The Boer War 1899-1902 and National Efficiency

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In 1897, Queen Victoria celebrated her Diamond Jubilee. The economic prosperity and industrial supremacy would seem to be enough for the British. But Alfred Milner the High Commissioner of Cape Colony in South Africa, wanted to further enhance British dominance in Africa. He wanted gold mines in the Dutch Boer republics of the Transvaal and the Orange Free State. He also wanted to create a Cape-to-Cairo confederation of British colonies to dominate the African continent with himself as the proposed ruler. In 1899 war broke out between the powerful British Empire and the Boer Republics in South Africa. The Boers were descendents of Dutch settlers. The British thought the war would be over quickly, but the Boer forces proved to be well trained, well equipped and well led. The war dragged on for three years. Eventually, Britain used 450,000 troops to defeat Boer forces that totalled 35,000 men. Milner and his generals were characteristically optimistic but they soon learned they were in for a protracted and bloody conflict. Military disasters abounded and 22,000 men were killed in the initial stages. The Boer War was a period of sustained violence. For nearly three years the British exercised a scorched-earth policy that left the country in ruins. The Boer republics knew they stood in Britain's way and citing the strategy that 'the key to a good defence is a good offence' struck first. In 1899 a Boer population of less than 100,000 farmers attacked British cities in South Africa and proceeded to hold at bay a British army of 450,000 for a further two years.The Empire was internationally humiliated. One historian describes the war as 'Britain's Vietnam'. The Boers invaded Natal and Cape Province and quickly captured the towns of Ladysmith, Mafeking, and Kimberly. The British abandoned their original plans in an effort to take back these towns. The British
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