The South African War

Question 1

When was the South African war?

Answer 1

1899-1902

Question 2

What is the other name for the South African war?

Answer 2

Anglo-boer war

Question 3

Who was the war fought between?

Answer 3

Britain and the two boer republics

Question 4

Who were the two boer republics?

Answer 4

The South African Republic (Transvaal) and the Orange Free State

Question 5

When was gold discovered?

Answer 5

1886

Question 6

Where was gold discovered?

Answer 6

Witwatersrand - Traansvaal

Question 7

At the time of the discovery of gold, what were the four states in South Africa and who ruled them?

Answer 7

Transvaal and Orange Free State - ruled by Boer Republic

Natal and Cape Colony - ruled by British colonies

Question 8

What did the discovery of gold mean for the Witwatersrand?

Answer 8

Many people came to seek their fortune

Question 9

How did people travel at the time of the discovery of gold?

Answer 9

Ships from overseas.

Ox-wagons or by foot in Southern Africa

Question 10

What did deep level gold mining change in South Africa?

Answer 10

Previously people farmed or worked the land but the discovery of gold change the society into an industrial one.
People did not make the things they needed, they bought things.
This is called the mineral or industrial revolution.

Question 11

What were the two problems with mining gold in the Witwatersrand?

Answer 11

1. The rock which gold was extracted from is called ore. This area had low-grade ore, meaning a lot had a small amount of gold.
2. There needed to be ventilation and water pumps so that people could operate underground.

Question 12

What were for things needed in mines?

Answer 12

1. Machinery
2. Skilled workers to use it
3. Unskilled workers to do the heavy work
4. Managers and supervisors

Question 13

What was the gold standard? How did it affect the profits of gold sellers?

Answer 13

It meant that the price of gold was fixed,miso any increased costs to gold mines could not be charged to buyers.

Question 14

What were mine owners known as?

Answer 14

Randlords

Question 15

Who were famous Randlords?

Answer 15

Cecil John Rhodes, Barney Barnato, Alfred Beit

Question 16

When was the chamber of mines formed and what did it do?

Answer 16

1899 - Randlords’ association which used its power to benefit mine owners by finding ways to keep wages as low as possible.

Question 17

When was the JSE formed and what it is

Answer 17

1887 - the Johannesburg Stock Exchange allowed companies to sell shares and investors to invest for dividends

Question 18

What was britains ‘a position as an international financier?

Answer 18

During the industrial revolution they formed many banks which lent money to gold-mining companies

Question 19

How are social classes defined?

Answer 19

According to a group of people’s relationship to the means of production. (Everything needed to manufacture something)

Question 20

What were the 3 classes?

Answer 20

1. The capitalist class
2. The middle class
3. The working class

Question 21

What was the capitalist class?

Answer 21

Private individuals who owned the means of production. Employers of the poor who had no problem with there being very rich and very poor people. They got rich from cheap labour and exploitation so. Randlords were capitalists.

Question 22

What was the middle class?

Answer 22

People who lived a comfortable life. They were the educated professionals.

Question 23

Who were the working class?

Answer 23

Employees to capitalists. They sold their labour for wages and were very poor. There were white and black working classes.

Question 24

Who were migrant workers?

Answer 24

Black workers from rural areas who were forced to leave home and travel long distance to work in the urban mines.

Question 25

What were the effects of the migrant labour system?

Answer 25

Women and children had to take on the jobs of the men.
Land got poorer so they had to buy from white people.
They didn’t have money to buy the things they needed.

Question 26

What is segregation?

Answer 26

The policy of separating people in every way possible because of their ‘race’ or other supposed differences.

Question 27

How was the labour force segregated?

Answer 27

White miners were allowed to settle in suburbs while black workers were made to enter labour contracts and stay in compounds.
White miners were always in charge, got paid more and the best jobs were reserved for them.

Question 28

In 1815, Britain’s control of the Caoe had been accepted by what agreement?

Answer 28

The Treaty of Vienna

Question 29

Why did Britain want a presence in the cape of South Africa?

Answer 29

It had strategic, military value and was a secure port en route to colonies and trading interests.

Question 30

What was the Great Trek?

Answer 30

In the 1930s, thousands of boers ventured toward the interior of South Africa to escape British rule.

Question 31

Why did Britain’s interest in the Boer Republics increase?

Answer 31

Gold was discovered and this would be significant economically and threatened Britain’s control in Southern Africa.

Question 32

Who was the president of the Transvaal at the time of the discovery of gold?

Answer 32

President Kruger

Question 33

Who were Uitlanders?

Answer 33

Directly meaning foreigners, they were people who came to the Traansvaal because of gold.

Question 34

How were the Uitlanders treated?

Answer 34

They were only given the right to vote and citizenship after 14 years of residence.

Question 35

Who was the British prime minister of the cape colony at the time of gold discovery?

Answer 35

Cecil John Rhodes

Question 36

What was the Jameson Raid?

Answer 36

A staged uprising of the Uitlanders against the Traansvaal government.

Question 37

Did the Jameson Raid succeed?

Answer 37

No. It was over Christmas, so few people got involved and the Transvaal government heard about it and ambushed it.

Question 38

What were the consequences of the Jameson Raid?

Answer 38

It damaged British-Boer relations but Transvaal now knew Britain would go to great lengths to destroy their independence.

Question 39

Who became the new British High Commissioner in 1897?

Answer 39

Sir Alfred Milner

Question 40

When was the Bloemfontein conference and what was it?

Answer 40

June 1899 - Milner and Kruger met to discuss Uitlanders but all proposals were rejected.

Question 41

When was war declared?

Answer 41

11 October 1899

Question 42

What was the first phase of the war?

Answer 42

Conventional warfare - regular armies and tactics.
Boer victories at the beginning because they took advantage of Britain’s main force having not arrived in the country.
Britain advanced at the beginning of 1900 with a strong force.

Question 43

What was Black Week?

Answer 43

During the first phase when Britain suffered 3 significant defeats:
2 at Stormberg and Magersfontein (northern Cape)
The last at Colenso (Natal)

Question 44

What was the second phase of the war?

Answer 44

When the boers adopted a guerilla warfare strategy (under Louis Botha and Jan Smuts). They got many small groups of combatants to use hit-and-run tactics.

Question 45

What was Britain’s response to guerilla warfare?

Answer 45

Scorched-earth policy. They destroyed land, infrastructure, food supplies that boers needed. As well as clearing people from areas where Guerilla attacks were common and sending them to concentration camps. (Especially women and children who gave the boers support.)

Question 46

What was the role of black people under boer military forces?

Answer 46

They didn’t want to involve black people directly for the fear of giving the, too much power. So black people we agterryers (after-riders) who performed supporting roles.

Question 47

What was the role of black South African under British military rule?

Answer 47

Black people were more supportive of the British because they believed they had a better chance of having improved conditions if the British won.

Question 48

Who were bittereinders?

Answer 48

Boers who were determined to fight until the very end.

Question 49

What were the events of the peace negotiations after the war?

Answer 49

They met in Klerksdorp in April 1902 and Britain gave its proposals. The boers were divided but eventually accepted them in the treaty of Vereeniging on 31 May 1902.