Anglo-Boer War  also known as the South African War

1. Anglo-Boer War also known as the South African War 1899-1902

2. 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

3. 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.

5. 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

6. 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

7. Scorched Earth Policy • They decided to sweep the country bare of everything that could help the Boers (cattle, sheep, horses, women and children, etc.)

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. Implementing Scorched Earth Policy

11. 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.

12. Conditions in the camps were less than ideal. • Tents were overcrowded. • No meat • No vegetables • No fresh milk for the babies and children

13. Accommodations

14. Waiting for Food Rations

15. Waiting for Water

16. 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.

17. 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

18. Bloemfontein Concentration Camp

19. 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

20. 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

21. 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

22. 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.

23. 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.

24. 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.

25. 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

26. 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

27. 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

28. 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