Chamberlain told the House of Commons in 1899, that war had always been inevitable because the Transvaal government under President Kruger would not listen to British demands, and they would not agree to the British peace settlement. He also felt that the Republic of Transvaal was entirely free of British influence and control and so they needed to put their supremacy back on the African people. In 1886, Gold was found in Witwatersrand, and transformed Transvaal into a prosperous state and centre of economic focus. According to Lain R Smith:
“By 1899, a total of 75million had been invested into the Transvaal gold mines………..about
three quarters of this capital foreign investment came from Britain.”
This even replaced the diamond industry which was the main source of industry and money in South
Africa in the Cape colony. Cecil Rhodes used politics to advance the cause of British imperialism in South Africa, because he felt the discovery of Gold would lead to great fortune for the British. He wanted to do this by unification, where South Africa would be under British control, but he knew this would not happen without some opposition. Many people flooded into Transvaal, to make use of this economic boom, including British immigrants known as the Utilander. President Kruger, the head of the Transvaal republic was appalled at the habits of these foreigners, and wasn’t happy that foreign investors were making so much use of this new-found wealth in South Africa. The extraordinary change in Transvaal suddenly becoming an important prosperous state, at the same time weakened the British imperial hold over the Republic.
This led to the Jameson Raid, where in 1895, Dr Jameson led about 600 men, which according to historians such as Lain R Smith were financed by Cecil Rhodes, and attempted to have an Utilander rebellion in Johannesburg. However, this failed, and led to more confrontations between Kruger’s government and the British. A common argument is that the Transvaal government was trying to stop Utilander freedom. Keppel-Jones argues that if the Transvaal government tried to disenfranchise the Utilanders would lead to a threat towards British economical and political interests, and would also lessen any control that they could have possessed in South Africa. Therefore, it is argued by historians such as Keppel-Jones, that the war was fought to protect the British in Africa from the harsh attitudes of the Transvaal republic as well as to get imperial control. Chamberlain wanted Kruger to accept concessions for the Utilanders, such as:
“fiver year’s residence, tax reductions, and a better provision of English medium schools…………
and these were seen as reasonable concessions by Chamberlain”.
He believed that the only way that these concessions would be accepted would be to go to war. This was because the Transvaal government had put most Utilanders into jail. Although Robinson, who was sent to talk about these concessions with Kruger, felt that Chamberlain shouldn’t act so hastily because Kruger had said he would raise the issues, Chamberlain convinced the British that they had every right to intervene with the Transvaal if their people were being harshly treated. The more Britain intervened, the more conflict there was between the South Africans and the British.
JA Hobson, on the other hand, argues it was more to do with Britain’s interests in imperialism. In the South African War, men such as Cecil Rhodes were trying to protect their capitalist interests. That the Jameson Raid was to open up mining interests by Utilanders that would economically prosper the British, and lead to the expansion of the British Empire in South Africa. Although, some historians argue that Chamberlain had not initiated this event, he had certainly known about it, and did not stop it from happening, because he also wanted British expansion and control over south Africa, especially in the prosperous Transvaal. Lord Selborne argued that not only was Transvaal economically important, but because of its population growth, Transvaal would soon be the centre of ‘South African’ commercial, social and political life’. He also said that the Transvaal would not become British without opposition, and therefore this was an issue that needed to be looked at urgently. Therefore, Selborne joined forces with Chamberlain in calling for garrison troops to be situated in South Africa., so that the British immigrants within South Africa would feel protected against any opposition. Chamberlain also felt that if they didn’t tighten their control over South Africa, then the British empire would cease to exist. South Africa was:
“vital for imperial defence, communications and security and also for imperial trade”
and they were not going to let Kruger’s government get in the way of this. Chamberlain felt that the settling of Utilanders would soon make the Transvaal British, even though he distrusted these men greatly. The only way he was able to keep the peace with the Utilander’s and get them on the side of the British government was to convince them that they wouldn’t be abandoned. However, Kruger’s government was oppressing these British immigrants, and not allowing the Utilanders to get any control.
When Milner was appointed to the position of British High Commissioner, he also committed himself to the imperialist issue of the British Empire, and he thought that in South Africa they would get the best aspect to expansion. He felt that if Britain didn’t enforce some kind of control on the Afrikaners then South Africa would become a dominant force within the world, and undermine Britain’s position as world power. However, Kruger’s government was not willing to submit to British control. Especially a man called Jan Christian Smuts. He was not willing to let any imperial control to take place by the British. He felt that if the South Africans accepted the British demands, than British control. Therefore, the different views between both these states led to the war in South Africa. The Boer’s were not willing to give up their land and wealth to the British, and the British were not going to give up on fighting for a prosperous land which would benefit them greatly. None of them was willing to surrender. However, there were some Afrikaners who were on the British side and did not like Kruger’s government, and were willing to support the British Empire, but this was a minority. However, Smuts argues that the only reason why there were loyal supporters was because these people all wanted some capitalist gain, and would fight a capitalist war just to support their own interests. Such as miners thought that getting together with the British to overthrow Kruger’s government would stop monopolies on concessions such as dynamite. That was the only link Smut could see with the British Empire and their supporters in South Africa. Hobbes believes that the South African war was unnecessary, and was only fought to serve the interests of greedy small groups.
However, as much as the miners used the influence and strength of Britain, the Empire used the miners to fight on their side to win supremacy over Transvaal.
Lain R smith argues that:
“Within South Africa, it was the Transvaal which was the magnet for the British investment
and the most rapidly growing destination for British exports and it seemed certain to become
even more in the future”
Therefore, it is sure by all historians that the British wanted control over Transvaal for economic
reasons. However, it was more the political consequences that sacred the British government. If South Africa ruled on its own, it would soon become a predominant State due to its growing country and economic growth. The British government were afraid that the more power Africa got the more powerful it could be over Britain. However, even when the war had started, the Transvaal government were still reliant on London due to dependency of loans and investment, and could not get such support from anywhere else. Germany and the USA were willing to support the British so that the Transvaal could be opened to forces of ‘progress, free trade and foreign investment’, and Kruger’s government was seen to be hindering this. The Boers were seen as people who were stopping advancement from occurring, whilst internationally the British were seen as:
“being able to establish a strong and efficient administration, create better conditions for the expansion of trade, and increase profits on investments”
They also felt that Britain would unite the country together, and not only benefit them, but benefit the whole African population.
In conclusion, the South African war was fought to protect British interests in Transvaal, whether it was economic, social or political. Economically, the British Empire knew that it could prosper greatly if they tightened their control over Transvaal. The finding of gold did spark up interest by the British, and led them to believe they could benefit greatly. It also sparked up the interest for Utilanders, who flooded Transvaal, and the British thought that these Utilanders would put some kind of British identity and some economical benefits for the British Empire. This also gave the excuse for the British to send troops to South Africa to protect their British citizens. However, I feel that the reinforcement of troops was mainly to put more British hold on Transvaal. Politically, Britain was afraid that South Africa was building up its own state and governments, and because of its prosperity, would soon become a leading country. So Britain had to serve its interests my obtaining supremacy over South Africa and remaining a strong empire.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
The origins of the South African War Lain R Smith
The Fall of Kruger’s Republic JS Marais
