What was the Boer War?
The Boer Wars (1880–81 and 1899–1902; also called the South African War) were conflicts that took place in present-day South Africa at the end of the nineteenth century. The wars involved disputes between the British and the Afrikaners (people of Dutch descent called Boers) over land that contained diamond and gold deposits. The first war, from 1880 to 1881, broke out three years after Great Britain annexed (made a British territory) the South African Boer Republics, the Transvaal, and the Orange Free State. The confrontation began when a diamond field was discovered in the Kimberley area (now Griqualand West). After the two sides had battled for a year, the South African Republic (established in 1856) was restored. The stability did not last long, however. In 1886 gold was discovered in the Transvaal, in the northeast region of the Republic of South Africa. Afrikaner presence in the area was too strong for…
