The British-Boer War 1899-1902 - First Modern War?
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 10 พ.ค. 2024
- The 2nd Boer War saw the British Empire bring to bear the entire imperial might to put to rest a dispute with the Boer Republics in South Africa. With scorched earth tactics and the use of concentration camps, the Boer War was a glimpse of what was to come in 20th century warfare.
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» SOURCES
• Leo Amery (ed.) The Times History of the War in South Africa, 7 Volumes, (London, William Clowes, 1902-1909)
• A British Officer, An Absent Minded War (London, Milne, 1900)
• Thomas Pakenham, The Boer War (London, Abacus, 1979)
• John Gooch (ed.) The Boer War: Direction, Image and Experience (London, Frank Cass, 1999)
• Fransjohan Pretorius, Life on Commando (Cape Town, Human & Rousseau, 2000)
• Fransjohan Pretorius, The Historical Dictionary of the Anglo-Boer War (Lanham, Scarecrow Press, 2010)
• Peter Trew, The Boer War Generals (Johannesburg, Jonathan Ball, 1999)
• S.B. Spies, Methods of Barbarism? Roberts and Kitchener and Civilians in the Boer Republics (Cape Town, Human & Rousseau, 1977)
• Emily Hobhouse, The Brunt of War and Where it Fell (London, Methuen & Co., 1902)
• Deneys Reitz, Commando (London, Faber & Faber, 1905)
• Peter Warwick (ed.) The South African War (Harlow, Longman, 1980)
• Spencer Jones, From Boer War to World War: Tactical Reform of the British Army 1902 - 1914 (Norman, University of Oklahoma Press, 2012)
• Spencer Jones, 'Shooting Power: A Study of the Effectiveness of Boer and British Rifle Fire, 1899-1914' in the British Journal for Military History, Vol.1, Issue 1, 2014.
• Bill Nasson, The South African War 1899 - 1902 (London, Arnold, 1999)
• Stephen Miller, Volunteers on the Veld: Britain’s Citizen Soldiers and the South African War 1899-1902 (Norman, University of Oklahoma, 2007)
• Fred R. van Hartesveldt, The Boer War: Historiography and Annotated Bibliography (London, Greenwood, 2000)
• Peter Dennis and Jeffrey Grey (ed.), The Boer War: Army, Nation and Empire (Canberra, Army History Unit, 2000)
• John Stirling, Our Regiments in South Africa (London, W. Blackwood, 1903)
• Winston S. Churchill, London to Ladysmith via Pretoria (London, Longmans, Green & Co, 1900)
• Ian Hamilton and Victor Sampson, Anti-Commando (London, Faber & Faber, 1931)
• Andre Wessels (ed.) Lord Roberts and the War in South Africa 1899 - 1902 (London, Army Records Society, 2000)
• Andre Wessels (ed.) Lord Kitchener and the War in South Africa 1899 - 1902 (London, Army Records Society, 2006)
• Roy Jenkins, Churchill. A Biography, (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York, 2001)
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Presented by: Jesse Alexander
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Some of you will have noticed that this video is a re-upload from last year. We ran into a weird glitch with the old video, basically it stopped being recommended to new viewers after a while. Want to test if this was just a bug or something else.
I thought this was something that I'd seen before. Oh well, no sense in missing a second look!!
Oh ok, I saw it yesterday so it was extremely puzzling to see it again with a 54minutes timestamp. Like a glitch in the matrix.
TH-cam is antiwhite
Something else I’m sure
Its not Boer-ing...
Being in Boer captivity was the longest period of sobriety for Winston Churchill.
Don't know. He may have bribed the guards....
Churchill later escaped and headed for the Mozambique border...somebody must have told him there was a stockpile of Napoleon brandy there.
.@@hathawayrose2183 --All Pixx taking aside what a life that guy had.
@@stormywindmill Yes, an amazing life and a great man.⭐
@@hathawayrose2183 and a very horrible man. But, cometh the hour, he did step up
As a South African, it was such a pleasure to watch a nuanced an unbiased account of this pivotal moment in our history. Thank you.
Need to return all stolen lands and resources back to the indigenous natives of South Africa.
Wrong Darryl, go read your history.
@@kilokilos You think this video was rubbish?
@@darrylbutt2570 the facts are distorted to suit the Brit view of history. Vid was fine.
@@kilokilos so you think what the boers fought for was right?
Very well done. I read a book written by one of the Boer Generals - General Kemp, and in it he described the absolute horror of the returning prisoner of war from banishment camps like St Helena. Coming home to a burnt out farm, with his wife and children an parents gone. Only to find that most of them died in the concentration camps. Then years later, being asked by the Union government to go and fight for the same Brittish in the 1st World War.
War is never a solution.
love this!
.....also not all of the men deported were actually returned. They were left on St Helena. If memory sereves me right not all men were prepared to fight for the Union Government, were persecuted and punished. Is it not strange how the minority in Government, when they unseated the traitor "General" Jan Smuts suddenley and overnight become the " white racist opressors". When GB was banging the drum everything was just fine. Keep well.
The difference is that the British killed women and children to win a war in a place they should never have been. They have never been held accountable.
CHILE ARGENTINA
THE SCANDINAVIA OF THE SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE
This war was about money and how the British stole it on backs of indigenous people I’m scotch, Irish and British and an American we know how the British were
Re. Concentration camps. I remember some Boer or other at the time saying "If these camps where on European soil (as opposed to Africa), the whole continent would rise up against England. He may have had a point.
But those camps were in Europe! Auschwitz, Bergen-Belsen 40 years later. The Germans took the British example much further, but the principle is the same.
@@Oomdaan11 the Germans used death camps (used to kill) the British used concentrate camps (put everyone in one spot) the British army original ran them, so the army had to feed and provide medicine, however the British high command here in South Africa gave those resources (and the extra sent to be give to the camps) and gave them all to the troops in the field, as per there justification the troops needed more food and medicine.
Same thing. Tell the 25000 women and children different....
@@dietersmit6639 Most civilians died of disease, percentage wise the same proportion of British soldiers died from disease. There were no poison gas shower blocks for industrial murder.
@@ralphraffles1394 Gross negligence is no excuse.
Up to this day, many Boers can't forgive the British for this war, especially the brutality of the scorched earth tactics and the concentration camps. I visited the cemetery in Nylstroom / Waterberg (Modimolle) a while ago. Children's graves - row upon row upon row. What a tragedy.
Have any of you cared about what you did to a free people that you turned into slaves. Tragedy!!! My foot. What about those you brutalized and take their land.
@@2cjappy You're indoctrinated.
The Boers are upset? imagine the people they stole the land from.
@@MbusoMadeIt I give you ten million Rand (approximtely US$ 500 000) if you can prove any Boer owns any stolen land. We take it to the World Court.
@@TjakaErasmus you believe that the Boers the Dutch settlers had\have land in Africa? How is that even possible? I can't take it to any court lack of resources we playing catch up here I don't have 10 million to throw around even 10k for that matter.
