How the English Won the Boer War in South Africa Essay

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 Britains 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 republics borders within 48 hours or it wou ld 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 troops 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 ofShow MoreRelatedApartheid : A System Of Racial Segregation1176 Words   |  5 Pagesracist political policy in South Africa demanding division of the country’s white and non-white populations for nearly 50 years. In 1652, a group of people from the Netherlands settled in South Africa. The Netherlands are also known as Holland, and the people who live there are Dutch. These settlers came to be known as Boers because Boer is the Dutch word for farmer. It was the domination and influence of the white South Africans over the Black South Africans. 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