Rhodesian Sunset Factional Politics, War, and the Demise of an Imperial Order in British South Africa
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Rhodesian Sunset Factional Politics, War, and the Demise of an Imperial Order in British South Africa By Michael Brunetti A thesis submitted to the Department of History for honors Duke University Durham, North Carolina Under the advisement of Dr. Vasant Kaiwar April 15, 2019 Brunetti | i Abstract The pursuit of an unorthodox and revolutionary grand vision of empire by idealistic imperialists such as Cecil Rhodes, Alfred Milner, and Percy FitzPatrick led to the creation of a pro-conflict imperial coalition in South Africa, one that inadvertently caused the South African War. This thesis examines the causes behind the South African War (also known as the Second Anglo-Boer War), sheds light on those culpable for its occurrence, and analyzes its effects on South Africa’s subsequent failure to fulfill the imperial vision for it held by contemporary British imperialists. This thesis addresses the previous historiographical debates on the relative importance of the factions that formed a coalition to promote their interests in South Africa. Some of these interests focused on political and economic matters of concern to the British Empire, while others pertained to Johannesburg settlers, primarily of British extraction, who had their own reasons for joining the pro-imperial coalition. Moreover, this thesis emphasizes the importance of the pro-imperial coalition’s unity in provoking the South African War while also explaining the coalition’s post-war decline and directly correlating this to the decline of British influence in South Africa. Brunetti | ii Acknowledgments To Dr. Vasant Kaiwar, for being my advisor, my gateway to the Duke University History Department, my mentor, and my friend. To the Duke University History Department and all its wonderful faculty, staff, and leaders. Thank you in particular to Dr. John J. Martin, Ruebe Holmes, and Cynthia Hoglen for their diligent service to the department and for supporting and guiding the Duke History Union, an organization which has been of great importance to me. To Dr. Jehangir Malegam, for providing honest and detailed feedback, encouragement, and a space which fostered courteous critiquing and scholastic development. To my fellow historians in this years’ thesis seminar, for your suggestions, dedication, weekly entertaining and witty banter, and friendship. To the various libraries on which I depended in order to conduct my research. Thank you in particular to Duke University’s William R. Perkins Library and David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscripts Library, Columbia University’s Butler Library, Yale University’s Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Oxford University’s Rhodes House Library and Bodleian Library, the New York Public Library, and the Smithtown Public Library. Your archives, stacks of books, microfilm readers, online sources, and plethora of other resources proved a near endless wellspring from which I drew deeply. To my friends and loved ones, for all your support and understanding throughout this process and for your eagerness to review my work and assist me in this daunting academic endeavor. Thank you in particular to my girlfriend, Victoria Ehrbar, and her father, Tom. To my parents, Lisa and Robert, for everything you have done and will do for me over the course of my life. You are my best friends, my wisest counselors, and my greatest supporters. Thank you, Mom and Dad. To Pepper, for being you. Although you cannot read this, know that I will always hold you near and dear to my heart. Brunetti | iii Table of Contents Abstract ........................................................................................................................................... i Acknowledgements ....................................................................................................................... ii Introduction ....................................................................................................................................1 Act I: The Hon. Cecil J. Rhodes ................................................................................................ 11 i. Prelude: The British and Boers in South Africa .............................................................12 ii. Diamonds are Forever: The Kimberly Origin Story ......................................................18 iii. The House the Randlords Built ....................................................................................21 iv. Forcing Federation ........................................................................................................26 v. Jameson Plays the Hero, Jameson Plays the Fool..........................................................34 vi. Downfall .......................................................................................................................43 Act II: Building a Coalition, Starting a War .............................................................................45 i. Doors Open, Doors Close (January 1896) ......................................................................47 ii. Enter Milner (May 1897 – December 1898) .................................................................49 iii. Rising Action: The South African League ...................................................................53 iv. The Industrial Commission and the ‘Kept Press’ (May – July 1897) ..........................60 v. The Elections of 1898 (May – December 1898) ............................................................64 vi. Cue the Petitions (December 1898 – March 1899) .......................................................66 vii. The ‘Great Deal’ Negotiations (January – June 1899) ................................................70 viii. Bloemfontein: Interlude to War (June – September 1899).........................................74 ix. The Ultimatums (September – October 1899) ..............................................................78 Act III: Winning the War, Losing the Peace .............................................................................86 i. Winning the War… ........................................................................................................ 87 ii. …Losing the Peace ....................................................................................................... 91 iii. The Afrikaners Strike Back ....................................................................................... 100 iv. Exit England .............................................................................................................. 108 Epilogue ..................................................................................................................................... 112 Bibliography .............................................................................................................................. 127 Miscellaneous Appendix A (Second Uitlander Petition, March 1899) .................................................. 118 Appendix B (Rand Manifesto, July 1899) ...................................................................... 124 Appendix C (Treaty of Vereeniging, May 1902)............................................................ 125 Map 1 ................................................................................................................................ 33 Map 2 ................................................................................................................................ 89 Chart .................................................................................................................................. 46 Brunetti | 1 Introduction In the ongoing drama of human history, few scenes are as enthralling and cinematic as the South African War of 1899–1902. The war itself is of course the climax, but the most intriguing and instructive aspects occur in the preceding and succeeding years. Colloquially referred to as the “Boer War,” or more accurately as the “Second Anglo-Boer War,” this conflict pitted the hegemonic British Empire against a comparatively small force of South Africa’s agrarian Dutch-descended settlers, the “Boers.” What should have been a brief and inexpensive struggle to unite South Africa under British rule nearly turned into a “David and Goliath” moment, mushrooming into a long and agonizing campaign, which marked both a highpoint of British imperialism and a sign of its eventual decay. Like a good narrative, the dramatic arc of the war and its aftermath contains suspense, uncertainty, larger-than-life characters, and an ending that may be hard to understand and not altogether happy or satisfying. The war, which broke out in 1899, pitted a fiercely independent, conservative, and oligarchical republic of Transvaal Boers, known as the South African Republic, against a British Empire desperate to preserve its global supremacy through consolidation of its vast colonial holdings into “federations.” British imperial statesmen regarded South Africa as a key element of this plan, viewing the colony as more than a supply of natural resources but rather a territory where the British Empire could settle its own people. Like New Zealand, Australia, and Canada, Britain sought to establish and grow a loyal British white population in South Africa, then rely upon the colony as a structural pillar that could provide the Empire with natural resources, revenue, manpower, and diplomatic support.1 Tensions between Britain and Transvaal ran high 1 Bernard Porter, The Lion’s Share: A Short History of British Imperialism, 1850-2004 (London: