Key Battles of The Boer War

Key Battles of The Boer War

In my opinion the battle of Talana was a very key battle because it was the first real battle of the war and set off other key events to come. The commanding officer of the 3500 Utrecht, Wakkerstroom, Krugersdorp, Vryheid, Middelburg and Piet Retief commandos was General Lucas Meyer and on the British side of 4363 men the commanding officer was Major-General Sir William Penn Symons and he was stationed at Dundee which was where the attack from Meyer took place. 

The attack took place on the 20th of October 1899 and in the battle the British commander died along with 53 other troops, 203 were wounded and 246 were captured during the charge of Danie Theron's commandos. In comparison Meyer who lost 31, wounded 66 and had 20 captured this was a failure, however the Boers did have to retreat to the over looking hills.

Dundee was captured by the Boers till the 15th of May 1900 but was relieved from their control after the relief of Ladysmith.

To conclude I believe this is a key battle because Dundee is strong military position to have, it was the first real battle of the war and led up to the rest of the wars events.

Key Individuals of The Boer War

Key Individual of The Boer War

Lord Kitchener 

Kitchener was a British military leader who gained his fame for campaigns and a central role in WW1. He often planned and organized huge battles in WW1 and is on one of the most famous war recruitment posters of all time (seen above)

Chamberlain

Joseph Chamberlain was a British politician that gained renown fast as he had no qualifications and had also had lots of pressure on him when concentration camps were discovered in the next Boer War. He became colonial secretary under Salisburys government in 1895.

Lloyd George

Lloyd George was a British politician during World War 1 and again straight after it. He was not PM during the Boer War but did oppose Chamberlain and was known for his radical opposition towards him. However he was not against colonization or the Empire.

Alfred Milner

Milner was the high commissioner of South Africa and later a member of the cabinet. He was a large supporter of imperialism. He directly stopped British policy to do with the Boers changing due to lack of trust with the Boers which led to the war. After the war he lost respect for having a large input in its causes.

Causes of The Boer War

Causes of The Boer War

The first Boer War was between Britain and the South African Republic and was caused by the British trying to expand, problems with the Transvaal government, the opposition of British rule in the Transvaal. Britain had hoped to gain a larger Empire and create a confederation of colonies, Boer republics and South African groups. The Brits did not risk much by trying to achieve this besides soldiers lives and money but the gain if the plan was successful out weighed these risks. 

This war happened because the British Empire got greedy and felt like they wanted to be the most powerful in the world as they once were which tells people that they were selfish and only wanted to rule over rather than rule for people. The events that triggered it were the annexation of the Transvaal government and when the Pedi attacked the Boer the British did not assist them as they should have.

Outcomes of The Crimean War

Outcomes of The Crimean War

A total of 5 countries were involved in the war: Britain, France, Russia, Turkey and the Kingdom of Sardinia. The war was between Russia and the Ottoman Empire (backed by Britain, France and Sardinia). The Allies won the war and France greatly benefited from this as it now replaced Russia as the dominant power and stopped Russia gaining more territory. Russia lost the war and with it their status and with it 220,000 troops, they had also failed to gain more control of the world. 

The war left the British realizing how under trained and poorly managed their armies were which led the the Cardwell reforms in the 1860's, these reforms made the army more organized and better equipped than they had been previously. It also left Britain with new heros such as the nurses that served in the barracks and in turn set in motion female rights. The impact on British politics was quite large because after the war commissions came under fire and were eventually abolished.

The only people that truly gained from this war were the French since they were now the dominant military power and had made money selling arms to the Ottomans, however you could say that Britain did gain the knowledge of how their country needed change which then led to a more effective country and army. The Ottomans gained weapons and the safety of their land as well as allies in Britain and France. All countries lost something but the major loser was Russia because they started a war hoping to gain and lost men, money and power all in one swoop, their loses were greater than all other countries and their government was now very unstable.

In Britain much changed socially because now war correspondents were being used and more of the public were reading the news papers day to day, people were for the first time interested in foreign affairs. Medically  a huge amount changed except we gained knowledge of how useful nurses were in barracks and after health care for soldiers was improved to keep them fit. On the military side of change we have the Cardwell reforms which changed almost every aspect of the army all the way from leaders to basic training.