Second Boer War facts for kids

Boer troops prepare for battle

The Second Boer War (Dutch: Tweede Boerenoorlog, Afrikaans: Tweede Vryheidsoorlog or Tweede Boereoorlog) was a war. It lasted from 11 October 1899 until 31 May 1902. In the war, the British Empire fought against the Afrikaans-speaking Dutch settlers of two independent Boer republics, the South African Republic (Transvaal Republic) and the Orange Free State. Winston Churchill, who later became famous, was captured but escaped. At this time, the British made use of concentration camps. This weakened the Boers. It helped the British stop the war from lasting any longer.

The British troops won the war. As a result, both republics were annexed to the British Empire. Later, both were eventually incorporated into the Union of South Africa, a dominion of the British Empire, in 1910. The conflict is commonly referred to as The Boer War but it is also known as the South African War outside South Africa, the Anglo-Boer War among most South Africans, and in Afrikaans as the Anglo-Boereoorlog or Tweede Vryheidsoorlog ("Second War of Liberation" or lit. "Second Freedom War") or the Engelse oorlog (English War).

The Second Boer War is a part of what are known as the Boer Wars. These include the lesser known First Boer War that took place from December 1880 to March 1881.

Images for kids

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  (A typical British soldier) Corporal Alexander Duncan Turnbull of Kitchener's Fighting Scouts

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  Extent of the British Empire in 1898, prior to the outbreak of the Second Boer War

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  A sketch showing the arrest of Jameson after the failed raid, in 1896

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  Paul Kruger, leader of the South African Republic (Transvaal)

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  1899 German political cartoon

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  Boers in a trench at Mafeking, 1899

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  War theatre in northern Natal

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  General Redvers Henry Buller launched an offensive against the Boers in the early phases of the war but after several defeats, culminating at the Battle of Colenso, he was replaced by Earl Roberts.

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  Lord Roberts's arrival at Cape Town

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  Boer General Piet de Wet, 1900

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  Siege of Ladysmith

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  The Relief of Ladysmith. Sir George Stuart White greets Major Hubert Gough on 28 February. Painting by John Henry Frederick Bacon (1868–1914).

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  General Piet Cronjé as a prisoner of war in Saint Helena, 1900–02. He was captured, along with 4,000 soldiers, after the loss of the Battle of Paardeberg.

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  A Transit camp for Prisoners of War near Cape Town during the war. Prisoners were then transferred for internment in other parts of the British Empire.

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  Kitchener succeeded Roberts in November 1900 and launched anti-guerrilla campaigns. 1898 photograph in 1910 magazine.

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  A surviving blockhouse in South Africa. Blockhouses were constructed by the British to secure supply routes from Boer raids during the war.

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  Christiaan De Wet was the most formidable leader of the Boer guerrillas. He successfully evaded capture on numerous occasions and was later involved in the negotiations for a peace settlement.

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  Boer commandos

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  The end result of the Boer War was the annexation of the Boer Republics to the British Empire in 1902

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  Peace conference at Vereeniging

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  C Company returns from Boer War, pictured here in King Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

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  Tents in the Bloemfontein concentration camp

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  British and Australian officers in South Africa, c. 1900

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  The unveiling of the South African War Memorial in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, in 1908

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  Harold Lothrop Borden – son of the National Minister of Defence and the most famous Canadian casualty of the war

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  Natal Indian Ambulance Corps with future leader Mohandas K. Gandhi (Middle row, 5th from left)

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  Indian Monument at Observatory Ridge

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  New Zealand troops marching down Wellesley Street, Auckland, to embark for South Africa

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  The top of the Dunedin Boer War Memorial. The memorial reaffirms New Zealand's dedication to the Empire. As McLean and Phillips said, the New Zealand Boer War Memorials are "tributes to the Empire and outpourings of pride about New Zealand’s place” in the Empire.

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  Rhodesian volunteers leaving Salisbury for service in the Second Boer War, 1899

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  Memorial at Plymouth, by Emil Fuchs

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  A group of British prisoners, with Winston Churchill on the right

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  Wounded British soldiers

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  Canadian soldiers en route to South Africa in 1899

See also

In Spanish: Segunda guerra bóer para niños