How the Second Boer War began. To the 117 anniversary of the outbreak of hostilities
In the middle of the 17th century the Dutch colony was founded by the Dutch. However, in the 1795 year, when the troops of Napoleonic France occupied the Netherlands themselves, the Cape colony, in turn, was occupied by Great Britain. Only in 1803, the Netherlands regained control of the Cape Colony, but in 1806 it, under the pretext of protection from the French, re-occupied the UK. According to the decision of the Vienna Congress 1814, the Cape Colony was transferred to the UK for "perpetual use". The first time in the life of the Dutch colonists, who were called Boers, or Afrikaners, little changed, but then, in 1834, Great Britain abolished slavery in its colonies.
Since many Boers held slaves, on whose labor prosperous farms were kept, they began to move outside the Cape Colony. Another reason for the resettlement was the flirting of the British colonial authorities with the leaders of the African tribes, which could lead to the elimination of opportunities for further land seizure by borax farmers. In addition, English colonists began to actively migrate to the Cape Colony, which also did not suit the Afrikaners who settled here earlier. The massive relocation of the Boers entered into history like a great track. Over 15 thousand people participated in it. Most of them came from eastern districts of the Cape Colony. Boers began to move through the territories inhabited by African tribes - Zulus, Ndebele and others. Naturally, this promotion was not of a peaceful nature. It can be said that the Boer statehood was born in battles with African tribes and was accompanied by heavy losses. However, the Natal Republic was created in 1839. However, Britain refused to recognize the independence of this state. As a result of several years of negotiations, the authorities of Natal agreed to come under British control. After that, the Boers who disagreed with this decision moved further to the areas of the Vaal and Orange rivers, where the Orange Free State was created in 1854, and the Republic of South Africa (Transvaal Republic) was created in 1856.
Transvaal and Orange were full-fledged sovereign states of the Boers, who had to survive in a hostile environment - on the one hand, their neighbors were militant African tribes, on the other hand - the territories under British control. British politicians hatched a plan to unite the South African lands - both British possessions and the Boer territories into a single confederation. In 1877, the British managed to annex the Transvaal, but already in 1880, an armed uprising of the Boers began, which escalated into the First Anglo-Boer War, which continued until March of 1881.
Despite the obvious military advantage of the British, the Boers were able to inflict a number of serious defeats on British troops. This was due to the peculiarities of the battle tactics and the uniform of British troops. The English soldiers at the time still wore bright red uniforms, which were an excellent target for the Boer snipers. In addition, the British units were accustomed to act in the ranks, while the Boers acted more mobile and dispersed. In the end, not wanting to suffer serious losses, the British side agreed to a truce. In fact, it was a victory for the Boers, since the independence of the Transvaal was restored.
Of course, the leaders of the Boers had to agree with such demands of the British as recognition of the formal suzerainty of Great Britain and the representation of Transvaal’s last interests in international politics, but in turn, the British authorities pledged not to interfere in the internal affairs of the republic.
- Paul Kruger, President of the Republic of South Africa in 1883-1900
However, in 1886, diamond deposits were discovered on the territory controlled by the drills, after which the "diamond rush" began. Numerous prospectors and colonists began to move to Transvaal - representatives of very different nations, first of all - immigrants from Great Britain and other European countries. The diamond industry was under the control of the British, primarily the De Beers company, created by Cecil Rhodes. From that moment on, the British directly embarked on destabilizing the internal situation in the Transvaal, as they sought to finally establish control over the Boer Republic. For this, Cecil Rhodes, the former Prime Minister of the Cape Colony, used the Outlanders, the English settlers who lived in the Transvaal. They demanded equality of rights with the Boers, giving the English language the status of the state language, as well as the rejection of the principle of nomination of only Calvinist followers to government posts (the Dutch settlers were Calvinists). The British authorities demanded that the Outlanders who lived at least 5 years in the Transvaal and Orange have the right to vote. This was opposed by the Boer leaders, who were well aware that the influx of the Outlanders, and even with the right to vote, would mean the end of the Boer independence. The conference in Bloemfontein, which was assembled on 31 in May on 1899, ended in failure - the Boers and the British did not reach a compromise.
Nevertheless, Paul Kruger nevertheless went to meet the British - he offered to provide the electoral rights to the Oit-lander living in Transvaal in exchange for the refusal of the United Kingdom to interfere in the internal affairs of the Republic of South Africa. However, this seemed not enough for the British authorities - they demanded not only to immediately give the oot-landers the right to vote, but also to provide them with a quarter of the seats in the republic's Volksraad (parliament) and recognize English as the second official language of South Africa. Additional armed forces were deployed to the Cape Colony. Realizing that the war was about to begin, the Boer leaders decided to launch a preemptive strike on British positions. 9 October 1899 Mr. Paul Kruger demanded that the British authorities stop all military preparations at the border of the Republic of South Africa during the 48 hours. With the Transvaal, the Orange Free State stands in solidarity. Both republics did not have regular armed forces, but could mobilize up to 47 thousands of militias, many of whom had extensive experience in waging war in South Africa, as they participated in clashes with African tribes and in the First Anglo-Boer War.
October 12 1899 was a five-thousand Boer team commanded by Peter Arnold Cronier (1836-1911) - an outstanding Boer military and state leader, member of the First Boer War and a number of other armed conflicts - crossed the border of British possessions in South Africa and began the siege of the city of Mafinga which was defended by 700 fighters of British irregular troops with 2 artillery guns and 6 machine guns. Thus, October 12 can be considered the day of the start of hostilities of the Boer republics against Britain. However, in November 1899, the main part of the Boer army under the command of Cronier went to the city of Kimberley, which was also under siege from October 15. Kimberly was assisted by the 10-thousandth 1-I infantry division of the British army, which included 8 infantry battalions and a cavalry regiment, 16 artillery shells and even one armored train.
