The++Boer+War+1899-1902

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Casey Manion 11CManion@gmail.com Google/Blogger username: 11CManion

Alfred Milner the High Commissioner of Cape Colony in South Africa, wanted to further enhance British dominance in Africa. Milner wanted to create a Cape-to-Cairo confederation of British colonies to dominate the African continent with himself as the proposed ruler. He wanted gold mines in the Dutch Boer republics of Transvaal and Orange Free State. In the initial stages 22,000 men were abounded and killed. The Boer commando units used guerilla warfare by blowing up trains and ambushing British troops for two years. http://www.victorianstation.com/boerwar.htm The last surviving veteran, George Frederick Ives (1881-1993) died in 1993. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boer_War The defeated Boers and the British sign the Vereeniging. [|http://www.cusd.chico.k12.ca.us/~bsilva/projects/scramble/boer_war.htm] http://www.nndb.com/people/007/000159527/alfred%20milner.jpg

Devin Morgan 11morgan@live.com Google name- 11morgan

-the British wanted a share of the gold that was being dealt on the London bullion market -the British believed gold would make the Afrikaners wealthy -by January 1900 the Afrikaners beat the British in four battles and laid siege to Ladysmith, Kimberley, and Mafeking -chief of staff Kitchener reversed the defeats and applied a scorched earth policy so that the Boers and local people had no cover or food -the British set up approximately 50 concentration camps where more than 26,000 women and kids died http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/history/empire/episodes/episode_71.shtml

- first contingents arrived in South Africa in November 1899, reaching over 16,000 soldier - the soldiers were militia with 36 to 80 hours of training a year - the units arrived small because the British government only allowed units to be consisted of about 125 - the Boers and Australians were both countrymen and adapted to the environment - some volunteered in the war and were form southern Africa - the war for the British began badly because the Boers laid siege to part of the Transvaal - things became worst during a period called Black Week(Dec 10-17) where Britain lost 2900 soldiers - things turned in January 1 1900 when 200 Australians attacked a Boer camp leaving 30 dead and 41 imprisoned - Boers reacted on January 16 by leading 400 men onto a hill where 20 Australians were mounted, but the Australians managed to beat off the attack http://www.historynet.com/second-boer-war.htm

-By 1899 Britain was the greatest monetary power in the world and was being challenged by the rise of the US and Germany -Britain’s monetary power had to be maintained but gold reserves were running low -That led Britain to covet the rich gold fields of the Witwatersrand in the Transvaal Republic -The gold in the Witwatersrand required underground mining and advanced engineering solutions -The British didn’t believe the Transvaal government was able to meet the requirements -Many mine-owners of the Transvaal spoke English and were known as //uitlanders or outlanders// // -Britain wanted to use the grievances of those people as a reason for going to war // //-Britain declared war on October 11th 1899// //-Boers were a militia force of fighters put into groups known as commandos// -Many Boers were expert marksmen and horsemen and also had the latest rifles -Boers had 30 to 40 thousand fighters while Britain had 20 thousand -Originally the Boers invaded Natal with the intentions of taking over ports of Durban and Cape Town -The Boers failed to complete those missions and lead them to take defense against the British -The British ordered close attacks but they failed due to the Boers’ ability to dig holes that allowed them not to be seen -Boer marksmen brought many casualties to British soldiers that were exposed -The British decided to destroy farms and group women and children into concentration camps where man died -Out of 24,000 Boer casualties, 20,000 of them were women and children -To prevent Boers from moving freely, the British constructed 8,000 blockhouses -With the damage of their homeland the Boers surrendered on May 31th 1902 -22,000 British soldiers died in the war, two thirds from disease http://african-colonialism.suite101.com/article.cfm/the_second_anglo_boer_war

Andrew Lamont 11ALamont@comcast.net Google- 11ALamont

-The Boers and Britain had a growing competition for the gold mines of Transvasaal and the Orange Free States in South Africa. Britain, led by Dr. L. Starr Jameson led 600 raiders into the Boer republic, but the Boers easily repelled the raiders, leaving 16 dead, 49 wounded, and only 1 dead Boer. -On October 11, 1899, the official beginning of the second Boer War, the two Boer republics brought 35,000 soldiers, including 1200 artillerymen. -A typical Boer soldier is an accurate marksman and hunter trained from childhood. He was usually a better fighter than his opposition, but the soldiers included in the 35,000 previously mentioned were brought together quickly, and weren't trained as well. -The British began with 22,000 well-trained soldiers and 60 cannons, but by 1900, the # of soldiers increased to 86,730. -The British soldiers were armed with guns that had to be manually loaded, so the Boers, who had automatic rifles, could fire 50 shots to every British 20. -In October 1899, the Boers became offensive and traveled to Mafeking, where they laid a 7-month seige on the area.
 * //Warfare and Armed Conflicts: A Statistical Reference// by Michael Clodfelter. copyright 1992

-**Alfred Milner, the High Commissioner of Cape Colony, South Africa, wanted the Boer controlled gold mined in Transvasaal and the Orange Free States. -Milner also wanted a "Cape-to-Cairo" set of British colonies that would help give the British control of Africa. - In october of 1899, the Boers, with the idea that a solid offense would work, invaded Natal and Cape Providence and took 3 cities: Kimberley, Mafeking, and Ladysmith -In May and June 1900, the British gained back 2 of the Boer capital cities in battle. -By that time, the British believed the war to be over, but the Boers sent soldiers that, for the next 2 years, used guerrilla warfare to attack the British. -The British could not used conventional ways to beat the Boers, so they adopted guerilla ways as well and the war quickly turned into a bloody and cruel struggle for land. -The British burned lands, and essentially cut off all resources to the Boers in Africa. They put the women and children into concentration camps. The Boers were starved into giving up, and in May 1902, they signed the Treaty of Vereeniging - Roughly 22,000 men died in the 3 year war for the gold mines of South Africa. http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/8141/boerwar.html