Military History of South Africa - First Anglo-Boer War

First Anglo-Boer War

The First Boer War also known as the First Anglo-Boer War or the Transvaal War, was fought from 16 December 1880 until 23 March 1881. It was the first clash between the British and the Transvaal Boers. It was precipitated by Sir Theophilus Shepstone, who annexed the South African Republic (Transvaal Republic) for the British in 1877. The British consolidated their power over most of the colonies of South Africa in 1879 after the Anglo-Zulu War, and attempted to impose an unpopular system of confederation on the region. The Boers protested and in December 1880 they revolted.

After several disastrous battles, the British were unwilling to get further involved in a war which was already seen as lost. As a result, the British government of William Gladstone signed a truce on 6 March, and in the final peace treaty on 23 March 1881, they gave the Boers self-government in the Transvaal under a theoretical British oversight.