The Anglo-Boer War respectively the South African War - an overview

Seminar paper from the year 2006 in the subject History - Africa, grade: 1,3, University of Osnabrück, language: English, abstract: The Boer Wars at the dawn of the century highly influenced not only South African history, especially in terms of the development of the apartheid system, but it additionally changed the possibilities of warfare. These conflicts between the British Empire and the two independent Boer republics, the Orange Free State and the Transvaal (South African Republic) took place from 1880 to 1881 and 1899 to 1902. Even though formally there have been two wars in a short period of time, one usually focuses on the Second Boer War, also known as the South African War, Anglo-Boereoorlog (Anglo-Boer War), Tweede Vryheidsoorlog (Second Freedom War) or 'Tea-Time War'. This paper will mainly concentrate on the South African War, even though background information will be provided. Historians ought not to ask 'What if...?', since they have to focus on facts. But ignoring this guideline for a moment, fascinating questions arise: 'What if the large deposits of gold and diamonds in the Transvaal were not found in the 1870s and 1880s? Would the British have fought for the rights of the uitlanders nevertheless?' These are two of the questions which will be dealt with (in 2.1) when reasoning the origins / causes of the war. Following, the paper will bring together the facts and some unusual features of the South African War. Its center of attention will be the Guerilla War starting of in September 1900 and lasting till the Treaty of Vereeniging in May 1902, the end of the War.