Ethnic, political and social tensions among European colonial
powers, indigenous Africans, and English and Dutch settlers led to open
conflict in a series of wars and revolts between 1879 and 1915 that would have
lasting repercussions on the entire region of southern Africa. Pursuit of
commercial empire as well as individual aspirations, especially after the
discovery of diamonds (1867) and gold (1886), were key factors driving these
developments.
The
various wars of this era are usually studied separately, as independent
conflicts. They include the first and second Anglo-Boer War, the Anglo-Zulu
War, the Basotho Gun War, the 9th Frontier War and others. However,
it is instructive also to see them as outbreaks in a far larger wave of change
and conflict effecting the subcontinent - beginning with the
"Confederation Wars" of the 1870s and 80s; escalating with the rise
of Cecil Rhodes and the struggle for control of gold and diamond
resources; and leading up to the Second Anglo-Boer War and the Union
of South Africa in 1910.
Credit: wikipedia
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