South Africa:
The Partition of South Africa was really a tale of Anglo-Boer rivalry and the ambitions of Cecil Rhodes a British multimillionaire who arrived in South Africa aged 17 (1870) and quickly made a fortune from diamond mining. By 1890 Cecil Rhodes was prime minister of Cape Colony. In 1877 Britain took control of the Transvaal which the Boers believed was a temporary agreement, and offered the Zulus an ultimatum. The Zulu's chose war and were eventually defeated in 1879 after a valiant struggle. Shortly after this the Transvaal asked to be reinstated as an independent state, the British refused and the Boers responded by attacking and defeating British forces at Majuba Hill in 1881 during the First Boer War (1880-81). The British granted the Boers with self government in 1881 but this did not mean they were fully independent as Britain still controlled some Boer states (the controversial suzerainty idea that Britain could intervene in Boer territories which they later used).
In 1886 Gold was discovered in Transvaal and Britain again became interested,many uitlanders flocked to the area.
The Jameson raid in 1895 was a deep humiliation for Rhodes and the British government, the Boers had no difficulty in rounding up a mere 500 army.
The Kruger Telegram indicated that the Boers had support from Germany and supplied weapons.
Eventually in 1899 the Second Boer War started in an attempt to seize the assets of the Witwatersrand gold mines which made the Transvaal one of the richest area's in the world. They used to excuse that the Boers refused Uitlanders citizenship in the Transvaal to invade. Britain came close to another defeat as they could not handle the sneaky Boers guerrilla tactics but after a change in tactics in 1900 to a scorched earth policy and concentration camps they saw a rapid change in the results. By 1902 Britain had successfully gained control of The Transvaal and Orange Free State.

	Created by jackmackinder19 over 8 years ago

	Copied by billyhelm over 8 years ago

A level History Note on Key Issue 3. Why was Britain involved in obtaining possessions in Africa from 1868 – 1902?, created by billyhelm on 31/08/2015.

Key Issue 3. Why was Britain involved in obtaining possessions in Africa from 1868 – 1902?