After reading Thomas Packenham's 'The Boer War' 20-odd years ago I came to the same conclusion. In his account of the Battle of Spion Kop I was struck how Buller was wrestling with the same issues that French and Haig would struggle with 20 years later in WWI
I own that book but have not been able to tackle it yet. I hope to read it one day but that is a dense book lol
I have a signed copy, very selective with the truth, even him. It is true the victors write the history. 55000 hessian soldiers of the crown perished, mostly from headshots. There were very few black people in the republics at the time compared with today. Indian people were not allowed into the Free State untill the 70's, mostly because there were none I suppose. Our borders are a sive the whole of Africa now have family here and probably 60% of our slave masters are black the rest are poms.
I wonder if the writer is related to the British general pakenham who was killed at the battle of New Orleans in the war of 1812
@@ae1586 Major General Sir Edward Packenham was indeed Thomas Packenham's great, great, great, great uncle.
15 years later
Your pronunciations are near spot on. I always appreciate how you guys go above and beyond to bring these smaller (in the overall scope of things) conflicts and how they effects the major powers in the lead up to The Great War.
As an Afrikaaner, it means a lot to me personally to see this story shared without bias from either side.
arhum..no bias ? seriously Afrikaner ?
@@oddballsok The fact that the narrator's ancestor served in the British Army sailed right by you. Perhaps you might notice these kinds of details if you weren't so quick to judge people without first meeting them.
As a English South African this means a world to me..... works loads as well. We all need our history
And we are all =
“Smaller”. It’s funny how a war on the same scale as Ukraine today is considered “smaller”; that’s just how big WWI was.
As jy 'n Afrikaner is, is jy ongelukkig erg mislei. Ons vroue en kinders is bymekaargemaak met dit wat hulle kon dra en aangejaag soos skaap na die konsentrasie kampe. Die plase is afgebrand en vee vernietig as deel van die britte se pogings om die Boere af te sny van hul ondersteuners en kitchener se verskroeide aarde beleid. My groot ouma het haar hoenders onder die bed weggesteek en die engelsman met 'n vleisbyl probeer verdryf toe hulle die dag bymekaar gemaak is. My ouma se twee boeties is in die konsentrasie kamp dood van die elende. En dan se jy daar is geen "bias". Of jy is 'n britse troll of erg oningelig. Skaam jou.
My two grandfathers fought in the Boer War, onein the Imperial Light Horse and the other in Kitchener's Fighting Scouts. It's not often that you get to hear first hand accounts from people who were actually in the war and took part in many actions including being at the relief of Ladysmith. I was always interested in history and as a history major (University of Natal) and subsequently a history teacher I really appreciated the experience my grandfather's shared. I have visited most of the battle fields of the Boer War and I really enjoyed this video.
You must be in your 90s
@@Daniel-vb4tj I guess that he is older than 70. My grandmother was born in 1900 and I am 60. My mother was 26 years older than me. Suppose his grandfather was 18, then there is no reason why he can't be 70 or even 60.
As did my Great Grandfather who left the military after, only to join again for WW1
My one great-grandmother on the maternal side was the niece of Sir George Pomeroy Colley, who perished at the Battle of Majuba. In fact, that is where my TH-cam identity (The Colinator) comes from... My mother's middle name was Colley and if I had been born a girl, I would have been called Collette. As it turned out, I was born a boy and named Colin.😅 Also on my maternal side, I had two great-grandfathers who fought for the Republics, and both ended up as exiles on St Helena. They crafted incredible artifacts from twigs of trees, bones stones, etc. I still have two walking sticks crafted by them in my possession. On my paternal side, apparently nobody left the then Cape Colony. There is evidence that some of them have trekked as far north as Richmond, Middelburg district and Noupoort. But they were merchants and apparently did not care about the politics of the day. (Since one's kids are not interested in these stories, at least I got to tell it for once!)
@@bestKaffir.underTheSon Yup. I am 62 and my grandmother was born in 1898 and my mother in 1925.
I just discovered your channel, and am blown away by the quality of your work! Well done! Greetings from South Africa 🇿🇦
thanks
hoe algemeen is Uys as 'n van? ons het ook Uys familie (almal beweer natuurlik verwant aan die oorspronklike Dirkie Uys)
Daar is verbasend baie Uyse in Suid Afrika. Ek in n klein dorpie Ventersdorp groot geword en daar was 3 Uys gesinne en nie een was familie van mekaar nie. Ek het na skool Potchefstroom toe getrek en daar is n straat met "my naam" Piet Uys straat. Ek Bly nou in Delmas en hier ook n Piet Uys straat. (al 2 vernoem na Generaal Piet Uys.) So ek "vernoem na n bekende boere Generaal. Ek het 2 name en met ander naam is Joubert. En dit nog n bekende boere Generaal, Generaal Piet Joubert. Ek my oupa se naam en van gekry vir name.
A R G E N T I N A
ENGLAND DEFEATED THAT IS WHY WE SPEAK SPANISH
I don't know why people are so amazed it's not that hard to stand in front of a camera and talk
My ancestor was Petrus Jacobus Joubert (20 January 1831 - 28 March 1900), better known as Piet Joubert. He was the Commandant-General of the South African Republic from 1880 to 1900. He also served as Vice-President to Paul Kruger from 1881 - 1883. He served in First Boer War, Second Boer War, and the Malaboch War.
It sounds like your ancestor was either from French or Dutch descent. His first and middle name are definitely of Dutch origin, but Joubert sounds French. Napoleon had a general named Joubert. Maybe your ancestry is from Flanders in modern day Belgium. In Flanders we speak Flemish (dialects closely related to Dutch) but we've mostly been under influence of France or French-speaking elites. But I guess, knowing a bit of South African history, your ancestor might be a French huguenot (French protestants that fled catholic repression in France).
Saying the Voortrekkers moved inland because they wanted to maintain slavery is not quite right. That is just the British narrative which they used to help them "justify" their war of expansion
What do you mean by not “quite” right?
Also, an equally significant issue was the Boer refusal to grant citizenship rights to non-Boer “Uitlanders”, while taxing them heavily.
Does the phrase “taxation without representation” ring any bells?
People are uncomfortable with this fact but its historically accurate, its documented as a point of contention.
@@peterwebb8732 well what would you say about Cecil JohnnRhodes then? and you can pay tax when you are a foreign national living in a country .
@@peterwebb8732 And by 'n quite I refer to most of the farmers who went on the groot trek were form the east where they didn't really have slaves so only saying its about slavery is daft.
It's not just not quite right. It is a ridiculous statement.
I am in my eightieth year now and I remember a conversation with a lady, about one hundred years old some forty years ago when I was asking her about the first world war and how she lived through that in the south west near Tiverton.
It shortly became apparent that the great war she was talking about was indeed the boer wars and how the british soldiers suffered with many dying. There was some talk of general incompetence but, as we reflect now the idea of our soldiers wearing brightly coloured uniforms with a white cross on a red background providing a ready made target was a wonderful gift for the boers!
What memories we can glean from intelligent elderly people!
Thanks for sharing Geoff. The British wore red coats for the first Boer war in 1880, but by 1899 for the second Anglo Boer War were wearing khaki uniforms.
The brite uniforms were in the 1st Anglo-Boer war. In the second, starting at Talana, the British soldiers wore kakhi- the first time in battle.
@@roberthiggins9115The British wore Khaki in the 2nd Anglo- Afghan War. Check out the Battle of Maiwand 1880 for example. The British wore Khaki also in the Sudan campaigns. The British were wearing Khaki uniforms before the 2nd Anglo-Boer War.
