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Boer War

Learn more about the Boer War

Scorched earth is a military strategy which involves destroying anything that might be useful to the enemy while advancing through or withdrawing from an area, for example food sources, transportation, communications, industrial resources and people.

The photo on the right shows Australian troops watching a Boer outpost.

The policies of "scorched earth" and civilian confinement in concentration camps, which were taken on by the British to prevent support for the farmers/Boer commando campaign, destroyed the civilian populations in the Transvaal and the Orange Free State, the news of which led to a significant decrease of support for the war in Britain.

Australians & New Zealanders at home initially supported the war, but became discouraged as the conflict dragged on, especially as the effects on Boer civilians became known.

Did You Know?

• There were actually two Boer Wars, one was in 1880-1881 (commonly referred to as the Transvaal War) and the second in 1899-1902 is what we know as the Boer War
• Both wars were between the British Empire and the Dutch settlers of two independent Boer republics, the Orange Free State and the Transvaal Republic
• The southern tip of Africa had been shared between British colonies and independent republics of Dutch-Afrikaaner settlers, known as Boers (which is a Dutch and Afrikaans name for farmer)
• To escape the British rule many Boers moved north and east from the Cape to settle on new lands which eventually became the Boer Republics of the Orange Free State and the Transvaal
• The relationship between the British and the Boers was very bad with Britain extending its control by annexing Natal in 1845
• The First Boer War (1880-1881) was a rebellion of the Boers against the British rule when the British annexed Transvaal in 1877. The British wanted to force Transvaal into a union, which increased the chance of war
• The defeat of the British by the Zulus in 1879 at the Battle of Isandlwana encouraged the Boers into armed resistance. As a result, the Boers succeeded in re-establishing their independence in the Transvaal

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Source:
Wikipedia
Australian War Memorial