Blockade by other Means or How to Deal with Neutrals? Britain and its Experience of the Second Boer War

Abstract

The Second Boer War (1899–1902) not only marked a peak in British imperial politics, but also foreshadowed the Allies’ blockade policies of the First and Second World Wars. This article discusses how Britain, a belligerent, dealt with neutrals, in particular Germany and Portugal during the Second Boer War. The neutral port of Lourenço Marques (today known as Maputo), part of Portuguese Mozambique, played an important role as it offered the only access to the sea for the Boer republics (South African Republic and Orange Free State). Blockading Lourenço Marques was not an option, instead Britain introduced various measures of trade control as a ‘blockade by other means’. This article examines Britain’s measures, and how it dealt with neutrals’ protests against them, illustrating the balancing act Britain had to undertake to avoid an escalation of the war. This study helps to understand the wider significance of the Second Boer War as a field of experimentation for the ‘blockade by other means’, also in the context of the First and Second World Wars, in which the Allied blockade policies were further developed.