@@johnroche7541 I was thinking of not just the colour but the material. The British army wore an ugly brown serge uniform from the 1890's to around the 1960's, thru two world wars and Korean war. Other Commonwealth militaries too.
One could argue the first "modern" war was the US Civil War - it saw the use of repeating rifles and pistols, barbed wire, aerial observation, rail logistics, first successful submarine attack, the use of ironclads, trenches, Gatling/machine guns, telegraph communications, and the advantage of having a significantly larger population and industrial base than your foe. Sherman's March Through Georgia was an exemplar of scorched earth tactics, ditto with "Sherman's bow ties."
They even had hot air balloons.
Sherman mastered the art of logistics and used it to move to Atlanta.
And used railroads to move large numbers of soldiers.
@@carymnuhgibrilsamadalnasud1222They had hot air balloons in the French Revolutionary Wars.
@@seamonster936 damn that was like their Airforce back then.
I’m a South African living in England. I am blown away by this channel’s research and particularly the pronunciation of Afrikaner words, names and places. Baeie dankie!
Thanks!
Except that a lot of his recounts of history are completely false. Either this guy has an agenda or get his information from anti-Afrikaner-anti-white resources.- because for those who knows the true history, his recounts of the history is in many many cases totally hogwash.
Dis baie dankie…
He's not 100% accurate, we never had slaves, and we never just took land.
@@neelsdebruyn8914 yeah the ‘’slaves’’ were paid
Thank you for this very informative documentary. History of the "Boerenoorlogen or Boerenkrijg" (like we call it in the Netherlands) is today very unknown here. That is very unfortunatly because this history links us together (our South African Afrikaanse broeders, the people of the Netherlands en the English nation. ) great nuance in the storytelling!!! Groet uit Nederland.
There was massive support for the Boers here. Hundreds of thousands came out to cheer president Paul Kruger of Transvaal when he rode in a cavalcade with queen Wilhelmina during his state visit in 1900.
Op skool het ons geleer van die ondersteuning wat daar in Europa vir ons saak was. In Ndl is daar nog steeds baie straatname wat kom uit die Boereoorlog; soms ʼn hele buurt.
@@Oomdaan11 Zo is het, die buurten van rond 1900 heten nog steeds Afrikaanderbuurt / wijk. Alleen weten velen niet waarom.
Here in South Africa it's commonly called the eerste Vryheidsoorlog and die tweede Vryheidsoorlog, in English directly it's the first freedom war and the second freedom war, although in schools they often use the Britsh name of Anglo Boer war, also they tend to forget about the first one, the one we won.
@@Danielhake Paul Kruger was a coward though to flee the country like he did
What a fantastic documentrary about an event that should not be forgotten.
So the Bores stole the land from the natives but the British secured the land for the Empire. This is BS, not history.
@@UglyOldGoat history none the less . It happend
@@UglyOldGoat Well if you say so
@@UglyOldGoat actually, the location of the Boererepublieke was cleared out by the Zulu Kingdom, who held a mass genocide. Also, there were many more Boer Republics that didn't last long. Such as Natalia, gifted to Voortrekkers by Zulu King Dingane in return of oxes. (At least, that's the Boer side of the story) In the end, if the British never repressed the Afrikaner, then South-Africa would most likely never had the issue of apartheid nor the corruption that came afterwards.
@@UglyOldGoat you're right: that land was bought from blacks, or simply uninhabited (due to earlier black on black genocide). It was the legitimate property of the Boers, which was then stolen by the Brits for their gold & diamond riches.
A great video summarising the war. Deneys Reitz' book Commando brings the whole period alive nicely.
Is to boring?
As you keep doing these it amazes me just how obvious it was that firepower had dominated the battlefield long before ww1. It would be cool to see some videos where you link the narratives between each of these videos (franco-prussian to ww1)
I would like to see a video where the Americans admit they started World War 1 which they did
It's worth noting that following on from the war, Australia determined that the manner of defending australia was to concentrate of a defense force centered around a massive mobile arm, to fight a draining guerrilla war, based on the Boer kommando model, but utilising formed units, mostly militia. This formed the model and doctrine of the WW1 model Light Horse, with a battle doctrine that was copied by all brit empire mounted troops under Harry Chauvel, in the middle eastern theatre in WW1. I had a great grandfather who landed with the 3rd Contingent, and served in the squadron providing body guard for Lord Methuen in the western theatre. Ironically, the authorities wouldn't let him sign up for WW1, as he had too many kids.
They all "learnt" from the untrained Boer farmer who had no logistics. Shows who was greater.
@@davethorstry6700 Didnt quite happen that way. The brits used the colonial irregulars to lay waste the boer farmlands, combined with resettlement of boer civilians into concentration camps. The troops weren't happy about it, but they did it...that was part of the reason behind the massive capetown 'riot' when the first mass group of colonials went home...the other more serious reason was friction between the various colonial groups. Pretty shameful.war all up, but it did provide a test of the Empire's reaction and logistic capabilities.
Germans didnt appreciate it at the time, in fact very few did, but the Brit Empire field tested 'total war' in the boer war.
Great work as always, old or new, this channel is a gem.
Thank you for covering this.
I always loved reading about this war.
Imagine moving into hostile territory to catch slaves with your family in tow, it just doesnt add up. The local tribes especially Xhosa and Zulu never got enslaved, the British even offered money to them to work and got turned down. Another factor was the Mfecane that Shaka committed meant mass genocide happened and lots of land was uninhabited when the Afrikaners moved up.
Exactly....
Remember the same people that destroyed thousands of farms in turn killing women and children is the ones tell you the boers is bad. one word "projection". Admitted as much when they didn't care to visit or report on Black concentration camps.
Boers bought and settled mostly on land that had never been inhabited by blacks as in Northern Natal for one. The Zulus and others arrived about the same time as the Whites. In the late 1800 hundreds the Brits had a census and put the Zulu numbers at 78,000. No way could they have even covered the vastness of Zululand itself let alone outside. Many areas had never been inhabited.
@@davethorstry6700 If in fact this is correct I agree!
AMAZING CONTENT!
I'll be honest I have very little interest in a lot of the periods of time you make videos about, but the way you deliver absolutely keeps me interested. Your channel has a great mix of facts, narration, animation, and editing. Well done :)
BARILOCHE SAN MARTIN DE LOS ANDES USHUAIA
A R G E N T I N A
Except that a lot of his recounts of history are completely false. Either this guy has an agenda or get his information from anti-Afrikaner-anti-white resources.- because for those who knows the true history, his recounts of the history is in many many cases totally hogwash.
I'm not sure whether I would announce that I am not in to history on a history channel
@@James-kv6kb Maybe you missed what I said - I didn't say "I wasn't into history" I said I wasn't into the "specific time periods" that he covers so much. That aside, the main reason of the comment was to give him general compliments on his artistic style and approach to content creation. I don't have to been into the material to appreciate the effort and art.
I always look forward to your documentaries and am so glad you make them.
As a South African im happy to see someone posting about our history you don't see it often. Thank you!
