'The Anglo Boer War'

The Anglo-Boer, defining ‘Dutch farmer’, first settled in the 1600s, but were taken over by Britain in 1814. Rebelling to foreign rule, many Boers headed north and established the Orange Free State and the Transvaal Republic. Some may call it the freedom wars, were fought between the British Empire and the two independent Boer republics, as well as the Orange Free State and the South African Republic or the Transvaal republic. There were two Boer wars, one from 1880 to 1881, and the other from 1899 to 1902.

The first war was a very brief war, and only consisted of conflict between the Boers and the British. The war was about re-establishment in the area of Transvaal and to regain their independence. With growing claims from the republic, the Pretoria government was ineffective in dealing with them.

The second war was a very lengthy battle and comprised of troops from British possession, which were Boer republics converted into British colonies. These colonies later formed part of the Union South Africa.  During this war, the British fought directly against the origin of Transvaal and the Orange Free State. Because of this, the British were high in losses, also due to the fact that disease was a factor for concern.

Alongside the war was the acting of concentration camps where Boer civilians were held. This made the quality of life cease and the majority of people in that particular area, grow to a majority of destitute black south Africans and Boers without farms to go back to.  To make this act a lot less tolerable for the Boers, the policy of the ‘scorched earth’ came into play. The policy of the ‘scorched earth’ was a terrible method to enforce on those Boers, (British destroyed everything they came across), destroying anything of use to the Boers, making their life worthy to die for.