Second Boer War began - October 11, 1899

This day in 1899 marks the beginning of the Second Boer War, a conflict between the British Empire and the Boer states of the South African Republic and the Orange Free State.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
This Day in History Class is a production of I
Heart Radio. Hello everyone, I'm Eves. Welcome to this Day
in History class, where we take a tiny bite of
history every day. Today is October eleventh, nineteen. The day

(00:24):
was October eleventh. The Second Boer War began after Britain
rejected the Transpall Ultimatum, which said that the British stopped
building up their forces in the region. The conflict was
between the British Empire and the self governing Boer states
of the Transpall Republic and the Orange Free State. It

(00:44):
is also called the Anglo Boer War, the South African War,
and simply the Boer War. The word Boar means farmer
and Dutch in Afrikaans. The Boars were South Africans of Dutch,
German or huge Not descent, specifically those who call an Eyes,
the Transfall and the Orange Free State. Today, South Africans

(01:04):
of European descent who speak Afrikaans are called Africanners. The
Cape Colony was under Dutch rule for much of the
seventeenth and eighteen centuries, but in eighteen o six it
became a British possession as a result of the Napoleonic Wars.
The Boars, who had often been hostile and violent toward
indigenous Africans and the colonial government, grew to oppose British rule.

(01:28):
They were unhappy with Britain's liberal policies, especially as anti
slavery ones. The Boyars began an exodus into the Southern
African interior known as the Great Trek, displacing and killing
many locals along the way. They soon founded the independent
states that became known as the South African Republic a

(01:49):
k A trans Fall, and the Orange Free State. The
Boyars chose to live rural, agrarian lifestyles with a near
subsistence economy, so when diamonds and gold were found in
the land, they occupied. The British and other outside interests
exploited the resources and built mines. The British and the

(02:09):
Boars in the region were at odds while both of
those groups oppressed indigenous peoples. Afrikaners saw themselves as pioneers
who resisted British rule and the savagery of the supposedly
inferior black South Africans, and they saw themselves as the
rightful owners of the territory they had invaded. The late

(02:30):
eighteen hundreds also saw the Scramble for Africa, or the
invasion and colonization of African territory by European powers. In
eighteen seventy seven, Britain annex Transfall, but the Boars resisted.
By eighteen eighty the First Boar War between the UK
and the Transfall Boars had begun, and in eighteen eighty

(02:53):
one the British recognized the South African Republic, though it
was kept under British suzerainty. Though the London Convention of
eighteen eighty four provided for full independence and self government
in the South African Republic, the state still had to
get permission from the British government to enter into a
treaty with anyone besides the Orange Free State, so tensions

(03:16):
remained between Britain and the South African Republic, and the
discovery of gold deposits in the viz Waters Front, a
ridge in the Transfall, made the Republic a potential threat
to British dominance in South Africa. Europeans began migrating to
Transfall to work in mines. Cecil Rhodes, prime Minister of
the Cape Colony, tried to overthrow the Transpall government in

(03:39):
a filled plot called the Jameson Raid. This insided African
or nationalism, and the Transfall formed an alliance with the
Orange Free State. Escalating tensions led to the outbreak of
the Second Boer War on October eleventh, eighteen ninety nine.
Britain had rejected the Transfall Ultimatum, which said that all
disputes but between the Orange Free State and the trans

(04:01):
Ball had to be settled by arbitration, that British troops
on the borders had to be withdrawn, and that troops
headed to South Africa by ship should not disembark. The
Second Boer War was a violent conflict. Though the Bowers
were well armed and had early victories, they were soon
overwhelmed by large numbers of British soldiers. Black Africans also

(04:25):
participated in the war on the side of the Bowers
and the British. The British annexed the Orange Free State
and the Transfall in nineteen hundred. Though the British did
get help in their military efforts from other colonies and countries,
there was plenty of opposition to their action from within
and outside of the British Empire. As the Boers continued

(04:46):
to fight as guerillas. The British resisted them, destroyed civilian
farms and put their families into concentration camps. Black Africans
were also put in concentration camps. The war end in
nineteen o two, when the boar Is surrendered and signed
the Treaty of Farina king The Union of South Africa,

(05:06):
including the former Boer Republics, was formed in nineteen ten
as a self governing dominion of the British Empire. I'm
Eves Jeff Coo, and hopefully you know a little more
about history today than you did yesterday. If you know
you already spend too much time on social media, spend
some of that time with us at t d i

(05:28):
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dot com. Thanks for going on this trip through history
with us. We'll see you again tomorrow with another episode.

(05:50):
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