A R G E N T I N A
ENGLAND DEFEATED THAT IS WHY WE SPEAK SPANISH
The Second Boer War is known as The Boer War here in the UK. Probably because we lost the first one
And it only lasted 3 months so by the time it ended, most people in the UK probably hadn’t realised it had actually started.
@@cobbler9113 absolutely! Even my dad, who likes military history and has visited South Africa on several occasions had to be told about it.
Every significant War in Britain’s history has been known at the time as “The War”. People know that there have been other wars, but when you are up to your ears in barbed-wire and zepplins, keeping count of historical events seems rather superfluous.
Nor have the English ever been shy about their defeats at Hastings, in America or at Isandlwana.
@@peterwebb8732 They were very shy about the first Boer war after such a quick thrashing. Took them twenty years to gather the biggest army EVER to fight fifty thousand farmers! No they are shy about the second too, that is why is has never been publicized until lately. Not rocket science.
The same applies to the Anglo-Dutch war. Every Englishman says they won 'the war'. But they are talking about the 4th Anglo-Dutch war, the other 3 had nothing to do with it and were 100 years earlier. The first was a draw, the second and third a victory for the Dutch. But that's the way the stories are told by the winners...
The Afrikaner or Boer:
"Take a community of Dutchmen of the type of those who defended themselves for fifty years against all the power of Spain at a time when Spain was the greatest power in the world. Intermix with them a strain of those inflexible French Huguenots who gave up home and fortune and left their country for ever at the time of the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. The product must obviously be one of the most rugged, virile, unconquerable races ever seen upon earth. "
- Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, London
Unfortunitaly that is not the case anymore.
Great video! I knew very little about this war, so this was very informative.
My great grandmother was born in a concentration camps and my great grandfather was a pow im Ceylon and Lorenzo Marks. I still have letters from him, some of his equipment and a first hand account from my grandmother in a book called children of the concentration camps. My other great grandfather never returned from the war.
Lorenzo Marks.😅 I bet they were brown. 😂😂
@@henniecronje2868: think he means Lourenço Marques, renamed Maputo, the present capital of Mozambique. Seems to have managed to annoy the Portuguese, as well as the British.
@@blrbrazil1718 Your statement is incorrect. The British ordered the Portuguese, the then government of Lorenzo Marques, ( LM ) capital of Mozambique, that should they not imprison the Boer's in their country, it would be seen as an act of war, and their navy would blockade their harbours, and destroy their ships.
This lead to the " Imprisonment " of Boer soldiers that were taken to Portugal, and welcomed by the Portuguese population as heroes. They were " technically " given free rain, and earned their keep by working on the farms etc. where they were " interned. " ( To the great dismay of the Brits. )
During the Angolan border war, ( 1975 ) this favour was returned to the Portuguese fleeing from Angola, when inhumane atrocity's were inflicted upon them in their attempt to escape. The south African government gave them free passage across the border, and helped them settle in Namibia, South Africa, as well as helped repatriate others, back to Portugal.
History, like the truth today, has 3 sides to the story, your side, my side, and in the centre, the truth. The truth, however, usually hurts the state of mind, of thosethat choose to cling to the " Truth " that best suits their own narrative.
You should go and visit countries you know nothing about, mingle with parties on opposite spheres, be honest with yourself, and with clear, educated judgement, consider the facts of your " research ". The facts may astound you, or prove you correct?
Never judge from a distance, having only heard, what suited the governments rhetoric of the day.
@@shaunspies1108: I don't think there was anything in my two short lines that justified a lecture from you on attitudes. My first line was a suggestion that you effectively confirmed and my second was a tongue-in-cheek quip based on the historical background (the UK and Portugal were historical allies and the former saved the latter from French dominion under Napoleon).
That said, I found your additional information very interesting and it paints a broader richer picture of the situation. But be careful not to portray the Boers as innocent victims. As the documentary points out, those early settlers in the region (who left Holland because their religious extremism didn't go down well - like the Pilgrim Fathers who left Britain for what was to become the USA), they took the land from the existing inhabitants - many of whom had also migrated into the region, as population movements tended to throughout history - and subjugated them into slavery. And following the Boer Wars they ended up taking control of the South African government - Smuts and Botha were major leaders admired by both sides (while the Brits were more interested in the business side of things) and later introduced apartheid.
The fact is that although there are moments in history that can inspire a certain pride (whether family, nation or humanity), I don't think there is any country or ethnicity that doesn't have its shameful moments - judged from a modern perspective that suggests we are progressing in many ways - so the study of history should be treated as a learning opportunity, taking onboard what not to do as well as what works. In that respect, the mixed society of modern South Africa provides reasons for hope, but also occasional despair when it seems we will never learn to get human social organization and collaboration right. It is a beautiful country and I have friends there to this day, who believe in its future and are trying to make it a better place for everyone.
Germany and Russia supported the Boers, supplying them with weapons, as well as sending military missions and medical assistance to the Boers republics. Among this crowd of people there were Poles...
It's such a refreshing thing to see channels take interest in the Boer Wars. Many of my ancestors (Basson family) transited through the concentration camps. It means a lot. Thank you.
Absolutely excellent production.The Boer War is a favourite subject of mine, and when I lived in South Africa I visited all the major battlefields. You have presented the conflict very well, and your production values are world-class.
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A R G E N T I N A
ENGLAND DEFEATED THAT IS WHY WE SPEAK SPANISH
@@generaaldelarey2007
A R G E N T I N A
ENGLAND DEFEATED THAT IS WHY WE SPEAK SPANISH
@@evaklum8974 lol spanish is not a language Castilian is a language and argentinians do not speak Castilian same as those boers in SA they don"t speak Dutch they speak Afrikaans
Thank you for that excellent summary. It filled in a few gaps for me after having toured the battlefields in South Africa 15 years ago, including Calenso, Sien Kop, Elandslaate, Talana and the place where the armoured train was taken by Boer raiders and Winston Churchill captured. There is a plaque marking the spot.
A R G E N T I N A
ENGLAND DEFEATED THAT IS WHY WE SPEAK SPANISH
My grandfather was in the concentration camps where some of his siblings died. Thank you for taking the time to get the Afrikaans pronunciations right
l remember my South African grandpa always speaks about British concentration camps whenever someone mention British. His mother was there and only survivor from 4 siblings.
Emily Hobhouse wrote a book about the British concentration camps called The Brunt of War and on Whom it Fell. Thanks to U.S. President of the time; Theodore Rooseveldt, the book was never published in the USA.
In fact it is impossible to find outside of South Africa.
When I visited The South African War Museum in Bloemfontein in 1997 I was hoping to get a copy. It was only available in Afrikaans. I later heard that was because to this day, MI-6; the British CIA has a small but active bureau which works to keep it and other works unfavorable to the British historical narrative out of print (at least in English).
@@johnh.tuomala4379 That figures. To this day 99% of people in the UK call this war ''The Boer War'' as if there hadn't been a first one, erasing it from our collective memory because we lost it.
Hobhouse’s report were widely circulated in England, followed rapidly by a Government inquiry. Had the British authorities been even close to the nastier regimes with which they are compared, a known anti-war activist and publicist would not have been allowed anywhere near the camps…. and the camps themselves would have been far out of sight and mind.
Those used to modern standards of supply and disease control should remind themselves that the British forces lost more men to disease than to Boer bullets. Disease was regarded as inevitable under campaign conditions, how was it supposed to be avoided amongst women, children and old folks?
