it was the lands of Portugal that the age of discovery began Henrique of
Portugal also known as Prince Henry the Navigator sponsored many voyages down
the western coastline of Africa under his direction a new design of
manoeuvrable ships were developed with triangular sails the carvel could
sail much faster and further than the ships of the Mediterranean
after many expeditions it was Bartholomew Diaz who first arrived in
South Africa establishing the first contact with the native inhabitants the
first European settlement however would be bought about by the Dutch East India
Company a base was set up where merchants could use the area as a
station going to and from the Dutch East Indies over time the settlement known as
the Cape of Good Hope grew in size and the citizens adopted the name boer which
means farmer in Dutch in Afrikaans in 1795 the Dutch Republic was invaded by
France and was turned into a puppet state the Batavian Republic it was
because of this the British invaded the Cape and seized control with Napoleon's
defeat in 1814 the Anglo-dutch treaty was signed which returned Dutch colonies
back to the Netherlands except the Cape of Good Hope and a few South American
colonies there were now many Boers living under British rule within the
colony and there was a dominance of British culture they felt resentment as
the British did little when their farm lands were attacked by local African
tribes they also didn't like the ban on slavery and were outraged when the Dutch
language was outlawed as an administrative language so in 1835 they
embarked on the Great Trek tens of thousands of Dutch citizens known as
vortrekkers left the Cape Colony and moved inland into Africa in the hopes of
finding new lands the journey into Africa was dangerous they had to cross
the Orange River the Vaal River cross over mountain ranges and avoid hostile
African tribes the rise of the Zulu Kingdom under King
Shaka had led to the deaths of between 1 and 5 million Africans this massacre and
fleeing migrants left large amounts of land under populated or uninhabited
because of this the Boers were able to form two new Republic's the Orange Free
State and the South African Republic or Transvaal these new Republic's were
recognized by Britain in the 1850s but the discovery of diamond deposits along
these borders created bitter tensions in the 1870s the Boer states were nearing
bankruptcy and were continuing to fight off neighbouring African tribes so the
Boer Republic's sought the protection of the British and were annexed in 1887 out
of fear from being vulnerable by the Zulu Britain continued to expand into
Africa and annex the Zulu Kingdom in 1879 and after this event many boers in
Transvaal began to speak out against British rule 10,000 soldiers then
gathered under Paul Kruger and declared independence once more the British sent
troops north into Transvaal but were ambushed and continued to take losses
over the following months this is because the British Army was far less
organized than the Boers the Boers had no official army it was
instead based on a commando system all male citizens between the ages of 16 to
60 gathered to form a militia and elected a leader each soldier carried a
rifle food for eight days and acquired a horse
many Boers were also skilled marksman and frequently shot down many British
troops in bright red uniforms such was the Battle of Laings neck where British
artillery did little to the entrenched Boers who persistently shot down British
troops the final battle came in February at
majuba hill where British troops climbed up to get the high ground and
overlooked the boer positions these attempts failed as the marksman picked
off the British and when Major General Pomeroy Colley was shot down and killed
the remaining troops fled this was Britain's first military defeat since
the American War of Independence and a treaty was signed in 1881 which
recognized the boer republics as independent but just as the war ended
the Scramble for Africa began other European powers like Germany Italy
France and Portugal moved in to colonize the continent threatening British
dominance in South Africa the Republic's launched incursions into modern-day
Botswana but the British were quick to annex the area as well as modern-day
Zimbabwe gold was discovered in Transvaal that improved the economy so
much it starts to rival the British the British helped organize a rebellion in
Transvaal known as the Jameson raid this failed and encouraged the Republic's to
import more firearms what made things worse was kaiser Wilhelm ii of Germany
who sent a telegram congratulating the Boers on their independence this did not
help Anglo-German relations in the build-up to World War one and Britain
feared a German Boer alliance feeling their position was threatened
troops were built up along the border in 1899 and when the boers sent an ultimatum
to withdraw war was declared in the early stages of the second Boer War
Britain were unprepared again this allowed the Boers to win several
victories at Ladysmith mafeking and Kimberley but by 1900, hundreds of
thousands of soldiers arrived to relieve these cities and they continued to push
forward eventually capturing Johannesburg however a guerilla war was
launched by Kroos de la rey and over 250,000 British troops failed to maintain
control because of this the British built thousands of outposts throughout
South Africa to defend supply lines and burned crops and villages that could
have aided the guerrillas those who were captured were deported to other colonies
within the Empire like st. Helena and the Caribbean
the women and children faced a far worse punishment as many were placed into
* the conditions in these * were so poor
as many as forty thousand died from starvation and disease the raids of the
Boers lessened and there was concern that the neighbouring Swazi tribe would
soon join the war. the war came to an end in 1902 peace was made and the Boer
Republic's were annexed the wars have left an incredible mark on South Africa
a deep cut in its history and should not soon be forgotten thank you for watching
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