Boer War Research Articles

From Support to Satyagraha: The Transformative Impact of Boer War on Gandhi and the Indian Freedom Struggle

Gandhi’s experience during the Second Boer War was radically transformative, from espousing the British cause early on to complete disillusionment with the British Empire. Setting up the Indian Ambulance Corps to assist British soldiers was Gandhi’s first experience of organising a mass movement. The racist legislation after the war and the treatment of Indians at the hands of the British exposed Gandhi to the deeply racial character of British imperialism. The events that unfolded during the war and the post-war laid the groundwork for the evolution of Satyagraha, which later became the principal mode of protest against the British.

Radikaal versus beskeie: Die vroegste vrouestemme teen patriargie in die Suid-Afrikaanse literatuursisteem

This article explores similar social experiences of South Africa in the English and Afrikaans literary systems respectively. It investigates the reflection of patriarchy as an ideological presupposition of South African society in the earliest writings of two South African writers, Olive Schreiner (1855–1920) and Maria Elizabeth Rothmann (1875–1975) (known as M. E. R.). In doing this, it offers a discussion of how these women’s involvement in South African politics sought to address the situation that political rule during the late 1800s and early 1900s created for South African women in the broader context of the South African War. The practice of gender politics as a response to these social experiences is discussed, while the contribution of Schreiner’s radical voice to the stereotyping of the Afrikaner woman is compared to the modest voice with which M. E. R. fought for the rights of these stereotyped women. The article concludes that the nature of, and similarities and differences between their feminist voices determined Schreiner’s and M. E. R.’s contribution to their respective literary systems, as well as their contribution to English and Afrikaans prose.

Cultural mobilisation as a transnational phenomenon in the South African War of 1899–1902: a case study of Russian adolescents

Researchers have focused on the influence of cultural mobilisation on the population of a belligerent state. Yet, such mobilisation can spread abroad, affecting foreigners who sympathise with the goals of military campaigns led by other nations. For example, the Boer cultural mobilisation during the South African War of 1899–1902 led to the self-mobilisation of foreign volunteers, including Russian adolescents. The pro-Boer messages originating in the South African republics were internalised by other cultures. Although the initial impulse comes from the belligerent nation, cultural mobilisation can have a transnational dimension, defined and developed by its agents in their own countries.

