The Boers and their wars

I need to start sitting closer to Allen because the topic I really wanted was the Zulu, however, when we first picked topics I confused the Berbers with the Boers so it only seems fitting.
The Netherlands is a small country but during the imperialistic phase of Europe they did not want to be left out. Not being powerhouses on the military front they did not try and claim massive amount of land, instead they picked prime locations that they could use for trading. This was primarily how the British started their conquests as well, doing it through commerce and then later bringing in their government and people.

The word Boer actually means farmer in Dutch so calling someone a Boer means they work the land, lower class as well, obviously. They settled in Africa after the initial commerce period, namely in what is now South Africa. Here's the short of how it all went down. The Boers had very independent spirit and liked slavery. After the Dutch were beaten in a in the early 1800's they lost control of most of their imperial lands, the British took them over. The Brits outlawed slavery in 1833, so a few years after that the Boers packed their stuff up and went searching for new lands they could have and keep slaves. They moved North and East as shown on the map.
Obviously these new lands were already occupied, by the Zulu people. Being European, they felt it was their right and destiny to have the land. Accounts vary as to how everything transpired but there ended up being a great battle between the Boers and Zulus. Though outnumbered the Boers had guns compared to the short thrusting spears and sticks of the Zulu. It was basically a massacre. I mentioned this show, Last Man Standing, before in a blog post but here is a small clip of what the sticks and shields look like. If you are not a fan of blood you should stop before a the 1:29 mark. But it does show you how effective the Zulu warriors could have been in war...not against guns. As with most conquests the Boers thought it was gods will to win the battle against the Zulu because they prayed and promised if they won they, the Boers, would commemorate the day as a Sabbath. And really, if God wasn't on their side then he would have made them lose the battle, right?
For a while the Boers and British lived in peace, after all they were both white and white was right. It is funny what happens next because it has been the same throughout the next two centuries when Africa is involved. Around 1868 diamonds were found in the two new areas the Boers lived. Clearly, the Boers could not have the resources, so the British annexed the large area called Transvaal. Time passed and resentment of English rule grew and in 1880 the first shots of The First Boer War were fired. It wasn't a war in a grand sense but fighting still happened. The Boers being natives to the land and farmers fought with guerrilla tactics and for some reason the British still used their red coats which made them prime targets in the jungle. Fighting only lasted a year before the British felt it would not prove profitable, they let the Boers govern over themselves with British oversight, besides they had the diamond mines.

The British acted a bit too soon because in 1886 large gold deposits were found in Transvaal, renewing a reason to own it for the British. What led up to the violent conflict is long, drawn out and pretty complicated, it would take pages to fully tell, just know that eventually in 1899 war was declared. Being slow on the uptake the British still did not get that the Boers moved light, were excellent shots and fought a different war than the British wanted. Plus the Boers were better equipped this time, at the onset of war they lay siege to three towns under British control and were successful on all three attempts. This was considered the first phase of the war.
The Second phase looked more kindly on the British who used size over tactics. It took numerous attempts by the British but they were finally able to capture back cities and the capital of Tranvsaal, Pretoria. The British fared better in this second part because many of the battle involved large numbers of men and really went away from the guerrilla tactics that are usually the bread and butter of small forces.
The third phase is my favorite part. Boers split into small commando units, went back to the where they were from and started making raids to harass the British. Very much like what I said about The Battle for Algiers. They knew the locals so could count on them for help and hiding. This made it impossible for the British to hold control. Much like American's saw in Vietnam, once the occupying force physically left the area, they no longer held sway over it. So now the British implemented two horrific ways to control the Boers. The first was the scorched earth policy, where you simply burn everything in your wake, this way there are no supplies for the enemies (or innocent people but they come second to the motherland). Oh yeah, and they set up concentration camps! Same thing applies to what comes into your head when you hear about them, poor hygiene, little food and rampant disease.
In the end these extreme policies helped the British win the war and they were able to fold the lands into their Empire. They allowed the Boers some freedom of state, but in the end were accountable to the British throne. High five Britain you successfully killed off 50,000 Boers in a two year span. Isn't colonization fun!