Friday, October 3, 2008

Guerrillas Tested British Resolve in Boer War

The Great Boer War
Everyone has heard of the Boer War, but how many of us actually know anything about it? I guarantee I knew very little until I started reading The Great Boer War by Arthur Conan Doyle. Yes, that Arthur Conan Doyle, of Sherlock Holmes fame. And that's a story in itself.

It seems that Doyle (Conan Doyle?) was already a well known writer at the time of what was actually the Second Boer War. He wanted to see it for himself and tried to enlist in the army, but the generals were skeptical about having a famous writer in their ranks. Ultimately, he was allowed to join a field hospital operation, and it was his exemplary service in that capacity that earned Sir Arthur Conan Doyle his knighthood. Pretty dang interesting all by itself.

So let me try to abbreviate this pretty drastically. The Orange Free State was an independent country. The Transvaal was an independent country. Natal was a British colony. The Dutch settlers, or Boers, were very conservative religiously and socially, and in the Transvaal they were afraid that the influx of workers from around the world would overwhelm their numbers and wrest political -- and social -- control from the Boers.

Under the leadership of Paul Kruger (as in Krugerrand) the Transvaalers heaped enormous taxes on the newcomers and passed laws making it practically impossible for them to become citizens. Because many of these workers were British, the Brits did not take kindly to what they considered mistreatment and exploitation of their people. They tried to bring international pressure on the Transvaal but to no avail. Meanwhile, the Boers were known to be arming rapidly, in anticipation of some conflict with Britain.

Understand, of course, that this is all as told through Doyle's eyes, a loyal Brit, so there is probably another side to it all.

Anyway, one thing lead to another and the British sent troops to Natal to protect against aggression from the Transvaal. The Transvaalers considered this aggression and struck first, along with troops from the Orange Free State, with which Britain had no quarrel.

Ultimately, it was a matter of the Dutch settlers wanting all of South Africa to be under Dutch hegemony or influence, not British.

Long story short, the British won after three years and incorporated the Transvaal and the Orange Free State into the Republic of South Africa. But what happened during those three years?

The Boers had early successes because they were prepared. The Brits had some catching up to do. Eventually, though, the might of the British empire was more than the Boers could resist. Except that long after the fight appeared a lost cause, Boer commandos and guerrillas continued the fight. And the British public got restive. They started asking why they were continuing to sacrifice their sons and their tax dollars for this never-ending battle.

In the end, it was probably just the low population numbers that allowed the British to force the end of the conflict after only three years. Most of the populations were rounded up into relocation camps and the Boer fighters could ill afford losses of personnel even if they won a battle. Had the fighting continued for the length of time the U.S. was in Vietnam or has been in Iraq, public opinion may have forced a different outcome. But the Boers lacked the manpower to continue fighting, and the war was won before the British public got totally fed up.

As for the book itself, Doyle is obviously a talented writer, so it's very readable. On the other hand, he touches on practically every battle and a great many of the skirmishes in the entire war effort and that gives a bit tiring at times. Nevertheless, it's a very interesting read and I would definitely recommend it.