Despite the fact that the British managed to stop the advancement of the Boers, they suffered serious losses. So, in the battles at st. Belmont and Enslyn Heights, British troops lost 70 people killed and 436 people injured, and near the Modder River - 72 people killed and 396 people injured. In December, the British attempted to attack the Boer positions at Magersfontein, but were defeated and lost about 1000 personnel men. In Natal, the Boers managed to block the troops of General White under Ladysmith and defeat the military grouping of General R. Buller who set off to help them. In the Cape Colony, the Boer troops captured Nauport and Stormberg. In addition, numerous tribesmen, whose settlements remained on the territory of the Cape Colony, crossed over to the side of the Boers.
The rapid success of the Boers greatly scared the British authorities. London began the transfer of numerous military formations to South Africa. The British taken from the British cruisers were even delivered to Ladysmith by rail. fleet heavy long-range naval artillery, which played a crucial role in protecting the city. By December 1899, the number of British troops in South Africa reached 120 thousand people. The Boers could oppose the British army to much smaller forces. As noted above, 45-47 thousand people were mobilized in the Orange Republic and Transvaal. In addition, volunteers from all over Europe rushed to the aid of the Boer republics, who considered the actions of Great Britain in South Africa as aggression and violation of the sovereignty of independent states. The struggle of the Boers against British aggression aroused the sympathy of the broad masses of the European population. As the Second Boer War received media coverage, a real stir began around the events in faraway South Africa. Newspapers appealed to people who wanted to sign up as volunteers and go to South Africa to help the Boers defend their independence.
Do not become an exception and subjects of the Russian Empire. As is known, a large number of Russian volunteers participated in the Anglo-Boer War. In some studies, even an approximate number of Russian officers who came to fight on the side of the Boer republics - 225 people are voiced. Many of them were titled noblemen - representatives of the most famous aristocratic families in the Russian Empire. For example, Prince Bagration Mukhransky and Prince Engalychev took part in the Anglo-Boer War. Fyodor Guchkov went to South Africa as a volunteer - the brother of the famous politician Alexander Guchkov, the centurion of the Kuban Cossack army. For several months, Alexander Guchkov himself, the future chairman of the State Duma of the Russian Empire, also fought in South Africa. By the way, colleagues marked the courage of the Guchkov brothers, who, being not so young people (Alexander Guchkov was 37 years old, and his brother Fyodor - 39 years).
Perhaps the brightest figure among Russian volunteers in South Africa was Evgeny Yakovlevich Maksimov (1849-1904) - a man of amazing and tragic fate. In the past, an officer in the cuirassier regiment, still in 1877-1878. Maksimov participated in the Russian-Turkish war, in 1880 he set off for the Akhal-Teke expedition, as part of which he commanded the flying squad of General Mikhail Skobelev. In 1896, Maksimov traveled to Abyssinia, in 1897, in Central Asia. In addition to his military career, Maximov was engaged in front-line journalism. In 1899, the fifty-year-old Maximov traveled to South Africa. He joined the European Legion, staffed by volunteers from Europe and the Russian Empire as well.
When the commander of the Legion de Vilbois died, Maximov was appointed the new commander of the European Legion. The Boer command assigned him the title of "fencing general" (combat general). The further fate of Maximov was tragic. After returning to Russia, in 1904, he volunteered to participate in the Russian-Japanese war, although by his age (55 years) he could easily rest in retirement. In a battle on the Shah River, Lieutenant Colonel Yevgeny Maximov was killed. Fighting officer he left with weapons in the hands, never having reached a peaceful old age.
Despite the increased resistance of the Boers, the United Kingdom, which greatly increased the number of its contingent in South Africa, soon began to crowd the armed forces of Transvaal and Orange. Field Marshal Frederick Roberts was appointed commander of the British forces. Under his command, the British army achieved a turning point in the fighting. In February 1900, the forces of the Orange Free State were forced to capitulate. 13 March 1900, the British occupied Bloemfontein, the capital of the Orange Free State, and 5, June 1900, fell Pretoria, the capital of the Republic of South Africa. The British leadership announced the liquidation of the Orange Free State and the Republic of South Africa. Their territories were incorporated into British South Africa. By September 1900, the regular phase of the war in South Africa had ceased, but the Boers continued their partisan resistance. By this time, Field Marshal Roberts, who received the title of Earl of Pretoria, departed from South Africa, and the command of British troops was transferred to General Horace Herbert Kitchener.
In order to neutralize the partisan resistance of the Boers, the British resorted to barbaric methods of warfare. They burned down Boer’s farms, killed civilians, including women and children, poisoned springs, stole or killed livestock. By these actions to undermine the economic infrastructure, the British command planned to stop the fighting from the Boers. In addition, the British tried such a method as the construction of concentration camps, in which the Boers, who lived in the countryside, were placed. Thus, the British wanted to prevent the possible support from their part of the partisan detachments.
In the end, the Boer leaders were forced to sign the 31 of May 1902 of the year in the place called Fereniking near Pretoria a peace treaty. The Orange Free State and the Republic of South Africa recognized the authority of the British crown. In response, the United Kingdom pledged to amnesty the participants of the armed resistance, agreed to use the Dutch language in the judicial system and the education system, and most importantly - refused to grant voting rights to Africans before introducing self-government in their areas of residence. In 1910, the territories inhabited by the drills became part of the Union of South Africa, which in 1961 was transformed into the Republic of South Africa.
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