Effect of the Boer War on anglo-german relations

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Ti.P
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Effect of the Boer War on anglo-german relations

#1

Post by Ti.P » 07 Oct 2003, 12:33

do you guys think that the boer war contributed much to the anglo-german antagonism before the war or do you think that, germany(with bulows influence) was going to take the "free hand" approach anyway?

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Tony Slug
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hmmm

#2

Post by Tony Slug » 07 Oct 2003, 16:57

interesting question.

I do know for a fact that many Dutch weren't too pleased with it, given the historical links between both countries.

Well, and then there's the concentration camp thing, a British invention.


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Matt H.
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#3

Post by Matt H. » 07 Oct 2003, 18:47

The German Empire was the main supplier of weapons to the Boers (the Mauser Kar-1898 was the Afrikaner's most popular weapon), along with the Dutch. Once the British discovered this transaction, there was no doubt that Downing Street would be ticked off.

However, other issues contributed towards the deterioration of Anglo-German relations, such as the Moroccan Crisis, the naval arms race, as well as German support for Austria-Hungary in opposition to Britain's ally, France.

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#4

Post by Ti.P » 08 Oct 2003, 09:56

was it the boer start of the boer and germanies naval bill taht pushed chamberlain to propose and alliane do you think?

also do any of you ahve any good sources on chamberlains speeches, something that would include the date of his first public proposal of an alliance? ive only found one date, that was on a website that i dont trust, hwoever if the sites true then chamberlain proposed an anglo-german alliance on april 1 1898 in birmingham, only 6-7 days after the passing of the naval bill.

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#5

Post by Matt H. » 10 Oct 2003, 18:46

The British actually feared a German invasion of the Cape Colony just as much, if not more, than a Boer invasion. The Cape Colony Administration regarded Kaiser Wilhelm II as frankly unstable and imbalanced, and he never hid his disdain for the British presence in Africa by supplying the Boers with stacks of Mauser Kar-1898 rifles. 187,000 were delivered to the Boers in 1897 alone. This was a significant factor behind the British military build up across all borders of the Cape Colony (it was not just along the Cape's border with the Orange Free State). Kruger took this as a sign of a premeditated invasion, and dispatched an ultimatum to the British.

...and the rest is history.

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#6

Post by Ti.P » 11 Oct 2003, 06:03

you mean the british feared an invasion because of the alnding of those 150 germans on hte boers only acces to the sea apart fomr the british colonies(cant remember the name of the bay)?

and about the guns what good did 187k guns do? there were only 80k Boers who were fighting.

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#7

Post by Matt H. » 11 Oct 2003, 13:22

The British were fearful of the German presence so close to the Cape Colony. They also knew that Kaiser Wilhelm had not kept his support for the Boer insurgents a secret, and the Cape Colony Administration feared that German support would extend beyond the supply of rifles and artillery (the Krupps factory supplied the Boers with the vast majority of guns - some superior to those of the British). The Boer Army was, in fact, a multi-national force consisting not only of Afrikaners, but also Dutch, German, Huguenots and even 100 Irish-Americans.

War between Great Britain and Germany was brewing in 1897-8, and Kruger interpreted the mobilisation of British forces as preparation for an invasion - hence the ultimatum.

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#8

Post by Ti.P » 12 Oct 2003, 09:03

war was brewing with france and britain and russia and britain too and they werent too friendly with the states. By the start of the Boer war they were discussing a anglo-german allaince werent they?

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#9

Post by Matt H. » 25 Oct 2003, 23:54

Perhaps in a few private circles, but not openly. It is true that suspicious eyes were kept on Russia, who were deemed a threat to Britain's Asian Empire, but as soon as the Entente Cordiale was put into practice, that threat petered out. As I stated before, most Britons regarded the new Kaiser as unstable and erratically ambitious. He had dismissed Bismarck in 1890, thus eliminating the most skillful politician in German history, and his jealousy for Britain's African Empire was not exactly his greatest kept secret (Kitchener and Roberts were aware of German sympathy for the Boers).

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