Waring1212
Second Boer War
The second Boer War, 1899-1902, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the South African Republic and the Orange Free State) over the Empire's influence in Southern Africa from 1899 to 1902. it was the most extensive and most costly war in which the British engaged between the Napoleonic Wars and World War I (spending more than £200 million)
The total British military strength in Southern Africa reached nearly 500,000 men by the war's end, whereas the Boers could muster no more than about 88,000.
But the British were fighting in a hostile country over rugged terrain with long lines of communication. At the same time, the Boers, mainly on the defensive, were able to use modern rifle fire to good effect when attacking forces had no means of overcoming it.
The conflict provided a foretaste of warfare fought with breach-loading rifles and machine guns, with the advantage to the defenders, that characterized World War I.
Second Boer War
The second Boer War, 1899-1902, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the South African Republic and the Orange Free State) over the Empire's influence in Southern Africa from 1899 to 1902. it was the most extensive and most costly war in which the British engaged between the Napoleonic Wars and World War I (spending more than £200 million)
The total British military strength in Southern Africa reached nearly 500,000 men by the war's end, whereas the Boers could muster no more than about 88,000.
But the British were fighting in a hostile country over rugged terrain with long lines of communication. At the same time, the Boers, mainly on the defensive, were able to use modern rifle fire to good effect when attacking forces had no means of overcoming it.
The conflict provided a foretaste of warfare fought with breach-loading rifles and machine guns, with the advantage to the defenders, that characterized World War I.