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Review articles/Besprekingsartikels

Remembering the Anglo-Boer War: Its place, 100 years later, in our historical consciousness

Bridget Theron University of South Africa
Pages 114-143 | Published online: 31 Aug 2007

  • Lunderstedt , ed. Summer of 1899 is the only one of the six books that was published in 1999.
  • For an incisive article on how historians’ perceptions of the significance of the South African War have changed over the last century, see Porter Andrew The South African War and the historians African affairs October 2000 99 633 648
  • See for example Dear Sue: the letters of Bessie Collins from Pretoria during the Anglo-Boer War Theron Bridget Pretoria 2000 16 16 Iain R Smith, ‘A century of controversy over origins’, Donal Lowry (ed), The South African War reappraised (Manchester, 2000), p. 23.
  • The work by Warwick Peter Black people and the South African War 1899–1902 Johannesburg 1983 is the best known, but others include more recent works by Bill Nasson, Black participation in the Anglo-Boer War 1899–1902 (Johannesburg, 1999) and Jeremy Krikler's Revolution from above, rebellion from below: the agrarian Transvaal at the turn of the century (Oxford, 1993).
  • Cuthbertson , Greg and Jeeves , Alan . 1999 . ‘The many-sided struggle for southern Africa, 1899–1902’, Special issue, South African War 1899–1902: centennial perspectives . South African Historical Journal , 41 : 10 – 11 . See also Nasson, The South African War (London, 1999), p 282.
  • Nasson , Bill . The South African War 1899–1902 285 – 285 .
  • Porter . The South African War and the historians 633 – 633 . 639
  • For a scholarly exposition of this debate see Spies SB Methods of barbarism? Roberts and Kitchener and civilians in the Boer republics: January 1900 – May 1902 Cape Town 1977
  • On the role of the British generals in the war see Surridge Keith Managing the South African War, 1899–1902: politicians v generals Royal Historical Society Woodbridge 1998
  • Krebs , Paula M . 1999 . Gender, race and the writing of empire: public discourse and the Boer War 5 – 5 . Cambridge See also Surridge, Managing the South African War.
  • Nasson . The South African War 7 – 7 . Lowry uses the Fleet Street newspaper prediction that it would simply be a ‘teatime war’: Lowry, ‘Not just a teatime war’, p 1.
  • For two graphic examples of sublime British confidence of victory see Porter The South African War and the historians 634 634
  • Porter . The South African War and the historians 636 – 636 .
  • Pakeham , Thomas . 1979 . The Boer War xv – xv . Johannesburg
  • Porter . The South African War and the historians 635 – 635 . Porter also makes some very interesting comparisons: the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879 cost the British Treasury £1 million; a decade of Marori Wars cost £3 million and the British bill for the Crimean War was just over £68 million.
  • Nasson . The South African War 279 – 279 . F Pretorius, The Anglo-Boer War 1899–1902 (Cape Town, 1985), p 41.
  • Jack and Simons , Ray . 1983 . Class and colour in South Africa 1850–1950 59 – 59 . London
  • Pakenham . The Boer War 572 – 573 . Nasson, The South African War, p 281, claims that the Boers only had 70 000 burghers available for field service, while Porter, ‘The South African War and the historians’, p 635, puts the number as low as 65 000..
  • Warwick . Black people and the South African War 151 – 152 . See also Stowell Kessler, ‘The black and coloured concentration camps of the South African War, 1899–1900’, Paper presented at the ‘Rethinking the South African War Conference’, Unisa, 1998.
  • Porter . The South African War and the historians 635 – 635 . Lowry, ‘Not just a “teatime war”’, p 2.
  • Nasson . The South African War 9 – 9 .
  • Cuthbertson and Jeeves . Many sided struggle for southern Africa 4 – 4 .
