On 9 to 11 October 2019, the War Museum of the Boer Republics in Bloemfontein hosted an International Conference, 120 years after the outbreak of the Anglo-Boer War (South African War) to commemorate, but also to re-evaluate this War from a new perspective. As set out in the Museum’s Call for Papers, one of the two motivations for such a conference is the aspect of Memory, especially when associated with trauma, which is notoriously unreliable.
At the same time, during the course of the twentieth century, it has been recognized increasingly that memory is central to processes of healing and reconciliation, not only for individuals, but also for societies. The most striking example in South Africa is the Truth and Reconciliation Commission which, in turn, drew on the experiences of reconciliation and memorialization in Chile and Argentina. This understanding of the relationship between memory and trauma was not available in the early twentieth century but the Anglo-Boer War / South African War left a substantial body of women’s testimonials which go some way towards casting light on our later understanding of the camp experience. The value of these testimonies is not uncontested for historians also recognize that memory many be manipulated for political purposes.
On 11 October 2019, it was exactly 120 years since the Anglo-Boer War (South African War) broke out between the two independent Boer Republics (Transvaal and Oranje Free State) and Great Britain. This conflict which started on the even of the 21st century, not only ended the 20th century with an aging Queen Victoria as monarch of the British Empire, but also revolutionized future warfare from which European powers learned some lessons.
Amongst the firsts of this conflict was the appearance of the first cracks in the international relations amongst Europe’s leading powers. For Great Britain, her policy of Splendid Isolation had a profound impact on the support she had on the European Continent for this conflict she embarked on. It remained however a fact for all the International powers on the continent that they could not intervene because of amongst other, the important and respected Royal Navy which lead to Great Britain to “Rule the Waves”.
The sympathies of these powers for the republican cause, however found expression in many ways. The Fashoda crisis between France and Great Britain in Africa (1898), shortly before the outbreak of the Anglo-Boer War, was the climax on imperial and territorial disputes which strained relations between these to powers. This diplomatic strain on international relations with other European powers, was followed by the German Kaisers telegram of congratulations to President Kruger of the Transvaal, after the defeat of the Jameson Raiders. With the increase of the competitive colonial and economic environment between Imperial Germany and Great Britain and incidents such as the seizure and investigation for contraband of the German steamer, SS Bundesrath, but HMS Magicienne, made Germany realized that she needed a sufficient fleet to challenge the Royal Navy in future, while Great Britain realized that she needed alliances on the European Continent. The Anglo-Boer War can thus be regarded as an event where European powers came to certain realizations regarding future politics and alliances. It is for this reason that the Anglo-Boer War is still regarded by local and international academics and historians, as an important departing point for the understanding of international politics and military events of the 21st century.
The second motivation for hosting such a conference, is because of the technological expansion which took place the last two decades since the 100-year Commemoration of the Anglo-B W in 1999. Many new sources and facts regarding this was since then surfaced, thus making new information on this conflict accessible. It was therefore appropriate for the War Museum of the B Republics, to host a Conference, 120 years after the declaration of war, in order to gain new perspective and to re0imageiun this conflict from current academic views today. During this event, intellectuals, local and international, presented papers of high standard, on a diversity of aspects of this war.
The War Museum decided to combine the articles of these intellectuals in a publication and therefore invited them to submit their presentations for publication, BUT with the understanding that it will be published as received. The War Museum therefore regard this publication as a future record for researchers and is thus in no way responsible for any linguistic and grammatical errors which forms part of the different articles as received.
The intention was to publish these articles in a printer journal, but unfortunately the Covid-19 pandemic as well as budget constraints prevented the Museum from being able to do so.
During this Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown, many industries has moved to using digital platforms to their advantage. Therefore, the Museum decided to change our way of publishing these articles, by making it available electronically on our website.
The articles received by the Museum for the Journal can all be found on this page, and is also available for download.
The Museum hopes to extend our reach to more viewers with this new venture and we hope that you enjoy reading these very interesting and thought-provoking articles from the 2019 120-YEAR COMMEMORATION OF THE ANGLO-BOER (SOUTH AFRICAN) WAR Conference.
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