A number of interrelated issues such as: conflicting political ideologies of imperialism and republicanism; the discovery of gold on the Witwatersrand; tension between political leaders; the Jameson Raid and the Uitlander franchise led to the Second South African War.
The South African Republic issued an ultimatum to Britain on 9 October 1899 and war was officially declared between Britain and the Boers two days later.
The British forces thought that the war would be won easily, but they were wrong.
The two Boer republics that were involved in the conflict were the Transvaal and the Orange Free State Republics.
“One way to understand its significance is to view it, as some historians have done, as a conflict that was as important in the making of modern South Africa as the American Civil War was in the history of the United States.”
Source: South African History Online
Compiled by Moeketsi Mogotsi/Courant News