  • Nasson , Bill . “ South Africa's post-Boer, Boer War ” . In The Boer war, army, nation and empire Edited by: Dennis and Grey . 14 – 30 . in
  • Grundlingh , Albert . 1992 . “ ‘War, wordsmiths and the “volk”: Afrikaans historical writing on the Anglo-Boer War of 1899–1902 and the war in Afrikaner historical consciousness, 1902–1990 ” . In Mfecane to Boer War Edited by: Lehmann , E and Reckwitz , E . 52 – 52 . Essen in, quoted in Nasson, ‘South Africa's post-Boer, Boer War’, p 17.
  • For example Mbenga Bernard The role of the Bakgatla of the Pilanesberg in the South African War and Manelisi Genge, ‘The role of the EmaSwati in the South African War’, both papers presented at the Rethinking the South African War conference
  • See for example Magubane Bernard M The making of a racist state: British imperialism and the Union of South Africa, 1875–1910 Trenton 1996
  • Nasson . The South African War 281 – 281 .
  • For the aftermath of the war and the physical devastation it had caused see Pakenham The Boer War 572 572 Lowry, ‘Not just a “teatime war”’, p 3; Pretorius, The Anglo-Boer War, pp 88–89.
  • Nasson . South Africa's post-Boer, Boer War 14 – 14 .
  • For details on the hendsoppers, the Boers who laid down their arms, and the joiners, those burghers who left the commandos to fight on the British side, see Grundlingh AM Die ‘hendsoppers’ en die ‘joiners’: die rasionaal en verskynsel van verraad , 2nd edition Pretoria 1999
  • Lowry . Not just a “teatime war” 3 – 3 . Pretorius, The Anglo-Boer War, p 73.
  • For the broad terms of the Peace of Vereeniging and war damages paid to the Boers see Pretorius The Anglo-Boer War 89 89
  • Nasson . The South African War 7 – 7 .
  • Nasson . The South African War 281 – 281 .
  • Nasson . The South African War 282 – 282 . Nasson, ‘South Africa's post-Boer, Boer War’, pp 15–16. See also Albert Grundlingh, ‘War, wordsmiths and the “volk’, p 52.
  • Porter . The South African war and the historians 636 – 636 .
  • Piet de Wet, one of the leading Boer ‘joiners’ as quoted in Albert Grundlingh Collaborators in Boer society The South African War, the Anglo-Boer War 1899–1902 Warwick Peter London 1980 276 277 in
  • Nasson . The South African War 263 – 263 .
  • See for example Krebs Public discourse and the Boer War 5 5 117–120
  • For a discussion on the literary forms of the ‘imperial gothic’ see Pridmore Julie From Winchester to Gormenghast: some interpretations of the “gothic” Paper presented at a History Department seminar University of South Africa Pretoria 2001 9
  • Nasson . South Africa's post-Boer, Boer War 17 – 17 . Krebs, Public discouse and the Boer War, p 5.
  • Davis , RH and Hales , AG . “ both of whom were British war correspondents in South Africa, quoted in Pretorius ” . In The Anglo-Boer War 47 – 47 . See also Krebs, The writing of empire, p 117.
  • According to Krebs The writing of empire 117 117
  • Nasson . The South African War 264 – 264 .
  • Nasson . The South African War 264 – 264 .
  • Nasson . The South African War 263 – 263 . Nasson, ‘South Africa's post-Boer, Boer War’, p 16. See also Elsabé Brink and Sue Krige, ‘Remapping and remembering the South African War in Johannesburg and Pretoria’, Paper presented at the ‘Rethinking the South African War Conference’, Unisa, 1998.
  • Cuthbertson and Jeeves . Many-sided struggle for southern Africa 13 – 13 . The point is made here that recent research interprets the role of women in the war quite differently and is critical of the ‘generally androcentric historiography of the war’. See also Chrisman, Rereading the imperial romance, p 14.
  • Cuthbertson and Jeeves . Many-sided struggle for southern Africa 13 – 13 .
  • Nasson . South Africa's post-Boer, Boer War’ 16 – 16 .
  • Grundlingh . War, wordsmiths and the “volk” 45 – 46 . Nasson, The South African War, p 265.
