Anglo Boer

Causes of the War

The First Anglo-Boer was also known as the First Transvaal War of Independence because the conflict arose between the British colonizers and the Boers from the Transvaal Republic or Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek (ZAR). The Boers were getting help from their neighbors in the Orange Free State.

The following are several causes of the First Anglo-Boer War.

The Boers had been wanting their independene for some time now.

• There was an expansion of the British Empire.

• There were having problems with the Transvaal government.

• The British were annexing the Transvaal.

• The Boers had been strongly opposing to the British rule in the Transvaal.

The 4th Earl of Carnarvon was the British Secretary of State for the Colonies under Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli, who was premier from 1868 to 1880. At the time the British government had been desiring to expand the British Empire. Carnarvon had been wanting to form a confederation of all the British colonies, independent Boer republics and independent African groups in South Africa under British control. By 1876 he had realized that he would not be able to achieve his goal peacefully. He told Disraeli that: "By acting at once, we may acquire the whole Transvaal Republic after which the Orange Free State will follow.

He had been preparing to use force to make the confederation a reality, a fact that was proved by the Anglo-Zulu War in 1879.

The War

The first open conflict between the British and Boers began in November 1880 in Potchefstroom. P. L. Bezuidenhout refused to pay extra fees on his wagon saying he had been paying his taxes already. The British authorities then confiscated the wagon. On November 11, 1880 a commando of 100 men under P. A. Cronje took back the wagon from the British bailiff and returned it to Bezuidenhout.

Following this, between 8 000 and 10 000 Boers haf been gathering at Paardekraal, near Krugersdorp on 8 December 1880. As a result a triumvirate of leaders; Paul Kruger, Piet Joubert and M. W. Pretorius were appointed. During the first week of December 1880 the leaders were proclaiming the restoration of the Transvaal Republic and three days later raised their Vierkleur flag at Heidelberg, thus rejecting British authority. The events of the December 13, 1880 thus in effect started the war and ended passive resistance.

British Soldiers and their artillery.

The first shots were fired in Potchefstroom. The Boers had about 7 000 soldiers, and some Free Staters were still joining their

...