The British Royals in Australia

This article examines how and why, from Australia’s colonial past to today, the British monarchy have “intruded” into our daily lives (Cannadine Orientalism 103). To ‘intrude’ suggests consciousness and agency in making sure they are constantly part of our social life. Public events, press releases, Websites, ceremonies, and the like do not occur randomly. Queen Elizabeth II was very aware that she ‘needed to be seen to be believed’. Is this enough of a reason for the British royals to appear on our currency or postage stamps, for their images to adorn tea towels and magazine covers, or for them to be subject of films, television shows, and book? Is the need to be seen the reason they visit our shores so frequently? If the British monarch rules with divine right, why does the royal family need to spend their time intruding into the lives of everyday people? Given Cannadine’s arguments that the royal family adopts traditions, symbols, and signifiers to reinforce and legitimate their power, it is possible to come to a view that the word ‘intrusion’ is not used by Cannadine by accident. The British royals need more than to be seen: they need to be seen in a particular light, with meanings that reinforce their positive role in national life – or at least posit that they do no harm and that they may indeed be good for the economy. It is not only their apparent public good that endlessly intrudes in our daily lives; so too do their transgressions. Regardless, they remain ever present. While representations of the British royals are not always positive, they are constant. Because they are constant, the public form views about them and their character. In this ‘social construction of reality’, as sociologists Berger and Luckman would put it, we think we know who and what the royals are, and for the most part we accept them as their preferred representation. If this is the case, the British royal family have successfully engaged in a hegemonic project – which explains why the royal family has survived, when so many other European royal families did not, and it also explains why they need to intrude into our daily lives. In her 2021 book Running the Family Firm: How the Monarchy Manages Its Image and Our Money, Laura Clancy argues that the British royals are very conscious of the need to present and continually represent a very particular, curated, and stage-managed version of themselves as a benign middle-upper class family, committed to public duty and sacrifice, who symbolise the nation and stability. This image, along with the public’s emotional investment in their daily lives, particularly when they marry and have children, seeks to render their capital accumulation, immense wealth, corporate and political power, and social and cultural privilege invisible. Clancy argues that this carefully curated public image of family and tradition not only conceals the power and wealth of the royals, but acts to counter criticisms and silence calls for their devolution. Invented Traditions What were the early expressions of empire and monarchy? For Australians, early expressions of empire and the British monarchy were evident in annual Empire Day activities and in royal visits. These expressions were accompanied by material expressions, including the British monarchy giving its names to our states, cities, streets, and parks as well as appearing on our postage stamps and currency. Monarchial kitsch including everyday items such as crockery, glassware, and tea towels aimed at family consumption were complemented with items aimed to be consumed by younger Australians, such as schoolbook covers. Overlaying this was the ubiquitous images of the monarch, hung in family homes and government offices, the flying of the Union Jack, and the daily singing of God Save the Queen at schools, its regular playing on the ABC, its playing at the start of theatrical productions, and sometimes at national sporting events, and its rendition at official events such as the opening of state and federal parliaments.  The British empire was once vast and powerful, however its size and authority has always required its attention. Empire Day was first envisaged in 1897, when Queen Victoria ruled one quarter of the world. The early aim of Empire Day was to remind children what it “meant to be sons and daughters of such a glorious Empire” (Johnson). It was an invented tradition, largely a product of imperial Irishman Lord Meath (English 258). Meath believed that “from their earliest years the children of the Empire should grow up with the thought of its claim upon their remembrance and their service” (Johnson). Unsettled by British vulnerabilities experienced during the Boer War (1899-1902), Meath wanted to “nurture a sense of collective identity and imperial responsibility among young empire citizens” to ensure the future defence of the empire (English 248). Simultaneously, with the power of America and Germany rising, and with “public enthusiasm” for Britain’s “imperial enterprise” waning, efforts were needed to reconsolidate British authority in the realm (Thompson 152). Empire Day was first celebrated in Australia in 1905. Initially a day aimed at children, it included saluting the British Union Jack and singing Jerusalem and God Save the Queen (Johnson), but it quickly became a ritual celebration which captured the popular imagination of both children and adults (English). Whole communities participated in Empire Day spectacles including flag waving, fetes, galas, parades, and the like, which rapturously demonstrated “unembarrassed fervor for King and country” (English 253). One 1908 example is indicative of Australian Empire Day celebrations. At three o’clock a procession will be formed and the Cadet Corps with the band playing and colours flying will march to the reserve enclosure on the Common. Arriving at the Arena, the Cadet Corps will fall in line with the school children in alphabetical order from the right. At 3.30, the Cadet Corps will troop the colours at the saluting base, the school children and Cadet Corps will march past and give three cheers and sing ‘God Save the King’. (Beaven and Griffiths 384) The initial success of Empire Day was that it “incorporated the cultural elements of imperial nationalism” (English 258), and at least until World War I it provided “social cohesion” that “appeared to transcend class divisions”. More likely, the day “reinforced social relations” by performing a “socialising role that upheld a belief in the racial superiority and the righteousness of the British Empire” (English 275). Empire Day provided a potent vehicle to indoctrinate Australians with British virtues (Springhall 97). These virtues were clearly spelt out by the watchwords of the Empire Movement, “Responsibility, Sympathy, Duty, and Self-sacrifice”, realising its “hegemonic potential” (English 258). It proved to be a “useful and important index of imperial sentiment” especially during the wars. That said, the “hegemonic imperial ideology” was not “uncontested” (English 258). But reflecting the decline of the British empire in the post-war