  • Nasson . South Africa's post-Boer, Boer war 19 – 20 . See also Cuthbertson and Jeeves, ‘Many-sided struggle for southern Africa’, p 15.
  • Cuthbertson and Jeeves . Many-sided struggle for South Africa 11 – 12 .
  • Nasson . South Africa's post-Boer, Boer war 15 – 16 .
  • Cuthbertson and Jeeves . Many-sided struggle for South Africa 18 – 18 .
  • Nasson . The South African War 266 – 266 . Cuthbertson and Jeeves, ‘Many sided struggle for southern Africa’, p 18.
  • March 1995 . The Cape Times March , 21, quoted in Nasson, ‘South Africa's post-Boer Boer War’, p 25.
  • October 1992 . Weekly Mail October , 16–22, quoted in Nasson, The South African War, p 271.
  • Cuthbertson and Jeeves . Many-sided struggle for southern Africa 5 – 9 . See discussion of these developments below
  • Beckett , Ian FW . “ The South African War and the late Victorian army ” . In The Boer War: army, nation and empire Edited by: Dennis and Grey . 37 – 44 . in
  • Pretorius . The Anglo-Boer War 83 – 86 . See also Nasson, The South African War, pp 280–281.
  • Magubane . The making of a racist state 395 – 395 . See also Cuthbertson and Jeeves, ‘Many-sided struggle for southern Africa’, pp 16–17.
  • Krebs . Gender, race and the writing of empire 1 – 2 . See also Stephen Badsey, ‘The Boer war as media war’ in Dennis and Grey (eds), The Boer War: army nation and empire, pp 70–83.
  • Beaumont , Jacqueline . 1999 . The British press and censorship during the South African War 1899–1902. Special issue, South African War 1899–1902: centennial perspectives . South African Historical Journal , 41 : 289 – 289 .
  • Krebs . Gender, race and the writing of empire 7 – 8 .
  • Chrisman , Laura . 2000 . Rereading the imperial romance: British imperialism and South African resistance in Haggard, Schreiner and Plaatje 1 – 1 . Oxford
  • Chrisman . Rereading the imperial romance 3 – 3 .
  • Arendt , Hannah . 1986 . The origins of totalitarianism 3 – 3 . London quoted in Chrisman, Rereading the imperial romance
  • Chrisman . Rereading the imperial romance 121 – 121 .
  • Chrisman . Rereading the imperial romance 3 – 4 .
  • Cuthbertson and Jeeves . Many-sided struggle for South Africa 12 – 12 .
  • Badsey . The Boer War as a media war 82 – 82 . Badsey claims that by January 1901 the war had almost ceased to feature in the provincial press, while in London there were some editorial articles but ‘increasingly few’ actual reports from the front. See also Porter, ‘The South African War and the historians', p 646, on whether the war had a lasting impact on the British ‘public mind’.
  • Cuthbertson and Jeeves . Many-sided struggle for South Africa 12 – 12 .
  • Wilson , HW . 1900 . With the flag to Pretoria 634 – 634 . London quoted in Porter, ‘The South African war and the historians
  • See above Nasson The South African War 7 7 281; Cuthbertson and Jeeves, ‘Many-sided struggle for southern Africa’, pp 16–17.
  • Porter . The South African War and the historians 636 – 639 . New trends in the historiography of the war are discussed below
  • Porter . The South African War and the historians 645 – 645 .
  • Waley , Daniel . 1994 . Lewes in the Boer War . Sussex Archaeological Collections , 132 quoted in Porter ‘The South African War and the historians’, p 646.
  • Porter . The South African War and the historians 646 – 647 .
  • Miller , Carman . 1999 . Loyalty, patriotism and resistance: Canada's response to the Anglo-Boer War . South African Historical Journal , 41 : 312 – 313 . Carman Miller, ‘The crucible of war: Canadian and British troops during the Anglo-Boer War’ in Dennis and Grey (eds), The Boer War: army, nation and empire, p 84; Lowry, ‘Not just a “teatime war”’, p 14. See also Carman Miller, Painting the map red: Canada and the South African War, 1899–1902 (Montreal, 1993).
