The_Boer_War_Britains_Wakeup_Call.ppt

1、The Boer War (1880-1902): Britains Wakeup Call,OUTLINE,First Boer War (1880,12) Second Boer War (1899,121902) Conclusion Consequences,First Boer War,Initially, the Transvaal Boers adopted a policy of passive resistance. When the British government made its determination to uphold the annexation clea

2、r, the Boers turned to armed resistance in December 1880. They reinstated the republic, led by a triumvirate consisting of Vice President Paul Kruger, Commandant-General Piet Joubert and MW Pretorius. The first Boer War broke out on 16 December 1880 with a skirmish between the British garrison in Po

3、tchefstroom and a commando under General Piet Cronj.,Boer soldiers at Ladysmith, South Africa, circa 1899,Second Boer War,In 1886, gold was discovered in the Transvaal region of South Africa, an area then populated mostly by Afrikaans speaking Boers, descendents of the original 17th century Dutch se

4、ttlers. This discovery led only 13 years later to the Boer War, a conflict which changed forever the way Britain thought about its Empire. It compared favorably with the bolt-action .303 Lee-Metford which the British Army had been using since 1888, and the improved version, the Lee-Enfield, which wa

5、s introduced during the second Boer War. They had a greater magazine capacity than the Mauser ten rounds but had to be loaded one round at a time, while the Mauser could be loaded quickly from clips.,Lord Roberts planning the advance on Pretoria,Conclusion,When the fighting began in October 1899, th

6、e British confidently expected their troops to victoriously conclude the conflict by Christmas. But this actually proved to be the longest, costliest, bloodiest and most humiliating war fought by Britain between 1815 and 1914. Even though the military forces mobilized in South Africa by the worlds g

7、reatest imperial power outnumbered the Boer fighters by nearly five to one, they required almost three years to completely subdue the tough pioneer people of fewer than half a million.,At its core, Britains leaders were willing to sacrifice the lives of many of her own sons, and to kill men, women a

8、nd children in a far-away continent, to add to the wealth and power of an already immensely wealthy and powerful worldwide empire. Few wars during the past one hundred years were as avoidable, or as patently crass in motivation as was the South African War of 1899-1902.,Consequences,1.Almost immedia

9、tely after gold was discovered, the region was providing over 25% of the worlds gold. 2.Seizing a chance to make millions, many a British entrepreneur invested in the gold mines, and by 1899, over two-thirds were owned by British stockholders. 3.While the gold mines immensely benefited the Boers, th

10、ey were also seen as a blatant attempt to undermine their culture and way of life, as well as their autonomy. As the mines continued to become more and more prosperous, and as more and more British investments poured into the mines, relations between the Boers and the English, never cozy, became wor

11、se and worse. By October 1899, things had escalated to war. 4. Both sides had anticipated an easy victory; both were disappointed. 5.The concept of the British Empire changed forever.,6.As the war dragged on, however, the public started to watch with horror Lord Kitcheners campaign, which to some, u

12、sed methods of barbarism. 7.At the same time, perhaps the nastiest political climate ever in the 20th Century began to form, with epithets such as pro-Boer far exceeding the level of a pro-German during any of the world wars. 8. This political climate was heightened by the Conservative Governments (

13、under Marquees of Salisbury. 9.This electoral strategy would be copied several times during the 20th Century with almost perfect results. 10.It became readily apparent that the ideal of Splendid Isolation, which had permeated British foreign policy until then, was hopelessly outdated and should not be used a s a foreign