period, Empire Day was re-badged as British Commonwealth Day in 1958, and in 1966 it became known as Commonwealth Day. The date of Commonwealth Day was also changed to 10 June, the official birthday of Queen Elizabeth II. The date was again changed in 1977 to the second Monday in March, when each year the Queen sent a special message to the youth of the Commonwealth via a radio broadcast. Empire Day was a celebration of British imperialism situated in, and performed by, citizens of the Commonwealth, to maintain British legitimacy and relevance; however, with the demise of such imperial days, royal tours took on new meanings. This was especially the case with the newly coronated Queen Elizabeth II. Royal Tours Though a modern concept, the idea of royal tours has a much longer heritage, dating to the Tudor and Elizabethan eras. By the time of Queen Victoria, royal tours came to be seen as a “more immediate way in which the crown was made truly imperial and the empire authentically royal” (Cannadine Orientalism 115), because they were majestic journeys to the empire which reciprocated and paralleled the pilgrimages made by the potentates from the periphery to the imperial metropolis … . These grand progresses by land and sea, lasting many months and covering many miles, involving countless receptions, dinners, parades, and speeches, and all carried on before vast, delighted and admiring crowds. (Cannadine Orientalism 115) British imperialism, and its own sense of righteousness and racial superiority, meant that royal tours were appealing (Reed 2). While events such as royal tours may appear on the surface as unproblematic, royal visits are more than benign public relations exercises. Decades of curated royal tours have acted more akin to propaganda, as they arguably ensure ongoing social, cultural, and political support for the British monarchy. In considering the nature of royal tours and other royal-related events and ephemera, it is timely to consider how much of what is presented to us is born out of tradition and how much of it is a construct designed to maintain the royals’ relevance. With monarchies in decline, largely seen as a relic of a past now unimaginable to many, it is necessary for them to ensure they are seen as vibrant and relevant. Royal tours provide a controlled opportunity to put themselves before flag-waving crowds and give speeches that speak of their affection for the host country. Royal tours do several things, but largely they seek to reaffirm the current and future monarchy, and they act to resist histories of racism and colonisation. In grief following the death of her husband in 1861, Queen Victoria herself rarely appeared in public and did not leave the British Isles, but by the last decades of her reign she did re-emerge as a “public icon, a national symbol, and an imperial totem” (Cannadine History 43). Reluctant to conduct royal tours herself, Queen Victoria arranged for other royals to represent her overseas, and these tours took on a ceremonial feel which became standardised and considered (Reed 3). Hence, royal tours emblematised a “newfound raison d’être” and “ceremonially perform[ed] as a symbol of the British nation-empire” (Reed 4). This was necessary considering that by the start of the twentieth century the British Empire was an “astonishingly diverse dominion, a rag-bag of territorial bits and pieces, created and governed in a correspondingly disorganised and unsystematic way” (Cannadine History 145-146). On becoming Empress of India in 1876, and with Queen Victoria’s Golden (1887) and Diamond Jubilees (1897), this saw a “symbolic reinvention, during which the monarchy was celebrated in grand style in Britain and across the empire” (Reed 4). The years also saw the arrival of mass-produced consumer items, meaning the “face of the Queen went around the world on souvenir crockery, handkerchiefs and chocolate wrappers”, making her the most famous person on earth at the time of her death (Connors 4). The royal family has “always reproduced itself” in pictures: be it coins, statues, paintings, photographs, and later television, “reiterating its symbolic identification with the nation” (Roberts 38). Event such as royal Jubilees and early royal tours provided crowds in Britain and throughout the empire with “ripe occasions on which to celebrate their white supremacy” (Connors 4). The British monarchy then and now has sought to project itself not only as “ancient and timeless, and therefore indispensable to national identity, but also as modern and useful” (Reed 5). But it remained a “cornerstone of an Anglo-Saxon race imperialism, the racially based patriotism that cemented the success of empire” (Connors 4). As such, royalty has always been produced to reify not just power but an idealized racial image. The pale-skinned, white-haired, pearl-draped Queen Victoria, her image reproduced on stamps, money, biscuit tins, postcards, and her portrait hung in colonial offices all over the British Empire served to make white rule of the non-white seem normative. (Roberts 33) With colonial policy shifting from military administrations in some parts of the British empire to one which recognised the “distant sympathies” of the empire, the realm was increasingly seen as “a source of incalculable strength and happiness” for Britain (Connors 2). In this context, the “imperial fantasy” was appealing (Reed 2). Since 1867, there have been over 50 royal tours of Australia, but only six before 1954. Queen Elizabeth’s first royal tour as the monarch was a six-month tour of the British Commonwealth beginning in November 1953, including a two month visit to Australia. The tour was planned as an “opportunity to thank the Commonwealth for its support during the Second World War, and to introduce the new Queen to her subjects” (HM Queen Elizabeth II). Queen Elizabeth II is the only reigning monarch to visit Australia, and did so 16 times before her death in 2022. The Australian leg of her royal tour began in Sydney on 3 February 1954. She was 27 and had only been coronated in June of the previous year. Royal visits consist of official events, such as the opening of parliament or attending Anzac Day services, and they consist of a range of highly curated visits to iconic Australian locations, including Bondi Beach or Uluru (Brien). Each event provides carefully managed photo opportunities of the royals. Enveloped in ceremony and pomp, such regular and ongoing events entrench the British royals into the daily lives of Australians. The aim of the visits is to represent the royals in ways which capture Australia’s imagination – hence the use of iconic locations. Modern societies often draw on “myth and ritual”, and the British royal family supply this with public ceremonies, including royal tours, that observers may have assumed have always existed and have been passed through the ages largely unchanged (Cannadine Context 102). Such ceremonies act to embody, reflect, uphold, and reinforce popular views about the royal family and their ongoing function and value. Ceremonies are therefore one example of how the royal family consolidates “its