How the English Won the Boer War in South Africa On October 11, 1899, the forces of the Boer republics, Orange Free State and South African Republic, responded to Great Britain's dismissal of an ultimatum against the placement and reinforcing of British troops in South Africa by laying siege to cities in northern Cape Colony occupied by the then outnumbered British troops. The British were able to gain superiority and eventually win the Boer War by brute force, vastly superior numbers and the cessation of rights for those deemed the enemy and its collaborators. It would take three years and drastic changes in "the gentlemanly art of war" for Great Britain to achieve victory. Leading up to the end of the nineteenth century there …show more content…
This action, the Boer leaders justly feared, was the build up of the military power necessary to conquer the Boer nations by force, and an ultimatum was issued on the 9th of October calling for the removal of all British troops from the republic's borders within 48 hours or it would be viewed as an act of war and dealt with accordingly. Ignoring the ultimatum, the British maintained their positions and at 17:00 on the 11th of October war was declared. The fighting for the next three years of the war was characterized by three distinct phases of battles and styles of warfare. In the first phase, from October of 1899 to February of 1900, there was obvious superiority in the Boer troop's numbers and abilities. This was evident in the ease with which they corralled the British troops into the cities of Mafeking on the 13th of October, Kimberley on the 14th, and Ladysmith on the 1st of November. The Second phase, February to November of 1900 was marked by steady British advances into the Boer territories and the taking of all major cities including the capital, Pretoria. The third and final phase of the war, from November of 1900 until its end in May of 1902, was notable for the Boer tactical switch to small groups of men called commandos, and their guerilla style of warfare, and the British employment of
During the period of Apartheid in South Africa between 1948 and 1994 the reactions of the South African citizens towards the legal separation of races varied depending on race, ideals and time period. After gold and diamonds were fud inSouthAfrica both the dutch and British wanted the land to themselves, leading to the Boer War from which the Dutch farmers emerged victorious. Following the Boer War and the creation of the Union of South Africa in 1910, the Dutch Boers gained control over the majority of the land in the previously British Cape Colony along with the settlements they had already built, the Transvaal and the Orange Free State. Blacks in South Africa made up about eighty percent of the population but only lived on ten percent of
Howard Collins, Order of British Empire (O.B.E.) is the Chief Executive of Sydney Trains; Sydney Trains was established on 1st July 2013 which coincides with Howard’s tenure with Sydney Trains. Howard Collins O.B.E was raised in Trinidad, West Indies before being sent back to England to be schooled at the age of 11, (Howard Collins great train adventure, Australian financial review, November 1st 2014.) Howard Collins O.B.E. was known as “the Tube man” by the London Lord Mayor Boris Johnson this was due to the extraordinarily efforts that Howard Collins O.B.E had during his time with London Transport with the London Olympics and the tragic event of the Kings Cross fire which led to the deaths of 31 people. Howard Collins O.B.E has a 37 year history in the transportation industry and brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to his role of Chief executive from London Transport. Howard Collins O.B.E held various positions within London Transport from sweeping platforms, train driver, signaller and area manager for which he was appointed at an early age of 25, he’s belief in his achievements was that to learn from the experience of his colleagues who have been in the industry for 20 to 30 years or more (openness to experience). Howard Collins O.B.E implemented various changes in London Transport to which he would like to emulate here with Sydney Trains.
In the period of 1880 to 1914, positive and negative attitudes ascended throughout the acquisition of African colonies. Some thought that it would reinforce Europe's economy and government, others supposed it would add pressures to Europe; it end up being a benefit to the economy, strengthen the nation and civilizing Africa. Motivations would be up brought upon the vague consideration about this dilemma.
The British went into the Somme with a mixed attack plan, which led to an unsuccessful first assault resulting in a battle of attrition. The opening day of The Battle of the Somme resulted in near 60,000 casualties for the British, the largest in British military history for a single day. Originally the Somme was supposed to be a French dominated offensive, however the Germans attacked to the South in Verdun occupying the majority of French troops. The British were then thrust into control of the offensive, leaving Sir Douglas Haig and General Rawlinson to arrange an offensive strike against the Germans. Haig advocated for the use of infantry including foot soldiers as well as cavalry to lead the offensive. Rawlinson countered with a bite and hold strategy, which involved fortifying a strong defense and warding off German counter attacks. Rather than committing to one strategy, the two were combined in order to create a week-long bombardment followed by an offensive attack on foot.
The Scramble for Africa took place during the period of time around 1880 until 1914. During this time Africa found itself being split up and divided amongst several European countries. In essence Africa was like a fresh baked pie and everyone wanted a slice.
