The Second Boer War, 1899-1902
Britain and South Africa in 1899
By the late 1890s, southern Africa had become one of the most contested regions on earth. The discovery of gold in the Transvaal in 1886 transformed what had been a farming republic into the richest territory on the continent. British mine owners and financiers, led by figures such as Cecil Rhodes, pressed the British government to extend its control over Boer-run territories. The Boers — descendants of Dutch settlers — fiercely resisted British domination. Diplomatic negotiations broke down, and on 11 October 1899 the Boers declared war and immediately invaded British-held Natal and the Cape Colony.
Gold was discovered in the Transvaal in 1886. British desire to control this wealth was a leading cause of the Second Boer War, which began in October 1899.
Early Boer Success and the Sieges
The opening months of the war shocked the British public. Well-armed Boer commandos using guerrilla tactics — small, mobile fighting units that knew the terrain — inflicted a series of embarrassing defeats on British forces during “Black Week” in December 1899. Three major British garrisons at Ladysmith, Mafeking and Kimberley were surrounded and besieged. Britain had badly underestimated its enemy.
The relief of Mafeking in May 1900 triggered wild celebrations across Britain. Colonel Robert Baden-Powell had held the town for 217 days. The exuberant public response — crowds filled the streets and a new word, “mafficking,” entered the language to describe rowdy celebrating — showed how deeply the war had gripped the public imagination. However, the easy victories that many had predicted never came.
The Boers were experienced farmers who knew the South African landscape intimately. They were skilled horsemen and marksmen, equipped with modern Mauser rifles. Their guerrilla tactics meant they could strike British supply lines and retreat before the much larger British army could respond. British commanders, trained for conventional set-piece battles in Europe, were slow to adapt.
When Field Marshal Lord Roberts and General Kitchener arrived in early 1900, they rapidly reversed the early setbacks. British forces captured Pretoria, the Transvaal capital, in June 1900. However, rather than surrendering, the Boer commandos dispersed into the countryside and began a prolonged guerrilla campaign.
Scorched Earth and Concentration Camps
To defeat the guerrilla campaign, Kitchener introduced a strategy of systematic devastation. British forces burned Boer farms, destroyed crops and livestock, and rounded up Boer civilians — mainly women and children — into concentration camps. The intention was to deny the commandos food and support. By 1902 approximately 154,000 Boer civilians were held in these camps.
The conditions were appalling. Overcrowding, inadequate food, poor sanitation and disease — especially measles and typhoid — killed approximately 26,000 Boer civilians, most of them children. Black Africans were held in separate camps where death rates were at least as high; around 20,000 died there. These figures remain controversial but represent the consensus of modern scholarship.
Emily Hobhouse, a British welfare campaigner, visited the camps in 1901 and published a detailed report exposing the death rates and suffering. Her findings caused a public outcry in Britain and changed the tone of debate about the war.
Emily Hobhouse travelled to the camps in early 1901, gathering evidence on food rations, medical provision and mortality. Her report was met with hostility from the government. The War Secretary, St John Brodrick, dismissed her findings and initially barred her return to South Africa. Under public pressure, a commission chaired by Millicent Fawcett was sent to investigate. The Fawcett Commission broadly confirmed Hobhouse’s findings and recommended improvements; conditions improved significantly after 1901, though deaths continued until the war ended in 1902.
Changing Attitudes in Britain
The war exposed deep divisions within British society. Supporters, known as “jingoes” or “khaki imperialists,” celebrated the war as a defence of British interests and empire. The 1900 general election was called early to exploit war enthusiasm; it became known as the Khaki Election because the Conservatives under Lord Salisbury used patriotic feeling to win a comfortable majority.
However, a growing “pro-Boer” movement, which included Liberal politicians such as David Lloyd George and campaigners such as Emily Hobhouse, condemned the war as immoral and imperialist. Lloyd George faced hostile crowds when he spoke out at public meetings. The camps controversy converted many moderates to criticism of the war. By 1901–1902, even some supporters acknowledged that the methods used had damaged Britain’s moral reputation abroad.
The Treaty of Vereeniging, signed in May 1902, ended the war. The Boer republics were absorbed into the British Empire but were promised eventual self-government; that promise was fulfilled in 1910 with the creation of the Union of South Africa. The war had cost approximately £220 million and around 22,000 British soldiers’ lives, mostly to disease. It left Britain isolated diplomatically and damaged the image of empire at home and abroad.