ideological dominance by exploiting pageantry as propaganda” (Cannadine Context 104). The reasons for public engagement with royal tours and to participate in royal tourism are diverse. They often do so to “satisfy their desires for aesthetic pleasure, edification, elitism, and/or entertainment”. They may also “make explicit connection to their citizenship, ethnicity, genealogy, or gender” (Otnes and Maclaran 195). Royal Icons The British empire successfully imported itself throughout its realm in the building of monuments and statues which glorified British monarchs. Such physical intrusions ensured a “powerful and widespread sense of the royal presence throughout the empire” which was not just “cartographical, sculptural, architectural or cadastral”: it was also an intrusion on “individual and collective” lives and imaginations (Cannadine Orientalism 103). Queen Victoria especially became a “ubiquitous symbol of Britain and its empire, made real to people across the world through images, statues, and visits” (Reed 2), and she “covered her colonies with the mantle of her name” (Connors 6). There are perhaps more statues of Victoria on earth than of any other non-religious figure in history. She sits or stands among whizzing automobiles in Auckland, in front of neo-Gothic façades in Mumbai, and near the waterfront that bears her name in Cape Town – in bustling metropolises and provincial towns, near churches, mosques, and temples. (Reed 1) The royal soap opera of weddings, babies, divorces, transgressions, and celebrities provides entertainment, but it also provides insights into the lives of people who are rich, famous, separated from us, but part of our memories and experiences. The impact they have on our lives is not just in royal tours or royal scandals, they provide a barometer of national life and are a reminder of where we were at pivotal moments, like the death of Princess Diana or King Charles III’s coronation. Hence the royals have become a part of our national consciousness and continue to be a part of our nation as a constitutional monarchy. The royals also do so much more, most of it grounded in invented traditions and imagined rituals; in fact, “with the possible exception of the papacy, no head of state is surrounded by more popular ritual” than the modern British royal family (Cannadine Context 102). It was via the creation and performance of public ceremonies from Empire Day to royal tours, at which we lined the streets for glimpse of a famous royal, be they happy to be here or not, that the royals became part of our everyday life. When the royals are not here wandering about on our beaches or judging sheep at agricultural shows, we don’t forget them. They are constant images on the cover of women’s magazines; as we wait in the checkout we are constantly reminded of them. We consume images of them and their children in designer clothes, mixing with the rich and famous, living a life most will never know, and safe from worries about the cost of living or mortgage rates. They holiday in exotic places and are featured in films and television. They give a glimpse of their rarefied world. 'Royalty’ has in many ways always been a construction. Royalty is political, gendered, raced, sexualised, and embodied. Royalty is imagined, in that is it something sculpted monumentally as if they were giants, to Elizabeth I, whose portraits in dresses heavy with pearls and rubies, both erase her body and celebrate its virginity (always figured as white), depicting her at once as the Fairy Queen (a supernatural being) and a tough, worldly, almost genderless ruler. (Roberts 35) The iconography, for example, of Princess Diana is symptomatic of a deep nostalgia for a white class that had been based on royal birth and marriage … . Diana, Princess of Wales, is emblematic of the good-white female of class and nobility. Though her marriage to Prince Charles was a disaster, the media portrays her as the beneficent, long-suffering good-white mother, who seemingly gave up her party girl ways to make sure that her sons kept their whitened royal stature. (Foster 125) The royal tour to Australia seems an apt place to exhibit the young female royal bodies of just coronated Queen Elizabeth II, an even younger Princess Diana, and the newly married Princess Catherine. But regardless of the popularity of Meghan in Australia in 2018, her ‘princess’ status was slippery; she was a Duchess, she was also divorced, and her age (37 at the time of the 2018 Australian royal tour and older than Prince Harry) may have meant that she did not neatly fit into the category of ‘young’. Princess Diana was 22 at the 1983 royal tour, Queen Elizabeth was 27, and Princess Catherine was 32. More so, much like Sarah, Duchess of York, Meghan did not fit the stereotype of the white, English princess because of her non-white, non-blonde appearance, never mind that she is American and divorced. Popular culture is saturated with idealised images and adoration for the ‘princess’, whether she is real, constructed, or imagined. The ‘princess’ is a “commodity, created and sanctioned by those who buy her image, a fiction written to feed those who 'read' her … she is deeply satisfying to us archetypally [and] emotionally” (Roberts 36). She is unattainable, revered, and celebrated. The role and history of British female monarchs – princesses and queens – has been a staple of popular culture representations, and ‘she’ has been the theatre of how audiences engage with the British monarchy. It is in film, television, theatre, statues, songs, magazine covers, and all manner of imagery from Queen Elizabeth I to Catherine, Princess of Wales, that the public has experienced, and often romanticised princesses. It is in these everyday iterations of British monarchs that we are reminded of how they have entered our public imaginations. Considering how many everyday and exceptional moments of royal engagement we encounter in our life, when it comes to questions like Australia becoming a republic the hegemonic work of the royals in becoming a part of our everyday lives and memories has been a success. It is in this project, evident most noticeably since the end of World War II when the British monarch was possibly on the slippery slope to obscurity, that a conscious, curated, and mediated project of royal tours, celebrations, births, deaths, marriages, divorces, and even scandals and transgressions, has kept the royals in our everyday lives (Hackett and Coghlan). Some we love, some we hate; they fight, just as our families do, and they represent and embody things they want us to believe and things we want them to be. As Walter Bagehot argued in the middle of the nineteenth century, and as is often repeated, it is the “symbolic, psychological and theatrical role of the constitutional monarchy” that the British royals provide to Britain and the Commonwealth. It is in the symbolism, theatrics, iconography, and ceremony that they continue to make themselves part of our national consciousness. While they continue to do so, Australia may well remain a constitutional monarchy rather than become a republic. 