If the intention really had been to kill Boer non-combatants, it would have been easier and less public to let them die out on the veldt.
@@peterwebb8732 The starvation of women and children was deliberate. That is why the women and children whose husbands did not surrender received fewer rations than those who did. I will leave you with the words of Lord Milner :
In 1901, Lord Alfred Milner was “lamenting” the “fact that the death rate among young children in the [Boer War concentration]
camps was still not dropping. ‘The theory that, all the weakly children being dead, the rate would fall off is not
so far borne out by the facts,’ Milner wrote. ‘The strong ones must be dying now and they will all be dead by the spring of 1903.'
@@johnh.tuomala4379 I would like to find out more about the Brit's suppressing history in print - if you have any information I would appreciate it
Thank you. Great job! I've learnt a bit about this war at school (in former USSR, today's Ukraine), and then read some Churchill's memoirs on it. That's it. Of course, this video providing so many photos and telling, is very informative. And in general, the whole concept of this channel is prominent.
I've studied several of the battles of the Boer war in detail and it is interesting how they foreshadowed the great war in terms of some of the tactics that the British were forced to employ.
And what do you mean by "forced", exactly?
@@boeloevanboeloefontein
He's portraying the British as victims.
Forced??
Losing battles does kinda force you to change the way you are doing things…. If you don’t want to keep on losing. The British adapted.
Increased use of highly mobile mounted units.
Direct coordinated fire-support with artillery to aid attacking infantry.
And new weapon concepts, and the tactics using them. Beside commandos, the usage of indirect artillery, machine guns and auto-cannons... snipers... even armored steam tractor-trains.
Excelent version of the Boer War in a nutshell. I like the way you keep our interest by not giving too much details. However there are so many details not mentioned. In my opinion the Boers only tried to defend their home countries (Orange Free State and Transvaal) against a greedy superpower that came to overpower them for gold and diamonds. Most surviving afrikaner farmers lost everything they had and had to fight for there survival causing many upsets in SA history. Lets not go there. 😶 This war effected the afrikaner nation right to today.
My great grandfather fought in the Boer war in the NSW mounted rifles (Australia wasnt a nation until 1901 so he fought under the colony of New South Wales). He then transferred to the bush veld carbonniers (they used guerrilla tactics against the boers) and his commanding officers were executed by British firing squad for shooting boer prisoners, he always swore They were ordered to do so by Kitchener and that Morant and Hancock were shot to cover up for Kitchener when it all became public.
Breaker Morant a great movie as well
Breaker Morant was a war criminal.
The one thing I will never understand: Why would any Aussie (or Irishman or Welshman or Scotsman) fight for the British Empire when they themselves were victims of that empire.🤷♂
this sounds like it'd make a great script for a movie
The Bushveld Carbineers engaged in terror tactics, not guerrilla. They pillaged civilian farmsteads and raped. There are photos of these carbineers in Thomas Pakenham's book, where they are happily posing in destroyed living rooms.
Aussies should rather try to keep quiet about their first participation in a war, and don't brag about it.
My family were in the Nylstroom Kommando during the Boer War. The women and children interned into concentration camp. Weirdly after the war they trekked to the English Rhodesia to start a new life.
Are you living in Zim now, or did your family return to SA, or migrate elsewhere?
@Jumpin' Jack Flash its like the mass grave of children in Irene in Pretoria, on the site of the concentration camp and camp cemetery
@Jumpin' Jack Flash
A R G E N T I N A
ENGLAND DEFEATED THAT IS WHY WE SPEAK SPANISH
Thank goodness someone know how to spell "Kommando". There was no such word as Commando until brits introduced it into their dictionary after the Boer war they were that impressed by the mighty Boer!
@@jumpinjackflash675 They left hundreds of thousands to die homeless, starving and from hypothermia on the streets of their cities at this very time while they waged this war costing millions for gold and diamonds. Why do you think they would have the slightest compassion for Boer children. They did not. Boys as young as six were transported for stealing a half loaf of stale bread while starving.
Spion Kop, Kimberly, Ladysmith - these are all names associated with British Columbia. I had no idea the source of these names were likely inspired by the Boer War. BC also has a rich mining history. (Spion Kop is a mountain in Lake Country, near Kelowna, and had always struck me as a weird name for the area.)
Spion is a spy and kop is a head, but , I think, is short for koppie or small isolated hill. Kimberly is were the rich kimberlite diamond seam was found. Home of The Big Hole. Rhodes very cleverly consolidated all claims into De Beers which was the foundation for Anglo American gold...
@Jonathasg As an SA expat then living in Langley BC, I was stumbled across a small Boer war memorial park in Chilliwack, near the top of Vedder Rd.
@@stephanuhu963 I have never even thought that were Boer War memorials in BC. My great-grandfather fought in it, but the First and Second World Wars overshadow the memory of the Boer War. I’m going to be on the lookout for these memorials - thanks for interesting tidbit.
Spion (spelt spioen in Afrikaans) means spy, and the word kop refers to a hill, therefore Spy Hill is the literal translation
@@stephanuhu963 Also, Majuba Hill Rd. in Chilliwack
A throughly interesting documentary. The 8Boer POWs of +-7000 men and boys were shipped off to Sri Lanka, St Helena Island, Portugal and other territories which, over and above the deaths of women and children in the concentration camps, further created mistrust between English and Afrikaans South Africans all the way through to the 1990s.
The youngest POW was only 10 years old.
Thank you so much for all these videos, love them
It is always very interesting to play the counter factual game of history. I always wonder when it comes to the Boer War what would have happened if the Boer Blitzkrieg (race to the sea and coast i.e. capture of Durban etc) which was a proposal put forward by Jan Smuts and other young energetic Boers was implemented. They wanted to capture ports before British reinforcenents arrived. I also wonder what would have happened if this race to the sea was implemented in conjunction with an invasion and major rebellion in the Cape Colony. No doubt older Boer Generals thought it was a case of just repeating the methods and tacticts of the first Boer War. I dont know how many Boers from the Cape Colony actually joined their Boer brethern in the Transvaal and Orange Free State as some books give contrasting figures of between 7,000 and 10,000 Cape rebels. There was literally another potential Boer Army in the Cape Colony. If the aforementioned happened then this alternative Boer War would have been much bigger from both a geographically and military point of view and obviously would be longer in duration than the factual Boer War. It was a major concern for the British throughout the conflict that there would be a rebellion in the Cape Colony. If this alternative Boer War happened it would have really eroded British Empire military might even if they were again victorious in this alternative Boer War. Remember just 12 years later after the end of the factual Boer War concluded the First World War broke out.
Brilliant video.
I collect Victorian campaign medals and so far I got 122 of them, including 10 from the Boer war. 5 zulu war, and 3 from the Cape frontier wars and 5 British South Africa Company for Rhodesia and Matabele. Fascinating history
Impressive. My ancestors fought in the NZ land wars of the 1860s. Unsure if there were medals in any of that.
@@andrewstevenson118 there is one its called the New Zealand War medal awarded to both imperial and colonial troops
@@fergusporteous-gregory2557 Thanks. Didn't know that. My family was involved in the Pukekohe East skirmish and I got married in that church. One of the early gravestones has a musket ball hole in it.
