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{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2024}}
{{Infobox military conflict
| conflict = Second
| partof = the [[Boer Wars]] during the [[Scramble for Africa]]
| image = Second_Boer_War_Collage.png
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}}
The '''Second Boer War''' ({{langx|af|Tweede Vryheidsoorlog}}, {{lit|Second Freedom War}}, 11 October 1899{{snd}}31 May 1902), also known as the '''Boer War''', '''Transvaal War''',<ref>{{Cite book |url=http://archive.org/details/sim_illustrated-london-news_1899-10-28_115_3158 |title=The Illustrated London News
The [[Witwatersrand Gold Rush]] caused a large influx of "[[Uitlander|foreigners]]" (''Uitlanders'') to the South African Republic (SAR), mostly British from the [[Cape Colony]]. As they, for fear of a hostile takeover of the SAR, were permitted to vote only after fourteen years of residence, they protested to the British authorities in the Cape. Negotiations failed at the botched [[Bloemfontein Conference]] in June 1899. The conflict broke out in October after the British government decided to send 10,000 troops to South Africa.<ref>{{Cite book |first=Thomas |last=Pakenham |title=The [[Second Boer War|Boer War]] |publisher=Weidenfeld & Nicolson |chapter=9. The Ultimatum |pages=
However, British fortunes changed when their commanding officer, [[Redvers Buller|General Redvers Buller]], was replaced by [[Frederick Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts|Lord Roberts]] and [[Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener|Lord Kitchener]], who relieved the besieged cities and invaded the Boer republics in early 1900 at the head of a 180,000-strong expeditionary force. The Boers, aware they were unable to resist such a large force, refrained from fighting [[pitched battle]]s, allowing the British to occupy both republics and their capitals, [[Pretoria]] and [[Bloemfontein]].<ref name="millard">{{cite book|last1=Millard|first1=Candice|title=Hero of the Empire: The Boer War, a daring escape, and the making of Winston Churchill|date=2016|publisher=Doubleday|isbn=978-0-385-53573-1|location=New York}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=The South African War 1899–1902|publisher=South African History Online|url=https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/south-african-war-1899-1902|access-date=2021-01-25|website=sahistory.org.za}}</ref><ref name=SAHonline>{{Cite web|title=Lord Roberts is appointed British supreme commander in South Africa|publisher=South African History Online|url=https://www.sahistory.org.za/dated-event/field-marshal-lord-roberts-appointed-british-supreme-commander-south-africa|access-date=2022-01-04|website=sahistory.org.za}}</ref> Boer politicians, including [[State President of the South African Republic|President of the South African Republic]] [[Paul Kruger]], either fled or went into hiding; the British Empire officially annexed the two republics in 1900. In Britain, the [[Unionist government, 1895–1905#Salisbury ministry|Conservative ministry]] led by [[Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury|Lord Salisbury]] attempted to capitalise on British military successes by calling an [[1900 United Kingdom general election|early general election]], dubbed by contemporary observers as a "[[khaki election]]". However, Boer fighters took to the hills and launched a guerrilla campaign, becoming known as ''[[bittereinder]]s''. Led by generals such as [[Louis Botha]], [[Jan Smuts]], [[Christiaan de Wet]], and [[Koos de la Rey]], Boer guerrillas used [[Hit-and-run tactics|hit-and-run attacks]] and [[ambush]]es against the British for two years.<ref name="bristolmercury">{{cite web |last1=Biggins |first1=David |title=Khaki Election of 1900 |url=https://www.angloboerwar.com/forum/8-events/8709-khaki-election-of-1900 |website=angloboerwar.com |date=June 2013 |access-date=27 November 2018}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=van der Waag|first=Ian|date=2005|title=Boer Generalship and Politics of Command|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/26061736|journal= War in History|volume= 12|issue=1|pages=15–43|doi=10.1191/0968344505wh306oa|jstor=26061736|s2cid=220749361 |via=Jstor}}</ref>
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=== First British relief attempts ===
[[File:VCRedversHenryBuller.jpg|thumb|upright|General [[Redvers Henry Buller]] launched an offensive against the Boers in the early phases of the war but after several defeats, culminating at the [[Battle of Colenso]], he was replaced by [[Frederick Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts|
On 31 October 1899, General Sir [[Redvers Henry Buller]], a much-respected commander, arrived in South Africa with the Army Corps, made up of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd divisions. Buller originally intended an offensive straight up the railway line leading from [[Cape Town]] through Bloemfontein to Pretoria. Finding on arrival that the British troops already in South Africa were under siege, he split his army corps into detachments to relieve the besieged garrisons. One division, led by Lieutenant General [[Paul Methuen, 3rd Baron Methuen|Lord Methuen]], was to follow the Western Railway to the north and relieve Kimberley and Mafeking. A smaller force of about 3,000, led by Major General [[William Forbes Gatacre|William Gatacre]], was to push north towards the railway junction at Stormberg and secure the [[Cape Midlands]] District from Boer raids and local rebellions by Boer inhabitants. Buller led the major part of the army corps to relieve Ladysmith to the east.
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Roberts launched his main attack on 10 February 1900 and although hampered by a long supply route, managed to outflank the Boers defending [[Magersfontein]]. On 14 February, a cavalry division under French launched a major attack to relieve Kimberley. Although encountering severe fire, a massed cavalry charge split the Boer defences on 15 February, opening the way for French to enter Kimberley that evening, ending its 124 days' siege.
Meanwhile, Roberts pursued Piet Cronjé's 7,000-strong force, which had abandoned Magersfontein to head for Bloemfontein. General French's cavalry was ordered to assist in the pursuit by embarking on an epic {{convert|50|km|abbr=on}} drive towards Paardeberg where Cronjé was attempting to cross the Modder River. At the [[Battle of Paardeberg]] from 18 to 27 February, Roberts then surrounded Cronjé's retreating Boer army. On 17 February, a pincer movement involving both French's cavalry and the main British force attempted to take the entrenched position, but the frontal attacks were uncoordinated and so were repulsed by the Boers. Finally, Roberts resorted to bombarding Cronjé into submission. It took ten days, and when the British troops used the polluted Modder River as water supply, [[typhoid]] killed many troops. General Cronjé was finally forced to surrender at the [[
[[File:The Relief of Ladysmith by John Henry Frederick Bacon.jpg|thumb|The Relief of Ladysmith. Sir [[George White (British Army officer)|George Stuart White]] greets Major [[Hubert Gough]] on 28 February. Painting by [[John Henry Frederick Bacon]] (1868–1914).]]
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== See also ==
{{columns-start}}
* [[Bloemfontein Conference]]
* [[Treaty of Vereeniging]]▼
* [[Bombardment in the Second Boer War]]
* [[British logistics in the Boer War]]
* [[First Boer War]]▼
* [[First Italo-Ethiopian War|First Italo–Ethiopian War]]
* [[History of South Africa]]▼
* [[List_of_battles_in_South_Africa#Second_Boer_War_(11_October_1899_–_31_May_1902)|List of Second Boer War battles]]
{{column}}
* [[List of Second Boer War Victoria Cross recipients]]
* [[List of wars between democracies]]
* ''[[London to Ladysmith via Pretoria]]''
▲* [[History of South Africa]]
* [[Military history of South Africa]]
* [[Volkstaat]]▼
▲* [[First Boer War]]
* [[Scramble for Africa]]
▲* [[Treaty of Vereeniging]]
▲* [[Volkstaat]]
{{columns-end}}
== Notes ==
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