From “Decisive Hostility” to “Cordial Agreement”: “The Times” on the Evolution of Britain’s Image in Russian Press at the Beginning of the 20th Century

The article deals with the reflection of the image of Britain in the analytical reviews of “The Times” newspaper on the pages of the Russian periodical press at the beginning of the 20th century.
 The study covers the period from the turn of the 19th–20th centuries until 1907, when the relations between Russia and Britain transitioned from extreme tension and rivalry in different regions of the world to an alliance within the Triple Entente. At this time, the press became truly massive and exerted a stronger influence than ever on the development of international relations. One of the leading English newspapers, “The Times”, took a largely pro-government stance and reflected the official position on foreign policy issues. It regularly reviewed the publications in the Russian press concerning Anglo-Russian relationship or British politics in general.
 As a result of the analysis of “The Times” reviews, it is possible to show the significance of the British political image, the dynamics of public opinion in the Russian Empire regarding a possible confrontation or Anglo-Russian rapprochement. The Russian press formed among readers a certain perception of Britain in the context of the Anglo-Boer War, the events in the Far East, the process of resolving contradictions, and the conclusion of the 1907 agreement, while the English press reflected on this image. The transformation of rhetoric in the press happened as rapidly as the changes in relations between the two powers.

A historical archaeological investigation of Sardelli’s shop, Sabiepoort, Kruger National Park

