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Conflict Boer !1 Daniel Tizzard-Close September 2020 !2 Daniel Tizzard-Close September 2020 New Zealand and the Boer War This introductory booklet covers New Zealand’s participation in the Second Anglo- Boer War. We will explore the reasons for this war and for New Zealand’s involvement in it. We will cover the following: History of the conflict: • economic • political • build-up of troops • initial contact • public reaction at home New Zealand’s involvement: • troops • domestic results • nurses/teachers • Māori reaction to the conflict • politics • racism • support !3 Daniel Tizzard-Close September 2020 History of the Conflict The second Anglo-Boer War broke out in 1899 and had a wide variety of causes. Most of these were economic and political in nature, particularly the discovery of gold in the Transvaal. The Transvaal was one of the two independent Boer republics which had been formed following Britain’s capture of Cape Colony (modern day South Africa). It was not just the discovery of gold: it was the sheer volume of it, enough to make the Boer Republics the number one gold producing nation on the planet. This in turn, caused the Boer presence in the banking industry to skyrocket to the point of causing the British to rely on South African gold to ensure its economic and financial dominance. While this was not a major issue on the surface, underlying tensions caused the South African and British governments to be nervous about relying on a potentially hostile nation. The use of gold to back up the value of a currency was standard practice for nations around the world at this time, with certain coins (such as guineas) still being made in gold. This ensured that the currency retained its value, with one pound sterling in 1900 equal to 156 NZD in 2020. Given the size of Britain’s empire, and the limited amount of gold available, it meant that Britain had to stockpile gold to ensure that their currency remained affordable for the working classes, and so that internal and external imperial trade was still affordable. The need for large companies and equipment to mine the gold caused the Transvaal to become the dominant economic power in sub-Saharan Africa rather than the British controlled Cape Colony. Tensions officially began with political disagreements between the government of South Africa and the Transvaal, with the South Africans wanting to prevent the Transvaal from expanding and the Transvaal wanting to remain as an independent nation state. Cecil Rhodes, premier of South Africa, attempted to out-manoeuvre the Boers by forcing them to use South African railways to transport gold and supplies. The Boers then created their own railway and charged the South Africans and British to use it, ensuring that any attempts to circumvent the railway were prevented. Finally Cecil Rhodes attempted to organise an armed insurrection in Transvaal using immigrants and mine workers working alongside an expeditionary force led by Dr Leander Starr Jameson. This became known as the Jameson Raid and was a dismal failure, with all members of the expeditionary force being taken prisoner and returned to South Africa. The scandal increased tensions between the two nations and forcing Cecil Rhodes to resign his post. Tensions rose further as the Government of South Africa tried to force the Transvaal to give voting rights to Uitlanders (non-Boer miners, predominantly British) in order to force the democratic election of pro-British leaders. This was successfully countered by the Boers by giving the Uitlanders voting rights, but only for matters involving the mines in which they worked and other small internal matters rather than national policy or leadership. This solution was more than acceptable to the Uitlanders and completely pulled the rug from under any South African attempts at creating an internal rebellion. !4 Daniel Tizzard-Close September 2020 The South African government demanded additional British troops as tensions seemed to be reaching a high point, with all new units being immediately shipped towards the border. This rapid build-up of forces alarmed the Boers which led to the demand on the 9th of October 1899 that the forces be removed. When the British refused to acknowledge the request, Boer forces launched a pre-emptive attack on the 11th of the October, making rapid gains and inflicting a string of defeats on the completely unprepared British forces. They laid siege to the three major towns of Ladysmith, Mafeking (Mafikeng), and Kimberley. Despite initial success, the Boers were unable to hold the ground they had taken and were quickly pushed back beyond their starting point. British imperial forces advanced via the railways to successfully capture Bloemfontein (capital of the Orange Free State) in February 1900, Johannesburg in May and retaking Pretoria (capital of South Africa at the time) in June. It was during the next 15 months that the war was dragged out and took a decidedly dark turn. Unable to meet the imperial forces on equal terms in the field, the Boer forces, under the capable command of leaders such as Christiaan Rudolf de Wet and Jacobus Hercules de la Rey, waged a highly effective guerrilla war against the British forces. They harassed barracks, storage facilities, and railways including a brutal ambush on an armoured train during which a young Winston Churchill was taken prisoner before he managed to escape. Desperate to bring the unpopular war to a close, Lord Kitchener (the British High Commander) ordered the drastic measure of starving the Boers into submission. Thousands of Boer civilians were taken off their land and forced into concentration camps thereby not only eroding the Boers will to fight but also denying them friendly farms from which to source food. This measure was widely condemned, especially as conditions in the camps were abysmal with an estimated 46,000 elderly, women and children of all ethnicities dying due to disease and lack of care. Despite condemnation from even his own government, Lord Kitchener continued with the strategy and did eventually force the remaining Boer Kommando units to surrender in May 1902. The war was incredibly unpopular in Great Britain due to the crimes committed against civilians. It was also because this was one of the first wars to be widely reported with modern photography. Photographs were taken either immediately after or even during combat. This prevented the media from having to rely on military reports or drawings. War correspondents such as Winston Churchill were able to write their own stories with their own photographs which often painted the British and Imperial forces and their conditions in a very different light to what the army was saying in official reports These reports showed the true conditions of war as well as the causes. It showed this war as a land grab. Despite the unpopularity in the ‘Mother Country’, the war was popular here in New Zealand due to our eagerness to be seen as a member of the Empire, as well as the wide-spread establishment of local volunteer defence regiments. Supporting Link https://nzhistory.govt.nz/media/photo/south-african-concentration-camps !5 Daniel Tizzard-Close September 2020 New Zealand’s Involvement in the War New Zealand was keen to be involved from the outbreak of war, not only out of a sense of Imperial Duty, but also to further New Zealand’s own ends of establishing themselves as a Dominion as opposed to a colony. New Zealand politicians and businessmen suspected that if New Zealand sent volunteers to fight and should prove herself willing to ‘pull her weight’, then New Zealand could start to negotiate her own trade deals, rather than being dictated to by London. The premier, Richard Seddon, was determined that New Zealand would be the first nation of the Empire to send troops. As a result, training and equipping of our new recruits was rushed through. Training was only three weeks and equipment had to be compiled from donations from the community as well as local volunteers and government stockpiles. Local volunteer units were instructed to choose men from their units who met a series of high standards including horsemanship, marksmanship, as well as good health. There is evidence that the Government ordered that Māori not be permitted to enlist, though a number managed to circumvent this restriction by changing their surname to an English sounding one (e.g. changing the surname Ngāta to Night). Many of these surnames still exist throughout New Zealand. Once men had been selected, they were shipped to Wellington to Campbell’s farm in Karori where a basic training centre had been set up. The effectiveness of this training is called into question due to the constant interruptions by the arrival of new recruits. When the training time was up, the New Zealand contingent under the command of Major Alfred Robin, was made up of 204 men in two companies. Those of No. 1 Company were predominantly from the North Island while most members of No. 2 Company were South Islanders. The command of the initial contingent was split between nine officers, a surgeon, and a veterinary surgeon. With a total of 6500 men and 8000 horses from New Zealand eventually seeing service as well as taking part in a number of key battles, the perception of New Zealand was catapulted from that of a colonial back water to that of a fully-fledged member of the Empire. Engagements such as the famous battle of Slingersfontein Farm were major influences on this change of perception. New Zealand forces assisted the British in taking the Slingersfontein Farm in early January 1900. While the rest of the imperial force advanced, a small garrison of 60 men under the command of Captain W.R.N.
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