South African Wars (Anglo-Boer)

South African Wars (Anglo-Boer)
Category	Historical

South African Wars, the first is also called The Boer War, rose out of the pursuit of commercial empire as well as individual aspirations, especially after the discovery of diamonds (1867) and gold (1886), were key factors in ethnic, political and social tensions among European colonial powers, indigenous Africans, English and Dutch settlers leading to open conflict in a series of wars and revolts between 1879 and 1915 that would have lasting repercussions on the entire region of southern Africa.

History

South African Wars (1879–1915) are usually studied separately, as independent conflicts, including the first and second Anglo-Boer War, the Anglo-Zulu War, the Basotho Gun War, the 9th Frontier War. However they are outbreaks in a far larger wave of conflict and change effecting the subcontinent - beginning with the "Confederation Wars" of the 1870s -80s and escalating with the rise of Cecil Rhodes with the struggle for control of gold and diamond resources, leading to the Second Anglo-Boer War and the Union of South Africa in 1910.

When the South African War broke out in 1899 between Britain and the Afrikaner of South Africa, Canada confronted for the first time since Confederation, the question of whether it would actively help Britain by sending Canadian soldiers to fight in a British imperial war overseas. Participation was enthusiastically supported by Canadian imperialists but resisted by many others, especially French Canadians, like Henri Bourassa. Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier compromised by agreeing to send a purely volunteer force. Thus, the war served notice that automatic support for the British Empire had become controversial.

References and Mentions

Kommando
Murdoch Air
Winston's Lost Night
On the Waterfront Part 2
Election Day
Artful Detective
Nolo Contendere
Sweet Amelia