Historical information indicates that Sardelli’s shop at Sabiepoort, built before the South African War because of its proximity to an existing trade route, was utilised by Steinaecker’s Horse during the war (1899–1902). This shop was likely a satellite of another site, the Gaza Gray outpost. Steinaecker’s Horse was a British volunteer unit operating in the Lowveld and eSwatini. Research on the Sabiepoort site forms part of a larger project, the Steinaecker’s Horse research project, aimed at undertaking archaeological and historical research of sites associated with this unit. The site was excavated with the aim of contributing to the contextualisation of information and to show the extent of the connection between historical information and archaeological evidence with regard to Steinaecker’s Horse at Sabiepoort. Dateable artefacts from the site represent the period of the late 19th to the early 20th century, coinciding with the dates of the war. Archaeological evidence indicates the presence of indigenous people present during the same period, most likely Tsonga. Indigenous pottery at the site is similar to those discovered from the Gaza Gray site, confirming concurrent occupation. Research findings were compared to outcomes from the Makhadzi outpost, indicating social differentiation between the different units stationed at this outpost close to the Letaba Rest Camp and gave evidence of the role of black soldiers and local inhabitants during the war. There is a distinction between the main aim of the Steinaecker’s Horse project and the aim at this site. The latter is described here with the former aimed at writing the history of this unit.

Contested Heritage in South Africa: Perspectives from Mahikeng

Mahikeng, the seat of the Ngaka Modiri Molema District and capital of South Africa’s North West province, has identified tourism as an economic driver based on cultural heritage related to Batswana, Boer, and British contestation. However, the colonial heritage is underutilised as visitors come to Mahikeng (formerly Mafeking) in search of experiences relating to the siege of Mafeking, the Anglo–Boer War, and the origins of the Boy Scouts movement but leave disappointed. This heritage has been downgraded in democratic post-apartheid South Africa as there is an agenda that seeks to highlight African cultural heritage, particularly relating to the anti-apartheid struggle. This formerly suppressed cultural heritage needs to be promoted as it is crucial to South Africa’s history, identity, and social cohesion. However, other heritages that are also important are falling by the wayside with the result that the country’s diversity as the ‘rainbow nation’ is being eroded, and heritage tourism opportunities, which could prompt Local Economic Development (LED), are missed. A more critical engagement with the colonial heritage by including African perspectives, critiques, interactions, and roles within the narrative is needed.

“A Distinctly Busy Man” – Lieutenant Colonel (Dr) Frederick Holles Brennan, First Officer Commanding of the 1st South African Irish Regiment, 1861–1927

Abstract Lieutenant Colonel Frederick Holles Brennan, formerly the commanding officer of the 1st South African Irish Regiment, medical officer of the Transvaal Volunteers, surgeon to the Hawarden Castle hospital ship and recipient of the Volunteer Officer’s Decoration and Long Service Medal during active service, is a forgotten name in South African military history today. Canadian-born Brennan, a qualified medical doctor, emigrated to South Africa during the 1890s. After settling in Johannesburg, he established a successful medical practice and became an integral part of the Irish-Canadian diasporic community on the Witwatersrand. This was complemented by active involvement in a range of charitable causes, in addition to participating in both the Anglo-Boer War (on the side of the British) and the First World War. From 1894–1927, Brennan made a fundamental contribution to the development of the South African military and sports history, without compromising his Irish-Canadian identity.

'Bearded men singing psalms': The Work of DRC Ministers as Support Services during the South African War (1899-1902)

Considering the importance of the Dutch Reformed Church (DRC) to most facets of Boer life during the South African War (1899-1902), there has been surprisingly little inquiry into the roles played by DRC ministers in the (informal) network of Boer support services during this conflict. While some social historians and church historians have delved into the significance of religion to both the fighting men and civilians, the role of Boer religious leaders and specifically the work they performed during the war, are still largely overlooked. This article investigates how DRC ministers functioned as a form of informal support service, in the absence of a formal chaplaincy, and considers how their ability to serve both the spiritual and material needs of their congregants was directly impacted by the context in which they worked and their proximity to British oversight. To this end we use three case studies of DRC ministers who worked in three main areas impacted by the war: the Boer commandos in the field (J.D. Kestell), the British-controlled prisoner-of-war camps (A.F. Louw) and the concentration camps (A.D. Lückhoff).

