the war
49
what was khaki fever?
- 500k people cheered for the first army corps as they left southampton
- men rushed to volunteer for the army
- excitement at the news of the lifting of the siege of ladysmith and mafeking
- pro-boers were treated harshly
50
what opposition was there to imperialism?
- some britons didn't like seeing wars in every part of the globe
- thought imperial ambitions were used to distract from issues at home
- attacked the empire for tis exploitation of native races
- thought greed was the motive for overseas expansion
- liberals, socialists, irish nationalists all opposed the war
51
what religious opposition was there to the war?
- not much
- churches did not back opposition - anglicans and methodists supported the war
- some prominent quakers denounced it but not a lot of people followed
52
what labour opposition was there to the war?
- trades union congress was neutral
- independent labour party and social democratic federation were anti war
- believed it was a capitalist war
53
what political division was there?
- labour party wanted to criticise conservative inaction - balfour w salisbury, campbell-bannerman w chamberlain
- couldn't defend boers either, so met with criticism and lack of support
54
what was the khaki election?
- september 1900 - salisbury called general election
- conservative-unionists held majority of 134 - results reflected liberal disorganisation rather than support for the war
- salisbury reshuffled cabinet, stepped down in 1902 and balfour became pm
55
what liberal problems were there?
- june 1901 - campbell-bowerman moved closer to pro boer mps after hobhouse's report
- liberal imperialists plotted to replace him, but he retained the support of most liberal mps
56
how was money raised for the war?
- 1901 - beach put a tax on refined sugar, levy of 1s on exported coal, raised income tax by 2d to 1s 2d
- only 1/3 of the wars cost was met by taxation, gov had to borrow money
57
what was chamberlain's tariff reform?
- duties on corn and manufactured goods from outside the empire
- to raise money, strengthen empire, protect british industry from foreign competition, safeguard british jobs etc
- free traders opposed these proposals, as it would raise food prices, protect inefficient british industries and would reduce labour costs
58
what happened in the 1906 general election?
- balfour resigned in 1905
- campbell bannerman formed minority government and election held in january - liberals won 400 seats
- boer war hardly featured in the war
59
how did imperial sentiment decline?
- was seen as barbaric after the war, associated mainly with conservative unionists, who lost in the 1906 and 1910 elections
- liberal governments gave it low priority
60
how did imperial sentiment strengthen?
- popular newspapers eg the daily mail and daily express were very imperialistic
- imperial imagery on ads, packaging etc - wouldn't be used if the empire was not popular
- patriotism remained strong
- schools prepared students for careers such as colonial administrators or army officers
61
how did the war impact national equality?
- living standards rose from 1882-99 - wages rose by 1/3 and people had better health
- booth and rowntree's research said 1/3 of people lived in poverty, old age or sickness
- infant mortality was at 15%
- growth was stunted in poorer children
- britons believed in social darwinism - survival of the fittest
62
how did the war impact national efficiency?
- national efficiency movement aimed to modernise education, institute a career system based on talent, shame existing elites etc
- supported by socialists, liberals and conservatives
63
how did the war impact social reform?
- conservative-unionist gov of 1900-05 introduced reform
- 1902 education act - improvement of provision of secondary education
- liberal gov after 1905 introduced mother and infant clinics, old age pensions and a national insurance scheme