  • Miller . Canada's response to the Anglo Boer War 322 – 322 .
  • See for example the quotation cited in Lowry Not just a “teatime war” 14 14 on the ‘forgotten’ monument in central Toronto in honour of the war
  • Nasson . The South African War 279 – 280 .
  • Wilcox , Craig . “ Looking back on the South African War ” . In The Boer War: army, nation and empire Edited by: Dennis and Grey . 8 – 8 . in
  • Trainor , Luke . “ Convenient conflict? From federal defence to federation ” . In The Boer War: army, nation and empire Edited by: Dennis and Grey . 224 – 224 . in
  • Wilcox , Craig . Looking back on the South African War 11 – 11 .
  • Nasson . The South African War 282 – 282 .
  • Pakenham . The Boer War 573 – 573 . Simons and Simons, Class and colour, p 60.
  • See for example Saunders Christopher African attitudes to Britain and the empire before and after the South African War The South African War reappraised Lowry 140 149 in
  • For example Mbenga Bernard The role of the Bakgatla of the Pilanesberg in the South African War and Manelisi Genge, ‘The role of the EmaSwati in the South African War’.
  • Chrisman . Rereading the imperial romance 167 – 168 . Cuthbertson and Jeeves, ‘Many-sided struggle for southern Africa’, p 11.
  • Porter . The South African War and the historians 640 – 640 .
  • Magubane . The making of a racist state xiii – xiii . xvii–xxi
  • See Chrisman Rereading the imperial romance 206 206 for some of Sol Plaatje's views on imperialism
  • See also Magubane Bernard The political economy of race and class in South Africa New York 1979 194 195
  • Cuthbertson and Jeeves . Many-sided struggle for southern Africa 5 – 5 .
  • Porter . The South African War and the historians 641 – 641 .
  • Cuthbertson and Jeeves . Many-sided struggle for southern Africa 5 – 6 .
  • Nasson . South Africa's post-Boer, Boer War 30 – 30 .
  • Nasson . The South African War 269 – 270 . See also John Matshikiza's reaction to Johannesburg's Anglo-Boer War commemorations quoted in Elsabé Brink and Sue Krige, ‘Remapping and remembering the South African War in Johannesburg and Pretoria’, South African Historical Journal 41 (1999), p 421.
  • The best example is the forthcoming translation of Protea's 2nd edition of Albert Grundlingh's Die ‘hendsoppers’ en ‘joiners’: die rasionaal en verskynsel van verraad Pretoria 1999 a work on a topic that has not been researched in any depth by any other academic
  • Ferreira . Viva os Boers! 30 – 30 .
  • See for example Grundlingh Die ‘hendsoppers’ en ‘joiners’ 69 70
  • Ferreira . Viva os Boers! 111 – 111 .
  • Porter . The South African War and the historians 642 – 642 .
  • Meijer . Generaal Ben Viljoen 11 – 11 .
  • See Meijer Generaal Ben Viljoen 12 14 16–17
  • Meijer . Generaal Ben Viljoen 243 – 246 . 251
  • Meijer . Generaal Ben Viljoen 257 – 258 .
  • Porter . The South African War and the historians 633 – 633 .
  • Pienaar . Op kommando met Steyn en De Wet 20 – 20 .
  • Porter . The South African War and the historians 635 – 636 . See also the discussion above on new trends in the historiography of the Anglo-Boer War.
  • Stanley , Peter . “ With Banjo to Kimberley: Banjo Paterson's South African War verse as history ” . In The Boer War army, nation and empire 172 – 172 . in
  • Porter . The South African War and the historians 642 – 642 . Porter cites examples of recent works on Methuen, Wolseley, Kitchener and Salisbury, among others.
  • Cuthbertson and Jeeves . Many-sided struggle for southern Africa 9 – 9 .
  • Porter . The South African War and the historians 642 – 642 .

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