boer war Flashcards
Why was Gold a factor in the boer war
The discovery of gold on the Witwatersrand in 1886 made the Transvaal, until then a struggling Boer republic, potentially a political and economic threat to British supremacy in South Africa at a time when Britain was engaged in the scramble for African colonies with France and Germany.
what was the signifigance of the alliance of the orange free state and the transavaal
The Orange Free State concluded an alliance with the Transvaal. Although Kruger was only interested in preserving the independence of the Transvaal, the British colonial secretary, Sir Joseph Chamberlain, and the British high commissioner in South Africa, Sir Alfred Milner, believed that the Transvaal was pressing for a united South Africa under the Afrikaaners.
when did the second boer war start
11th october 1999
What weapons did the boers have
The burghers consequently went into the second Boer War with the British-made single shot .450 Martini-Henry which had the disadvantage that the black powder betrayed the rifleman’s position, and the German Mauser 7 mm Model 95/96/97, which had a maximum range of 2,000 yards, fired smokeless powder, and held five rounds in its magazine.
what weapons did the British have
The Lee-Enfield, which was introduced during the second Boer War. They had a greater magazine capacity than the Mauser – ten rounds – but had to be loaded one round at a time, while the Mauser could be loaded quickly from clips.
what happened at the start of the boer war
The first five months of the war consisted mainly of set-piece battles. The Boers besieged Ladysmith in Natal and Kimberley and Mafeking in the Cape Colony, while the British forces strove to relieve their beleaguered garrisons in these towns – Lord Methuen in the west and General Redvers Buller in Natal.
what happened in February
But by late February 1900 there was a definite change in their fortunes. Kimberley and Ladysmith were relieved and Piet Cronjé surrendered at Paardeberg with 4,000 burghers. All Boer fronts collapsed.
what happened in the following 6 months after the relief of Mafeking
The next six months was a period of great confusion for the Boers. Everywhere they were compelled to retreat. On 13 March 1900, Lord Roberts, the British commander in chief, occupied Bloemfontein and on 5 June 1900 he took Pretoria
after the relief of mafeking what was the effect on empire
With both republican capitals in British hands, he annexed the Free State as the Orange River Colony on 24 May 1900 and the Transvaal on 1 September 1900. The relief of Mafeking on 17 May 1900 caused tumultuous joy in Britain, making the commander of the relieved garrison, Colonel Robert Baden-Powell, an instant hero throughout the British empire.
who succeeded Roberts and what policy did he implement
Lord Herbert Kitchener, who succeeded Roberts in November 1900, adopted a three-fold strategy to end the war. Firstly, he continued Roberts’ ‘scorched earth’ policy, in which the republics were deliberately and systematically devastated to deprive the guerrillas of food and shelter.
What affect did the scorched earth policy have on the boers
Some towns and thousands of farmsteads were burnt or ravaged. This onslaught on Boer survival was backed up by the destruction of food supplies. Herds of livestock were wiped out and crops were burnt.
What happened to Roberts concentration camp system and how did this affect woman and children
Secondly, Roberts’ ‘concentration camp’ system was expanded, wherein civilians were confined in camps, especially women and children whose houses had been burned. In Kitchener’s view this meant that burghers on commando would no longer be able to obtain food from women on the farms, and would, moreover, surrender in order to reunite their families.
What happened to black people
Black people, too, were gathered in concentration camps, partly to deprive the commandos of yet another means of getting to food producers, and to obtain black labour for the gold mines that had been re-opened by mid-1901.
Why were the camps so bad
the bad administration of the camps led to poor quality of food, unhygienic conditions and inadequate medical arrangements. Consequently civilians suffered terribly. Eventually 28,000 Boer women and children and at least 20,000 black people died in the camps.
who had an improvement on the concentrations camp and what affect did it have on the government
A turning point in the death rate in the Boer camps came about by November 1901, after the Fawcett Ladies Commission had made some recommendations for improvement. However, this was only after Emily Hobhouse from the Liberal opposition in Britain had revealed the terrible conditions in the camps to a sceptical British public and an embarrassed government, and High commissioner, Lord Alfred Milner had taken over the administration of the camps from the army
