The+First+Boer+War

The First Boer War By   Jordan Springer Most wars have easy names that very simply show what they are. Take, example, the American Revolutionary War. As the name would suggest, this is a war in which the citizens of what is now America fought for their freedom, or rebelled. However, when most people hear the name “The Boer War” they simply scratch their heads. This is a war that most people, particularly Americans, do not know about. However, to the citizens of South Africa, the First Boer War is an event that helps define South Africa. Like the American Revolution, it was a war that helped to separate the country from others’ rule, and many parallels can be drawn between the two.

Although the word “Boer” may seem odd, it truly does show a lot about the war. It involved two sides: the British and the Boers. Again, there is the word “Boer.” Boer was a word used by the Dutch and later the British to describe the Dutch who moved away from the existing civilizations and became farmers. An independent country was formed, known as the South African Republic, or as it is more commonly known, the Transvaal. This war was fought because the British in the region wanted to annex the area the Boers occupied. As could be expected, the Boers were unhappy with this decision, and so they rebelled. At first, the rebellion was non-violent, consisting mostly of protests, but eventually conflict was sparked.

The first battle, oddly enough, was fought over a wagon. A citizen of the Transvaal had his wagon confiscated by British authorities for not paying extra taxes on it, despite the fact that he insisted he had. A commando of one hundred Boer men took back the wagon from the British, who were attempting to auction it off. However, the first real battle of the war happened a few days later, on November 11. The Boers were more of a civilian army, having no official uniform and being composed of citizens rather than official soldiers. However, this actually helped them to eventually win the war. The Boer fighters wore their everyday clothes to battle, while the British had official uniforms. The Boers’ clothes served as camouflage; their greens and browns contrasted strongly with the reds, blues, and whites of the British. The Boers were also better shots than the British. They were marksmen, able to pick off targets from a distance, while the British fired in volleys and were poor shots individually. The tactics of the Boers focused on speed and effectiveness, while the British were more concerned with organization. Ineffective British leaders also contributed to the British loss, and the war ended on August 3rd, 1881. On that day, the British issued the Pretoria Convention. This meant that Transvaal was an independent republic, although the British would act as overlords and monitor all relations with foreign countries. This continued until 1884, when Transvaal became the South African Republic through the London Convention. The British lost all of their powers but monitoring international relations.

Overall, this war served a great purpose. In addition to officially establishing South Africa as a country, it also showed the world that the country was capable of fighting for themselves and were worthy of being an independent nation. This war formed the country that would eventually develop into the nation of South Africa. Worldwide, this war helped to show that the British were not the all-powerful army they were widely thought to be. In addition to this, the result of the First Boer War helped create the tension that would build until the Second Boer War.