All wars of aggression.
@@Mariusmjvr Yes. Wars are generally about aggression.
Thank you Jesse, As always an exceptional presentation. The excellent movie Breaker Morant brilliantly demonstrated the brutality and hypocrisy of that war.
The "excellent" movie Breaker Morant is a travesty. It glorifies the REMF and war criminal Morant and demonizes the Boers as having commited torture and mutilation of at least one Australian casualty, acts which would have been unthinkable for the deeply religious Boers. Really a pity that this despicable propaganda piece is the only movie on the Boer War most people in the english speaking world have seen.
@@rekkieseetiroomysi I don’t think you really understood the premise of the movie. It doesn’t glorify anybody, however it illustrated how cruel British Empire was on their execution of the war. As Jesse noted in his documentary there were cruelty on both sides, but much, much more on the Cruel British. However the Boers were no Boy Scouts either.
The point of that movie was how the British whitewashed their cruelty by throwing Australian soldiers under the bus after using them on their genocidal war. As the main character in his defense clearly stated (by great actor Edward Woodward): “We were following the rule 3-0-3 that British Army outlined: Shoot to kill.”
The movie is 100% subjective towards Australians but did not glorify anything, and if anything it clearly demonstrated how the higher up in British Government and Military establishment throw the colonial soldiers in to the slaughter when it suited. And then made an scapegoat out of them when it blew up in their faces.
It was an ANTI WAR movie.
Another great example of that was in Gallipoli in WW I when ANZAC (Australian & New Zealand) soldiers were sent to that slaughter house.
@@mshahnazi7636 There is absolutely no dispute that Breaker Morant was a war criminal. He was angry when his close friend was killed. He then ordered the execution of captured Boers. While this was in progress, a pastor, passing in a wagon, witnessed the act. Morant then pursued the fleeing pastor and executed him, as well. His criminal and disgusting behaviour led to him being executed. The Australian Carbineers were also infamous for their brutality against the local populace, which Morant was part of.
It is really not something Australians should be proud of.
@@spervuurproduksies You are taking it way too personal. There is no doubt about the cruelty and brutality of the British Armed forces. The point of the movie was that it was done from way higher ups. It is an Australian movie, and therefore it is very subjective and from their point of view. Also the movie was made during the height of Apartheid era, and therefore there are hints of anti Boers and anti Afrikaans sentiment which were high during the 1970s and 80s in the world.
However, the movie clearly demonstrated that it was a sham court martial, while blaming all of the atrocities on Australians as they were great scapegoats from the penal colonies. It absolutely stunk, and the one sided sham court martial demonstrated it brilliantly.
Most wonderful introducing & informative introduction of that first modern war in Africa 🌍 between duchess settlement states and British empire imperialism military efforts.....(the great war)channel always surprises me with magnificent historical coverage, and your excellent introducing a lot, thanks...due to German rifles, guns
Re uploads are my favorite they allow me to re see things with out having to scroll for 10 plus minutes
Thanks, you came to my history class a few years back as a speaker, great to see some new content.
Proud of the Boers. Determined and focused set of people. Just wish i was born Boers. I admired the Boers for the short time I lived there in the 2000's.
Is this a reupload ? Awesome video anyway !
Very well presented! I just finished the part of Manchester's biography of Winston Churchill that covers the Boer Wars, so this made for a great supplement to Manchester's excellent history.
A R G E N T I N A
ENGLAND DEFEATED THAT IS WHY WE SPEAK SPANISH
Thank you for well balanced and informative video on a long, complex and historically under estimated conflict that inadvertantly resonated through decades after its finalisation.
My great grandfather fought in this conflict. His diary reflects a contempt / disagreement for brittish command, both senior and in the freild. He and some other fellow Australians held admiration and deep respect for boer fighters, tactics and the (early stages) better treatment of POWs.
He noted even before the devoloped gorilla warfare tactics that Australians should better fight in that same manner, small, lightweight, highly proficient shooters, trackers and hunters. Very reminiscent of rural Australian life, strongly similar to Boer life.
He later (at the ripe old age of 34) refused service in manner in WW1, such was his repulsion of how Britain treated non UK soldiers, black people and the horrendous humiliation of Boer civilian and militarily prisoners. He settled in Brisbane, and a family story stated he did really not like using Kitchener Road, named after said general.
thanks for sharing
I'm curious at to the bit about UK treating black people badly? I'm sure they did, along with every other white powerful nation, but it's an Interesting statement in this context considering your great grandfather was literally fighting boers, ie. white farmer slave owners??
@@midnightwolfee2128 There's a difference between the farmer and business men treating a people badly and the state/ army command doing it, both in scale and how cruelly impersonal it is.
Also, for as bad as Africans were treated seeing your own commanders order people who look, live and value things like you be killed and farms burnt for defending their beliefs can only leave a mark and make you hate them.
*the commanders not the farmers
**slavery is also bad but these things are nuanced.
Poor treatment of black people tho is interesting in that this war showed the boers supporting slavery
@@midnightwolfee2128 So all Boers were basically slave owners according to you. I don't think so. Slavery was already outlawed by then.
On 5 June 1899 Milner proposed an advisory council of non-burghers to represent the uitlanders, prompting Kruger to cry: "How can strangers rule my state? How is it possible!" When Milner said he did not foresee this council taking on any governing role, Kruger burst into tears, saying "It is our country you want"
In most parts of Australia, we have a constant reminder of the Boer War. Rhodes grass on sides of the road. Bought home by soldier/farmers to establish better pastures in the dry areas of Australia.
The favour was returned in the form of Black Wattles and Blue Gums (Eucalyptus) which now proliferate in South Africa!
My mother-in-law was a housekeeper for a man who lived in a mansion in Ireland. He was a doctor in the military during the Boer War. My mother in law him and his sister, when they were quite old during the second World War.
Great coverage!
Thank you so much for making a video about the Boer war. I really enjoy learning about this war in history that is not really talked about.
is it?
I just wrote paper on this topic. Had to read multiple books to prove my thesis. I wish this vidio came out a bit earlier.
reading multiple history books is hopefully not a waste of time
@@TheGreatWar not at all. It goes deeper in to details. But this documentary gives a great picture of the events.
My great grandfather fought and was wounded at the battle of Paadeberg. Went right through WW1 including the Somme. His thanks? Court martial after a drunken fight in the officers mess in 1921. My advice to young men. Be a conscientious objector, they’ll happily send you to die for no reason
Nicely done video
Great job on this. Read a fine history a decade back on it, never knew how well the Boers did early on,.
Read about the FIRST Boer war when the Brits, on almost equal terms, were decimated by the Boers in four major and four minor battles. Begin here with the Battle of Bronkhorstspruit, then Laings Nek, Skynshoogte and Majuba. Google those titles preceded by "Battle of......" Here is the link to the first one Then you will understand why they went away and for the following twenty years gathered the biggest imperial/colonial army ever, a half million men, to fight fifty thousand farmers. The brits knew if they came again on their own, even with their modern army, they would be obliterated - by farmers.