The Face of Battle: The 'Fighting First's' Baptism of Fire at the Battle of Elandslaagte, 21 October 1899

This article investigates the experiences of the 1st Battalion of the Manchester Regiment in the Battle of Elandslaagte fought on 21 October 1899 during the South African War of 1899 to 1902. This was the Manchesters' first battle in nearly two decades and their first against modern weapons. Studies of the experiences of ordinary British soldiers during the South African War are limited. This scrutiny of letters written by the officers and troops of the Manchesters is supplemented by accounts published in British newspapers and an unpublished letter preserved in the Manchester Regiment Archive, all of which have been used to enhance existing narratives of the battle by exploring the soldiers' perspectives of war. The article suggests that by making use of such sources it is possible to reconstruct the British 'face of battle' during the South African War. These published letters have some limitations, however, and are inclined to adhere to the popular 'Tommy Atkins' stereotype. Exploring the battle from the Manchesters' viewpoint reveals that even though Elandslaagte was a near perfect execution of the three-stage set-piece battle, the soldiers involved experienced a turmoil of emotions ranging from confusion, frustration, loss, pain, discomfort, and even joy.

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

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.

At the Roots of Neocolonialism: Forced Labor of the Indentured Chinese Miners in the British Transvaal

The paper deals with the historical use of the Chinese indentured laborers on the gold mines of the Transvaal shortly after the end of the Second Boer war. In the short span of four years some 60 thousand Chinese laborers were imported under 3-year contracts, and then repatriated, after having contributed greatly to the restoration and expansion of the Rand gold mines. By analyzing the legal framework of the process and documented witnesses’ accounts of the “Chinese slavery” in the Transvaal, the author comes to the conclusion that the colonial administration of the Transvaal was ignoring the conventions agreed upon by the British and Chinese side, while the Chinese side did not possess the actual means to enforce the agreements. In the author’s opinion, this can be viewed as the roots of the West’s neocolonial approach to the international relations.

Neutrality as a Contested Concept in International Humanitarian Law: Red Cross Men in the South African War, 1899–1902

Neutrality as a Contested Concept in International Humanitarian Law: Red Cross Men in the South African War, 1899–1902

From indirect to direct rule? Transnational policy planning bodies and global governance in the COVID crisis

AbstractThe origins of contemporary supra‐national power go back to the second British Empire, which, unlike the first, faced organized labor as a potential revolutionary force. The formation of the Rhodes–Milner Group was meant to better manage the formation of the public mood, and the Boer War in South Africa demanded close integration of imperial affairs. A central figure in the Rhodes–Milner Group, Lord Esher, was also the architect of the Committee of Imperial Defense, created to take up the latter task. Esher's idea of a secretariat confidentially preparing solutions to issues of the day before they emerged in the public domain was introduced into the structure of international organizations after World War I and the Russian Revolution. Escher also laid the foundations of today's model of transnational politics in which groups such as Bilderberg or the Trilateral Commission and many others, shape certain areas of consensus before the public is allowed to make its voice heard. In this process, the circumvention of democracy has assumed the nature of an outright assault on it. In the process the World Economic Forum, formally joining forces with the United Nations, has become the most visible supranational body applying direct rule.

Motivating Factors in Foreign Volunteering

Twelve Hungarian volunteers have been identified so far among the 2,500 pro-Boerforeign volunteers who were ready to sacrifice their lives in the war between the Boerrepublics and the British Empire (1899–1902). The overwhelming majority of thesevolunteers travelled to South Africa to join the commandos of the Boers following theescalation of the conflict. Tibor Péchy was one of the Hungarian combatants, but incontrast with the other Hungarian volunteers, he had been living in South Africa since1896. This makes him a special Hungarian participant of the Anglo-Boer War. The presentpaper analyses the motivating factors behind Péchy’s enlistment with the Boers.

Age misreporting: An empirical investigation using the New Zealand contingents in the Second Boer War

AbstractThis is a first focused examination of age misreporting in military recruitment. We take advantage of an original dataset comprised of New Zealand military personnel records in the Second Boer War matched with birth historical records. First, we find that age misrepresentation is common: about one third of soldiers on our dataset misreport their ages. Second, we find that soldiers the estimated age‐specific mean heights do not change significantly when we change from using reported ages to using true ages. Researchers can prioritise the investigation of true ages on those reporting to be 21 or younger.

