Preview

The Effect of Boer War on the British Control: African Empire

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1816 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Effect of Boer War on the British Control: African Empire
How far did the Boer War affect the British control of its African Empire?
The Boer War was fought between the British and white Dutch settlers in South Africa 1899-1902. It had many effects, and led to the growth of anti-imperialism within British politics and society, and highlighted the incompetence of the British military. It also resulted in the formation of the union of South Africa and to the formation of a Dominion in South Africa. The whole idea of imperialism had changed – the meaning of it went from being positive to negative. The war would turn attention away from social reform. As Lloyd George put it “Every shell fired amounted to the cost of a pension for an old person in Britain.”1 It re-focused priorities upon domestic issues. However Lloyd George could have been exaggerating the cost of the war as he was not in the government at the time but wanted to win votes. Zara Steiner said that the war was a catalyst in changing the way Britain looked at itself. For example, it led to reforms and the strengthening of the British navy, which would help Britain maintain its colonies in Africa. This fits alongside the increased popularity of Eugenics, which was belief that the human race needed to be protected from the “unfit” “degenerates”, and which while vile in tone did ultimately lead to the recruitment of healthier soldiers. Therefore there was still continuity. Andrew Marr said that the “British Empire still stood tall but was wobbling on a feet of clay”2 which implies that Britain still maintained its African empire but was weakened as a result of the Boer war. C.C Eldridge goes further. He says that the British Empire not only survived all the traumas produced by the Boer war but expanded as a result of its victory and became even more important for British trade and investment than it had ever been before. Between 1903 and 1914 British exports to the empire in Africa increased by 31 per cent.
It was a very costly war for Britain. They won through

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    2. What was life like at the time of this event or the time this document was created? What…

    • 757 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Imperialistic Africa

    • 1040 Words
    • 5 Pages

    How was imperialism beneficial to the people of Africa? In what ways was it beneficial and in which ways was it harmful?…

    • 1040 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Imperialism In Africa

    • 590 Words
    • 3 Pages

    How has the scramble for Africa affected Africans? Europeans have always been known to take over many territories. For example, the British have expanded their empire to Australia, Asia, and even the Americas. Although these changes have made what the world is today, nothing has changed more than Africa. Before Colonialism occurred, Africa traded with other parts of the world for centuries (RP #1). In the nineteenth century, the Europeans started to notice that Africa could be a “gold mine” for their own economy. As more Europeans started to invade Africa, much of Imperialism took place. The two main reasons for Imperialism and Colonialism in Africa were for trade and territorial control.…

    • 590 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In 1899, Britain became involved in a war, known as the Boer War, in South Africa, which was part of the British Empire at that time. As a result of Britain having a relatively small army, volunteer recruits were needed to increase the army size. However, the British Government became alarmed when almost 25% of the volunteers were rejected because there were physically unfit to serve in the armed forces. This figure was even higher among volunteers from the industrial cities. Politicians and the public…

    • 1468 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Africa Imperialism DBQ

    • 725 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The Age of Imperialism was a time of great wealth in the mother countries. European countries went everywhere to find places to conquer in order to get their natural resources and raw materials. The increase in colonies led to an increase in nationalism, wealth, and power. One of the key places that European wanted between 1880 and 1914 was Africa. In 1878, Africa was basically free except for some parts of south, which were controlled by Britain, and some Portuguese. By 1914, almost the entire continent was controlled by a European nation. Almost all Europeans had a good attitude toward the European acquisition of African countries because it increased nationalism, wealth, and power, however, some disagreed with it because they felt that there were problems in Europe that needed to be dealt with.…

    • 725 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The Boer war had effects on the soldiers on both sides of the war, the indigenous people of South Africa and the families of the Boer soldiers. The Boers were constantly shelling the British and this meant that the British soldiers could not move openly during the day and had to camp in insanitary dugouts rather than in the open, which accelerated the spread of disease in the British camp. Evidentially, this is a social impact and has affected South…

    • 676 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    However, others have argued that rather than showing a positive reaction to progressive Liberalism, the result reflected an overwhelming rejection of Conservative policies. The main and perhaps one of the most damaging issue for the Conservatives was the Boer War; though it had originally benefited the Conservatives in 1900, promoting patriotism and helping them win the 1900 election, by 1906 there had been more deaths than Britain expected and it had been much more drawn out. The Boer War also helped unveil the poverty…

    • 1054 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    As a whole, Africa was ruined by the Europeans’ greed during the early 1900’s. The European countries were very strong nationalists and they came together and decided to show their superiority by imperializing other continents and countries rather than fight with each other. They chose Africa as the best place to imperialize because of its natural resources and availability. This is what introduced the Berlin Conference. At this meeting, representatives from Great Britain, France, and other strong European players divided up Africa. There was a total disregard of the native people and each country just took what they wanted. The Africans had to work long days with little pay. European imperialism caused the African natives to fall into poverty and the working conditions were horrible. To cover this up, the Europeans educated the people and introduced them to industrial things and instruments. The European imperialism devastated the African people along with their land and tried unsuccessfully to justify it using education and industrialization.…