Your background about the "Groot Trek" are missing some key components, about why my ancestors decided to move from the cape Colony, you left out the very important part of the interior being depopulated by the Zulus (Warlike African Tribe), the fact that the Boers purchased land from the Zulus where the Zulus then turned around and attacked the Boers trying to wipe them out, then subsequently after establishing a republic on the coast in Natal the British came again and just took it by force from the Boers, only after that the two republics of Transvaal and Orange Freestate was founded.
I strongly believe and am trying to find proof that the Brits were the instigators and behind the Retief massacre.
The Philippines and South African Boers had one thing in common we both taught America and Britain to stop using their Gatling machine . Because U.S and Great Britain had Maxim machine guns it was still under observation (testing) . What they didn't expect the Filipinos and the Boers had some Maxim machine guns. At first the Americans thought that the first encounter of Maxim guns in San Juan Hill in Cuba was one thing , but didn't expect the Filipinos have them too.
Great Job, you got a subscriber for this production.
Brilliantly done. Appreciate, a big part of our history.👍
I really appreciate that you lot took the time to properly explain the concentration camp system used in South Africa, and that blacks were treated entirely separately on paper even if they had just as bad, if not worse, than the whites. That and the usage of eyewitness accounts shows the change towards cultural history, which a lot of modern history has undergone in recent decades. Thanks c:
The blacks in separate camps were the family members of the black soldiers in service of the British. They were free to come and go as they pleased. It was not the same as the Internment camps of the Boer women and children where they were locked inside these camps with no freedom of movement. The British even locked the black workers of the Boer women and children together with them as they feared they would join the ranks of the Boers fighting.
@@HannelieSass There were death camps for the black farm workers who remained loyal to the Boers and refused to join the brits. They too were exterminated by starvation and disease. A conservatively estimated fifry thousand of them.
Yes, there is your proof of who introduced "apartheid" to SA. A conservatively estimated forty thousand black farm workers loyal to their Boer employers, were also interned in "separate apartheid" death camps, where they were starved to death for refusing to take up arms against their employers.
Why do you call it "expropriated" when you refer to the Boers, but "took over" when you refer to the British early in the video? Seems pretty unfairly biased to me. Much of the land that the Boers got was traded for cattle/etc. with the Zulus and other tribes. Sure they had wars against some of the tribes, but that happened everywhere around the world (North & South America, India, Australia etc.). The second Anglo-Boer war was truly a horrible war. By the way, it was the "second Anglo-Boer war", not the "Boer war". My great grandfather was a young boy of 10 years old in one of the concentration camps of the British. His father fought in the war. It is terrible what they did to the Boer women and children (they killed ~27,000). Thanks for the video though, great to see the content.
Terrific, thank you. A splendid short history.
Jesse, Enjoyed your narration. My compliments.
Did you cover the first boer war? I would like to watch it.
From South African fan.
The fact that slavery is mentioned at the start of the 1899-1902 Second Boer war I find completely irrelevant as this was not related to the outbreak of the war at all. Gold, diamonds and British expanding imperialism were. I find a lot of these youtube documentaries mention this irrelevant fact as to somehow justify the british empires attack, because we are obviously all against slavery, but I find it very misleading to throw in the "slave card" out of context. If you read about the Cape Frontier Wars for 100years prior to the first Boer War you will actually understand that the British empire was unable to protect their frontier borders and the boers who were supposed to be protected by their new British rulers came under constant attacks from Xhosa and Khoisan tribes. Eventually they had enough and left the Cape Colony in masses in a bid to find new land and rule and protect themselves. After the first Boer war there was actually symphaty globally for the Boers in their David against Goliath like battle against the British empire, especially after the very similar and succesful American Revolution. A lot of foreigners joined the Boer army to stand up against the superior British Imperalism and others cheered them on as they won their early victories against a supposedly superior enemy.
There is also mentioning that this was agreed as a "white mans war" and that both sides broke this agreement, but who broke it first? Who armed their subordinates first? The British, something which I think is a very important fact as the Boers obviously had to retaliate against it. It is also mentioned that both sides attacked and plundered, but again who started plundering and burning down the farms? The British! So what other choice did the Boers really have but to retaliate? They were basically starving to death at this stage. I'm not going to even start on the horrible consentration camps but the numbers of deaths are staggering and this is not forgotten by the Afrikaaners still today.
Another interesting fact is that at the end of the war the British Empire had more soldiers on the ground than the whole Boer population itself, women and children included.
I agree but would go even further. The story was clearly reinterpreted to make both sides look bad. But the story from a boer perspective was handed down to us by our forefathers differently. The miracle lies in the reconciliation afterwards so that the Boers would fight with Brittain in first and second world wars.
The frontier times (around the times of the Boer Xhosa wars) actually have reports of British police and soldiers refusing to patrol the frontier, and in one case a British officer actually yelled at 2 constables who left the area where Boers and Xhosa where shooting at eachother, the officer went off about how they as police officers had the duty to ensure the king's subjects don't kill eachother.
@@gidi3250 Boer Xhosa wars?
And slavery had ended in the Cape in 1833, a whole three years before the Boers trekked. The boers did not take slaves, in fact the slaves at the Cape prior to this were from West Africa, India, etc. never from South Africa. The Bantu people in South Africa, like the British, have never been slaves.
@@belindanothnagel8240 South Africa already had a massive native population, so no need to import one, (unlike the Americas the natives didn't die out of disease when Europeans showed up) most slaves where brought as assistants or just as luggage by the British/Dutch colonial elites/commanders who where sent to govern the cape colony, but amoungst the people living here in the cape by the time the British took over where very displeased with the British use of slaves and the cape colony parliament once threatened to walk out if the British colonial governor didn't free his slaves, we also voted a coloured man as leader of the cape colony (by that point the Britsh only really kept a millitary commander in the Cape colony.)
Thank you for this video. It's a time in history that's often mentioned, but not thoroughly discussed.
Fascinating scholarship. It's made even better by creator/narrator who has a strong charismatic speaking style.
Correction: the local population was never enslaved. Slaves were imported mainly from the east. There was however a system of indentured servitude with 4,000 recorded at the peak in 1866. Also, the land was not appropriated from the local population. To this day the deeds of sale are held in the National Archive.
Then Bad guy always try to tell you the other people are the baddies. Sure sign that propaganda was used and there was no legal reason used for war. Sign of thieves wanting to steal property of others. Through out history we see same thing happening
@@louismaloney6611 This guy is not suggesting that either was not bad, he correcting a factual inaccuracy. That does not mean we are talking about angels
No what I am suggesting is that the winner writes history and that was British. And if I look at wars since then it's always the same, it's the British that tells all they are the morale one to make war. The truth is that the British tells themselves that to feel better about stealing killing and destroying. So do I believe any of reports telling "boers" had slaves? Answer is no because British showed they are liars.
when the dutch arrived in south africa there were pretty much nobody not like in america during the discover of the new world the african population was living way more up north ....
@Quanbe77 not true. There were indigenous people in the Southern part of current South Africa (like the Khoi-Khoi, the San and later the Khoi-San) when the Europeans arrived.
These indigenous groups were primarily nomadic, which is why some areas of land may have appeared to be uninhabited at certain times.
BUT IT IS WHOLLY FALSE TO EVEN SUGGEST THAT THE EUROPEANS ARRIVED IN SOUTHERN AFRICA TO LAND THAT WAS NOT INHABITED.