God, vertroue en twyfel: Die vroue in die konsentrasiekampe tydens die Anglo-Boereoorlog

God, trust and doubt: The women in the concentration camps of the Anglo-Boer or South African War.Many books and articles have been written on the religious concept of the Afrikaner women who suffered in and survived the concentration camps during the Second Anglo-Boer War (1899–1902) in South Africa. It seems as if nothing has been written, though, on their image and understanding of God. This article is an attempt to close the gap in the research. These women’s understanding of God was mainly shaped by the Old Testament. They saw the two Boer republics as the new people of God, elected to exist in freedom, as independent states. To them, God was the God of justice and righteousness, who will defend his chosen people from oppression. The defeat on the battlefield caused a crisis of faith among many women. The war diary of Johanna Brandt (née Van Warmelo) offers useful information about the women’s faith and the shattering of their faith. In the second part of this article, Lutheran perspectives on the God of the Bible and man-made idols are provided as a Christian alternative to the faith of our forefathers. The Psalms and the prophets are also revisited to point out the presence of God, as well as the ethical consequences of the Jewish-Christian religion.Contribution: This is probably one of the first articles written on women’s understanding of God, women who were confined to the concentration camps during the Anglo-Boer War of 1899–1902. The main emphasis falls on Johanna Brandt (née Van Warmelo), who was an assistant nurse in the Irene camp, on the outskirts of Pretoria. She formulated her and the other women’s belief in the God of justice. Their understanding of God motivated them to endure the hardships and thousands of deaths in the camps.

Eugen Sandow and eugenics

ABSTRACT Eugen Sandow gained renown in fin de siecle Britain as a strongman and bodybuilder and in the early twentieth century as a publicist, entrepreneur, and crusader for physical fitness on the international scene. Much less is known about his underlying zeal for eugenics, a movement that coincided with Social Darwinism as an evolutionary theory and practice that culminated during his most productive years. A pioneer in the burgeoning field of physical culture, Sandow sought to use his celebrity status to propagate his universal health doctrine as a means to address widespread public concerns about degeneration or suicide of the race. What made Sandow’s system unique was his neo-Lamarckian belief that acquired characteristics of health and fitness could be transmitted to the next generation of humanity by physical training. Fuelled by ongoing recruitment crises in the South African War and World War I, it was an ulterior agenda of environmental eugenics that Sandow promoted not only through public and official channels but to the four corners of the earth. Ultimately his utopian vision could not be sustained by the 1920s either through science, public opinion, or by political efforts to reconstruct a society fit for heroes.

‘No end of a lesson’: the Anglo-Boer War and British espionage fiction

ABSTRACT In the first years of the twentieth century, the British government came to recognize the value of espionage for the defense of the empire. This was a logical outgrowth of increasing anxieties about the intentions of the German Kaiser and the experience of the Anglo-Boer War, in which a numerically superior British army found itself in a protracted battle with local forces skilled in the art of guerrilla warfare. Espionage fiction by writers such as Rudyard Kipling, E. Phillips Oppenheim, Erskine Childers, William Le Queux, and John Buchan used the example of the Anglo-Boer War to draw attention to the deficiencies in imperial intelligence, the potential threats to the empire, and the role of civilian patriots in thwarting internal and external threats. Espionage fiction educated British readers to perceive a need for systematic intelligence gathering, which ran counter to the democratic nature to which the British aspired. The popularity of non-professional patriotic spies as protagonists of mass market fiction allowed for the development of a broad popular constituency in favor of greater government commitment to intelligence gathering. And while this popular enthusiasm was beneficial to the Tory Party, it was not driven solely by conservative politicians, but rather by populist pressure stemming from mass culture inspired by literary reflections on the Anglo-Boer War.

The Travels of Treason

The law of treason has been criticised for being based on ‘outdated’ statutes which are inflexible and unsuitable for modern needs. However, a historical examination of the evolution of treason in Britain and its empire suggests that the law was often adaptable. In nineteenth century England, jurists wished to rein in older constructive treasons, to leave the 1351 Act as the appropriate law for wartime treasons, while the more lenient 1848 Act was to be used against ‘political’ conspiracies to subvert the state by force. However, the ‘constructive’ treasons remained part of the law, and were given new life in imperial contexts. In Ireland and Canada, the idea that plotting the king's ‘political’ death was treason remained central to understandings of the 1351 Act. In India, the interpretation of the provision of the penal code against ‘waging war’ against the government was influenced by old English ideas of ‘constructive’ treason and used against those who challenged British rule. Imperial understandings of treason were also shaped by cases arising out of the Boer war, where the underlying law was Roman‐Dutch law. Rather than being restrictive and unable to adapt to modern needs, the law of treason was flexible and malleable.