Anglo-Boer War
 also known as the South
African War
1899-1902
Causes of the War
 Two
groups of white imperialists set
up colonies in South Africa
 British  called the Rooineks
 Dutch called the Boers
 Dutch (Boer) miners find diamond
and gold in South Africa  many
English (rooineks) come to seek
fortune
 Tensions
rise between English and Dutch
 Two Boer republics, the South African
Republic (Transvaal) and the Orange Free
State, were not prepared to be ruled by
the British.
 They wanted to preserve their
independence and to build their own
country.
The War
 500,000
British vs. 87,000 Boers
 At first, the Boers were winning the
war because they were determined
and Britain was slow to send troops
Results of the War
 The
Anglo-Boer War was extremely
costly for the British. It was costing
the British taxpayer £2,5 million a
month.
 British wanted to end the war quickly,
so they adopted a scorched earth policy
Scorched Earth Policy
 They
decided to sweep the country bare
of everything that could help the Boers
(cattle, sheep, horses, women and
children, etc.)
Scorched Earth Policy
 Destroyed
30,000 Boer farmhouses
and more than 40 towns.
 Thousands of women and children
were removed from their homes by
force.
 They
had little or no time to remove
valuables before their houses were
burnt down.
 They were then taken by ox-wagon or
in open cattle trucks to the nearest
concentration camp.
Implementing Scorched Earth
Policy
Concentration Camps
 British
built the world’s first
concentration camps
 The camps were not intended to kill,
just to keep the women and children
imprisoned until the end of the war.
 Conditions
in the camps were less
than ideal.
 Tents
were overcrowded.
 No meat
 No vegetables
 No fresh milk for the babies and children
Accommodations
Waiting for Food Rations
Waiting for Water
Results of Concentration Camps
 The
very poor diet led to:
malnutrition
 The rapid spread of diseases such as
whooping cough, measles, typhoid fever, and
dysentery especially amongst the children.

 There
was a chronic shortage of medical
supplies, medical staff, and food.
 Eventually
26,370 women and children
(81% were children) died in the
concentration camps.
 The Boers ultimately lost the war because
of this scorched earth policy
 Boers came out of the war very bitter
towards the British because so many
women and children died in the
concentration camps
Bloemfontein Concentration
Camp
The War Ends


Treaty of Vereeniging in 1902
Boers are forced to accept British rule under
following conditions:
Protection of Dutch language (Afrikaners)
 Property rights
 Promise of eventual self-government
 Agreement that no rights would be given to blacks
until an organized government was set up

Ultimate Outcomes of the
War
 British
lost 5,000 soldiers; Boers only
lost 3,700 soldiers plus over 26,000
women and children
 British are not the majority group in
South Africa even though they have
the political power
Impact of WWII
 The
outbreak of WWII in 1939 deepened
the divide between the Boers and
Rooineks in South Africa



The Boers (Dutch) wanted to help Germany and the Axis
powers because Germany had lent them aid during the Boer
war and many Boers agreed with Hitler’s ideas.
The Rooineks (British) wanted to help the Allied power
defeat Hitler
Because the British held the political power, South
Africa sent troops to help the Allies
1948 Election


Two main political parties: United Party and
Herenigde (reunited) National Party (HNP)
United Party argued that because of the poverty
among the black African tribes, total segregation
was impossible. They suggested that blacks be
used as manual labor in factories in the cities.

HNP argued that only total separation of
blacks and whites would prevent a move
toward equality and the eventual
overwhelming of white society by black.

The population of South Africa was 87% black
and 13% white, but the blacks were broken up
into hundreds of tribes so they lacked the unity
to overthrow the whites in power.
 HNP
wins the election, renames itself
the National Party (NP) and holds
political power in South Africa until
1994.
 Apartheid – the legal segregation of
blacks and whites – officially becomes
the law in 1948.
Under Apartheid…
Separate but unequal – blacks were not given
the same rights because they were considered
inferior
 Government forced all blacks to move out of
cities
 Prohibited mixed marriages
 Blacks were not provided education and were
not permitted to attend white schools


Workers rights:
Blacks were denied some jobs entirely because it
resulted in “unfair competition” for whites
 Whites got paid more to do the same jobs as blacks


Blacks could not remain in urban areas more
than 72 hours without a special permit saying
they were legally employed
 Government
banished blacks to rural
lands
 Similar to the Indian reservations
created in America
 The land provided was not enough for
the blacks to live a comfortable life:
 Not
enough land to grow sufficient food
 Overcrowding
Board of Censors was created to censor
books, films, and other media imported into
or produced in South Africa  anyone who
disagreed with Apartheid was silenced
 Blacks had to carry passbooks at all times 
500,000 blacks were imprisoned in the 1950s
alone for pass-law violations