The first major piece of work to be written about the Anglo-Zulu war, with a small chapter devoted to the battle of Isandlwana, is called The History of the Zulu War and Its Origin by Frances Ellen Colenso. Written in 1880, one year after the war concluded, Colenso wrote in a Pro-nationalist focus. He applauds the camp tactics employed by Lord Chelmsford, General of British Forces in South Africa and Natal, and does in no way seem to dislike or question the Generals commands. As stated above, this a very short chapter in a very large book. There are thirty pages devoted to Isandlwana in a book of over 400 pages. The thesis of the book is “However insufficient the result may prove, we shall at least hope that our work may give some slight assistance to the maintenance of which alone can ensure the true honour of the British name .” The way the book was written, it is a very pro-British book with emphasis on helping the British reputation. The book does leave out a lot of important details because it is written one year after the event. Reading it, the book
Having proposed that military history has been failing in its duty, Keegan then continues to demonstrate how it should be done. The battles of Agincourt, Waterloo, and the Somme are the main interests of the book; these battles took place centuries apart and all involved British armies. He examines, in detail, which aspects of war changed or remain constant between the three battles. Keegan brilliantly and
In this essay I will explain why I think The Battle of Britain was the
The Hundred Years War was the last great medieval war. It was a war not just between Kings, but lesser nobles were also able to pursue their own personal agendas while participating in the larger conflict. Future wars saw far less factionalism, at least on the scale found in medieval conflicts. The Hundred Years War was actually dozens of little wars and hundreds of battles and sieges that went on for over a century until both sides were exhausted. While neither side won in any real sense, the end result was that while there were two kingdoms at the
Why Britain Won the Battle of Britain After taking France in addition to his list of captured countries on mainland Europe, Adolf Hitler set his sights on Britain. After the success of Blitzkrieg, the evacuation of Dunkirk and the surrender of France, Britain was by herself. However, before Hitler could contemplate undertaking an invasion he was advised by his generals that Germany had to destroy the Fighter Command of the Royal Air Force in order to gain superiority in the air. This would in turn enable him to gain control of the English Channel in order to transfer the 160,000 German troops on the 2000 invasion barges, which had been assembled in German, French and Belgian harbors, over the
Following his time studying at Oxford University and then Sandhurst, Haig became a cavalry officer for nine years during which he fought in wars such as the Boer War (1899-1902). His military education and experience in the cavalry have been used by many to explain the negative elements of Haig’s early days and why he devised the tactics that he did. The cavalry charge type offense he was most used to was one he viewed to be the most successful however, this quickly became redundant considering the trend of modern warfare with the introduction of machine guns and tanks, during his time as the overall commander of the British Army. Therefore Haig was significant because his old fashioned attitudes towards war tactics meant that he was ill-equipped for the battles during the early part of his
The South African Republic and the Orange Free Stated made an alliance. They then declared war on the British on October 12, 1899 because they were uncooperative with Kurger’s demands. The Afrikaner forces were successful in invading Natal and Cape Colony. In December the British commander in chief Sir Redvers H. Buller sent fresh troops to relieve the British forces in three war zones. These zones were Colenso, Natal, the hills of Magersfontein on the Orange Free State and Cape Colony borders, and the mountain range of Stormberge in the Cape Colony. Within a week, which is referred to as the Black Week by the British, each of the new units had been defeated by Afrikaner forces.
The late 19th century imperialistic mentality brought many countries into heated conflicts. The two biggest players, before the Berlin Conference, were France and Britain (Bennett 67). These two rivals had been among the first to take interest in colonies in Africa. The British, by 1880, were mainly located in South Africa (51). They had annexed South Africa way back in 1815, mainly because of the strategic importance it held for trade to British India (69). At first, the British did not observe a great reason for expansion. By 1880, the "economical advantages" began to present themselves more clearly (Hugon 30).
With more of an idea of what the inland was like, the powers decided to meet up and split Africa among themselves. It was at this meeting of nations that Britain (the main English speaking empire of the time) collected around 20 colonies in Africa. Each of these colonies were operated under the English language. Additionally, English speaking immigrants flooded these newly organized colonies. This influx of the English language not only spread the English language, but it also influenced it. Again the powers that conquered were influenced by the places that they conquered. The influences that were given by the British-African colonies were much more direct now. Now English had been formed, and they were spoken together with the indigenous languages. As with Aramaic and Latin, the invading force picked up several words and language additions. Africa offered a plethora of indigenous languages to influence the English language. Inland Africa also exposed the English speaking colonists to various things that they had never witnessed before. For example Zebra was a word with African origins, because to this point the Europeans had not seen this creature. They took what the locals called it and added it to the English language. This happened with a lot of words that are now commonly used in the English language. Banjo, banana, chimpanzee, impala, jazz, jenga, jumbo, safari, tango, tilapia, yam, and zombie are all examples of African words that were added to the English language.
opinion of how the country works as he grew up, and when he was 16 the