Great video. War still sucked for both sides 123 years ago. There are no victors, just victims.
War is a business. There are the losers, then there are victors. War is a racket. If there are only losers ,there would be no wars.
As for winning. Victory is best defined as achieving your objectives while not permitting your opponent from achieving his. Cost - in lives and treasure - is a factor, but not the only one.
Sucked more for Brits. A Pyrrhic war One which exposed them as the myths they are. First in America by farmers then in SA by farmers, both hopelessly out numbered and out armed. The first and second world wars no better.
Interesting video. Thanks for sharing.
Another great video amazing to watch always entertained
Nz is blessed with having a decent amount of safricans, a wonderful bunch of people, family oriented motivated, hard working
Considering the siege kept 3000 Boer soldiers (that could have been used effectively elsewhere) with a mere 500 professional soldiers (the rest of the defenders being made up mostly of civilians); that the town held an important depot of ammunition and stores and was at a cross-road for an important rail line, one can not underestimate the importance of that siege and it's ensuing victory. Not dismissing the moral booster that such a victory brought, Mafeking was quite an important battle which also wielded subsequent spinoffs such as the eventual creation of the South African Police Force (an important factor in the restoration of peace) under Col. Baden-Powell (the defender of Mafeking) and the scouting movement.
Thank you for pointing out some often ignored facts of the conflict. You obviously know your history. Cheers.
@@towgod7985 I'm well-versed in scouting and the life Of Baden-Powell, a man largely ignored by history (particularly American history). When Time magazine came up with the 100 most important men and historical events of the last century, scouting and BP were completely ignored. However, it is difficult to come up with a man and a movement that influenced the 20th century more.
A mere 500 well entrenched. The defender always has the advantage in this situation. The Boers were very new at this and the General over cautious..
@@davethorstry6700 I strongly disagree. A sound military attack will bank on a 3 to 1 advantage for the attackers. The Boer had a 6 to 1 avantage and still lost - they should have won hands down. It was BP's genius warfare strategies that paid off. All the "pranks" he played on the Boer and the fake defenses he laid out made all the difference. The study of the battle of Mafekin in particular and of BP in general is quite fascinating.
@@Zat77 Your opinion. Not as reflected and reported in Ukraine recently where russians have well laid out defence lines that could not be overcome. While not taking anything from BP, I stated it was new and hasty decisions by the Boer Generals Cronje and Snyman. Initially Boers outnumbered Brits about five to one, but at the final stages it was equal at almost one on one. On almost every occasion as at Maggersfontein where Boers where outnumbered by Brits with massive fire power in artillery (also had a balloon for observation) It was Brits who were pinned down and decimated attacking riflemen in trenches. In any case the numbers vary widely from various Brit accounts. To the victor the spoils and he writes the history, his narrative. When the Boers were the defenders they did win hands down.
Thank you, well researched, with little bias.
Leona
My great grandfather too... and his younger brother. Both were in The Kings Liverpools.
Interesting video.
I'm enjoying these vídeos about the pre great war conflicts
Brilliant video, and kudos on your pronunciation 👌
Thank you for working on the pronunciations. Vereeniging is not easy, but you nailed it!
thanks! We had help from a South African fan, couldn't have done it without her.
I saw a world map once that showed all the countries England had invaded. It covered most of the world.
I believe there were a few calvery charges at the beginning of the American Civil War, but by the end troops were digging trenches to escape automatic weapons and artillery fire. Trains, telegraph, flying ships, and steam powered armored ships were also employed.
Submarines were used as well. You had the battle of the crater, being a minor pregame for the much larger versions in WWI. Snipers as a concept were being heavily developed. But some people will say the War in Crimea was roughly as advanced and a few years earlier than the Civil war.
@@SlavicCelery That about Crimean War sounds interesting. I know very little about it really including that it was before òur Civil War.
This war has always interested me, I read a book based on the Australian soldiers who fought in the war and in 1901, got their own national badge as well as the Bushveldt Carbineers who had war crimes particularly under Lieutenants Breaker Morant and Peter Handcock and why since this Second Boer War, Australian's weren't allowed to be executed by the firing squad
Made a movie called breaker Morant about it
@@deanhunter1753 yeah i saw that movie, mainly based around the war crimes and the court martial that followed
Really enjoyed this video. Also, I have to give you props for your pronunciation of the various Afrikaans words and names. It's obviously still an American speaking, but for the most part you were reasonably close. Not bad, sir. Not bad at all...
His accent is clearly Canadian, eh?
Die aanbieder is waarskynlik n Kanadees, maar jou punt bly geldig.
Just watched a Finnish documentary about this.
British soldiers were total inhumane animals in that war.
Hats off to all the Finns and scandinavians who died there trying to help the boers.
Boers began the war, and they were the slavers. Everybody knows the Boers were the "villains". They're just salty because they lost.
I don't remember seeing this before, which is okay, because it's like seeing it for the first time. Your videos are unequalled.
Have a great weekend everyone!
Thomas Packenham's 'The Boer War is a brilliant book.
Great to see footage from so early in the motion picture era.
Thanks well presented
As a South African, you have missed a few important bits regarding the Great Trek, the deal breaker was that the Boers would free their slaves and receive compensation from the Crown.
The problem was i9n order to be compensated you had to go to London to collect.
Oh dear! How terrible for the 'slave owners'. Sure they are the true victims right. Just like the 'unfair' criticism of Belgium's Congo (Read Joseph Conrad's 'Heart of darkness')! Sure the Brits were hypocrits with their Empire and their murderous 'Concentration Camps' unforgivable but really??
….. aaaand they were denying citizenship rights to non-Boers. Happy enough to tax the living daylights out of them. Does the phrase “Taxation without representation “ ring any bells?
@@peterwebb8732 I think for a people that invaded 65% of the countries on earth and subjugated 25% of its population you should try and not make too much noise
@@peterwebb8732 And by the way, you know the Brits also had slaves in then Cape Colony, right ?
@@ejmproductions8198 The Mongol conquests of the 13th century resulted in widespread and well-documented destruction. The Mongol army conquered hundreds of cities and villages and killed millions of people. One estimate is that about 18% of the world's population was killed either during or immediately after the Mongol invasions, around 37.75-78 million people in Eurasia, alone. These events are regarded as the most deadliest acts of mass killing in human history. The Mongolians invaded more territory than the Roman and British Empires and subjugated more than 32% of the worlds population.
ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT! The whole thing was totally unbiased, the Dutch and Afrikaans pronunciation was the very best I have ever heard by an American. Thanks
This is anything but unbiased
The first couple minutes show a clear pro-British bias
@@jonathanwilliams1065 Utter dribble but 'diddums' to you! There was no 'pro British' bias. Get real. (If you have a point explain where and how!)
@@vladdrakul7851 the first couple minuets is basically trashing the Boers with British propaganda
They even straight up lie about how the Boer republics were founded
@@vladdrakul7851 Even though the "Great Trek" by the Boers happened in 1830 because slavery was abolished, no slaves were taken on the trek and there was no slavery in the subsequent Boer Republics. So, for this creator to claim that the Boer war of 1899-1902 had ANYTHING to do with slavery, is disingenuous or ignorant. It was about imperial greed, nothing more, nothing less.