    • 680 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Benefits to Africa as a result of imperialism were plentiful. A primary document, “Does Colonization Pay”, details the many improvements made to the continent; Africa was home to innumerable, rich resources. As a result, Europe was able to utilize these as raw materials, and return the money to Africa. The money was also used to bring the people of Africa food supply, as well as other supplies that were much needed. Besides this, these nations created “roads, canals, railways, and telegraphs”, along with “schools and newspapers” (Document 1). As displayed by the information, imperialism was seen to have profound effects on Africa. Not only did they utilize the rich resources to supply economic gain to the continent, but also significantly developed the continent by providing means of transportation, education, and a source of news. Unfortunately, these benefits were not of significant value due to the immense oppression experienced by the people of Africa during the age of imperialism.…

    • 965 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    During the 1800s and early 1900s, a wave of imperialism swept over Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. The Western nations, pursuing new raw materials, established control, and became very powerful. The non-Western world obtained many benefits, such as industrialization and public education. While imperialism proved beneficial, it also resulted in warfare, racism, economic discrimination, and slavery. Both India and sub-Saharan Africa were affected by European imperialism. Between 1750 and 1914, European imperialism in India and sub-Saharan Africa created a similar effect of poor treatment of natives, such as a decrease in jobs and economic instability. In contrast, India was influenced mainly by Britain, whereas multiple European countries, including Britain, France, Italy, Germany, Belgium, and Portugal, were involved with sub-Saharan Africa.…

    • 661 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The Boer War took place In South Africa under the command of the then Prime minister Lord Salisbury and was mainly started to gain access to South Africa’s cheap raw materials, especially gold and to add another colony to the empire as the conservatives who were in control were all for the British empire and very patriotic. Before the War England was in control of cape colony in South Africa which was below the two Boer colonies (Rhodesia and the Orange Free State) and was also in control of Zimbabwe which was above the two. These two colonies were once controlled by the Dutch but they had pulled out and given the two colonies independence. This was even more of a reason for England to take over as now the colonies were independent the Dutch would not come to their aid. The take over was expected to be quick and fast and take no longer than 5 months seeing as the colonies were made up of villages and farmers against the might of the British army. The war did not go to plan and these so called farmers put up a strong fight by using guerrilla warfare. A war that was expected to last 5 months ended up lasting 3 years and along with it came a huge loss of life with around 20,000 British soldiers dying. This news was not taken well back in England and the war was classed as a huge disaster. Also the way in which the war was won was treated with disgust too. With desperation setting in, in order to stomp out this guerrilla warfare Lord Kitchener burned down villages and put all Boers in prison camps. The conditions in these camps were awful and many people caught diseases such as cholera and typhoid and many died of malnutrition. This news got back to England and many voters were angered in the way at which the Boers were being…

    • 2058 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    During the age of imperialism rulers across the world were attempting to conquer more and more of Africa. This led to turmoil and tension between the nations along with creating competition for more territory. These conquered parts of other nations are called spheres of influence and allow for nations to extend their control into more places, effectively giving them more power and sway. African colonies were also regarded with intrigue by nations due to the opportunities given for a chance to trade with more places and prove to other nations how they are capable of dominating land just as well.…

    • 867 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    A.J Balfour was an intelligent man yet lacked political skills causing him to make poorly judged decisions leading to a decrease in conservative’s votes. During the Boer War, 1898-1902, Balfour used Britain’s patriotism to help the Tories win the 1900 ‘Khati Election’. By doing this it allowed Britain to stay involved in the Boer war, not knowing that war would last 4 years and cost Britain over 210 million pounds. This highlighted to the British people how the Conservatives neglect poverty and social reform, and by 1902 it was officially reported by the army high command that nearly two-thirds of those who had volunteered to join the services failed to pass their basic medical test. This information was further supported by Charles Booth and Seebohn Rowntree’s research, as Booth published 17 volumes on the life and labour of London’s poor between 1889 and 1903. Rowntree set out to test Booth’s statistics in York and began his investigation in 1899. Their conclusions stated that 30% of the urban population would be classified as ‘poor’ and that about 20% might be classified as ‘very poor’ or as living in ‘primary poverty’. Booth and Rowntree’s research later proved that more than a quarter of the population lived below the subsistence level, highlighting that people where too malnourished and medically unfit to be accepted into the army. Subsequently the Conservatives lost nine seats in the general election 1900, whilst both liberal and labour gained seven and two seats.…

    • 484 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The British expansion into the Dark Continent rose as fast as it declined, although there were many contributing factors to expansion, those same factors then contributed to the decolonisation of the continent. Historian Bernard Porter argues that formal imperialism for Britain was a symptom and an effect of its relative decline in the world, and not of strength. Therefore it was strategic policy that influenced Britain’s expansion in Africa, more so than economic or moral aims. Strategic policy, in definition, is the foreign policy of Britain changing due to internal and external pressures. However, I believe the dismantling of the Empire was also due to the economic difficulties Britain was faced in the 20th century.…

    • 2331 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The importance of studying history lies in the fact that by analyzing past events, one can gain insight on how something came to be. The fact that many countries in Africa today are underdeveloped for example, can be explained by European colonization and exploration in the past. Some historians would disagree with this view and assert that European colonialism actually served a moral purpose and was mutually beneficial to both parties. They argue that European influence in the area led to political centralization and an overall improvement in infrastructure. Also, defenders of this view tend to underestimate the impacts of the Atlantic slave trade by mentioning that slavery was already a part of Africa prior to European arrival. This essay will analyze the impacts of European colonialism on African economy and society in order to assert whether or not European involvement has helped or has hurt development in the area. Furthermore, this paper will attempt to propose ideas to improve negative effects left behind due to European exploration in Africa.…

    • 1771 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays

Related Topics