History Notes The South African War (Second Boer War) 1899-1902 Notes
These notes correspond to a second year undergraduate History unit on The South African War 1899-1902.
The notes covered are:
- Chamberlain, Milner, and the British Politicians
- Cecil Rhodes and the Jameson Raid
- Causes of the War
- Black and Coloured Participation
- Methods of Barbarism
The notes are highly detailed, coloured, and contain essay plans, arguments and historiography surrounding each of the subjects. Potential essay questions are written at the top of the notes and the ...
The following is a more accessible plain text extract of the PDF sample above, taken from our The South African War (Second Boer War) 1899-1902 Notes. Due to the challenges of extracting text from PDFs, it will have odd formatting:
TOPIC 2: THE IMPERIAL FACTOR & CHAMBERLAIN, MILNER AND KRUGER
Two categories of solution for Africa:
The Imperial Solution
Intervention from London
Central intervention from the imperial government
This was tried in the early 1880s with pretty disastrous results – crushing of the Zulu power and the First Anglo-Boer War
This had therefore failed
The Colonial Solution
Discovery of gold near Johannesburg in 1886 potentially destabilized the entire region
Created a drive to expand around the Transvaal and then lead the Transvaal into some sort of federation with the British colonies, playing on the dissatisfaction of the Uitlander population
This was led by Cecil Rhodes – champion of British interest in the region
Jameson Raid in 1895 a disaster – destroys Rhodes political career
Many of the mining capitalists are also implicated in the failed plot
What happens after the Jameson Raid?
One of the key consequences of the Jameson Raid is that it stands as a massive defeat for the colonial factor and the colonial solution. The idea that agents within South Africa are effective is defeated. Rhodes is destroyed and the mining capitalists are seriously compromised however Chamberlain has come out relatively unscathed.
Arguably, the Jameson Raid sets up the imperial factor to come back in again. Rhodes has failed and so now it is Chamberlain’s turn. Imperial intervention is now necessary – it now needs to be done from London.
How does the IMPERIAL FACTOR come into play again?
Historiography
Argument of Marks and Trapido:
Goal of British involvement was not to do with granting Africans rights
It was an IMPERIALIST goal
Any wish to transform the class structure was due to the fact that it would fulfill the demands of the mining industry
Britain is fighting to retain white supremacy in South Africa
Milner raises national sentiment
Argues that British subjects are being treated as if they were Africans by the Boer government
Not allowed to vote
No say in running of state or own affairs
Police brutality and corruption, singling out Uitlanders
Britain has a duty to intervene and protect its subjects
Crucially all this is taking place when parliament is in summer recess – when no parliamentary debates are going on – is that significant? Have Milner and Chamberlain pushed this to a crisis exactly when there is no parliament to stop their actions?
How does Chamberlain defend himself?
Says if Liberals had been in power then they would have had to do the same thing
Accuses Boer government of being oppressive – uses example of men and women being murdered – but actually there is no evidence it was Boer government’s fault
States that he gave Kruger opportunity to negotiate but evidence to suggest these letters were never delivered – intransigent government who had refused to negotiate with him
They had never changed their motives from the beginning to the end – accusation that Stead makes against Chamberlain – every time the Boers are willing to compromise the British add something else – Chamberlain disputes this and argues that he has always been consistent
Reiterates that he was always striving for peace – only recently came to the conclusion that war was inevitable
Main lines of opposition:
Scott – asks Chamberlain why the Uitlander grievances being put to the forefront – says that Uitlanders haven’t really been oppressed at all, they are making money etc. – Liberal consensus that the Uitlander grievances have been exaggerated
Something that Chamberlain has consciously planned – if Parliament had been sitting these last few months then there would not have been a war –Chamberlain played on fact that there was no Parliament
Aren’t enough troops in South Africa – Chamberlain has brought them into a very difficult and precarious position
Scott’s argument – British obsession with power and annexation that has caused animosity – a good relationship could have been established – says this is a war to support the mining capitalists.
Marsh
Argues that Chamberlain couldn’t control Milner
Though Chamberlain wasn’t guilty of starting the war, he was guilty of getting Britain into a way without preparation
Were Alfred Milner and Joseph Chamberlain the ‘real architects’ of the South African War?
Architect?
If term means the originator of the war, then neither Alfred Milner nor Joseph Chamberlain could be defined as the ‘real architects’
Cannot attribute responsibility for a war of this magnitude to individual personalities; there must be long-term pre-existing tensions and conditions that set the background for such a conflict
Smith rightfully states, Milner ‘may have helped to stir the pot, but he did not supply the ingredients.’
Milner and Chamberlain played significant roles but Anglo-Boer tensions in SA had been gradually building for an extensive period, dating back to the abolition of slavery (1834)
It was these original and deep-rooted tensions that led to war, the tipping point arguably being in 1881 with the discovery of gold in the Transvaal, which made war inevitable even without the contribution of either British official
When placing the term ‘architect of war’ within a short-term framework, it could also be construed as someone who planned and engineered the timing and manner of the conflict
Chamberlain, and to a larger extent Milner, were indeed the main ‘architects’ of the Boer War as their actions and decisions were arguably the principal causes for its outbreak in October 1899
Argument:
Milner’s desire for war, and persistent attempts at bringing events to a head, made him the ‘real architect’, dragging Chamberlain into a conflict he did not want or anticipate
Chamberlain and the Jameson Raid (1895): (LINK TO OTHER NOTES ON JAMES RAID AND CHAMBERLAIN’S COMPLICTY)
Sources differ in regard to Chamberlain’s complicity
Garvin principally exonerates Chamberlain from all blame.
However, this source was written in 1934 and therefore he did not have access to the more...
Buy the full version of these notes or essay plans and more in our The South African War (Second Boer War) 1899-1902 Notes.
These notes correspond to a second year undergraduate History unit on The South African War 1899-1902.
The notes covered are:
- Chamberlain, Milner, and the British Politicians
- Cecil Rhodes and the Jameson Raid
- Causes of the War
- Black and Coloured Participation
- Methods of Barbarism
The notes are highly detailed, coloured, and contain essay plans, arguments and historiography surrounding each of the subjects. Potential essay questions are written at the top of the notes and the ...
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