Boer Republics: Encyclopedia II - Boer Republics - History

Boer Republics - History

Although some of these republics were already founded from 1795 onwards during the period of Dutch colonial rule at the Cape, most of these states were established after Britain took over from the Netherlands as the colonial power at the Cape of Good Hope. Subsequently a number of its Dutch-speaking inhabitants trekked inland in 1835 in order to escape their administrative control in a movement that became known as the Great Trek. Several of these states were established after military defeats of the indigenous population by the Voortrekkers/Boers by virtue of their technologically superior weaponry.

States were also established by other population groups, most notable the Griqua, a subgroup of South Africa's heterogeneous and multiracial Coloured people. Most notable among these were Griqualand West and Griqualand East.

While some of these were mini-states which were relatively short-lived some, especially the Transvaal and the Orange Free State, developed into successful independent countries that were officialy recognized by the Netherlands, Britain, France, Germany, Belgium and the United States. These two countries continued to exist for several decades, despite the First Boer War with Britain. However, later developments, including the discovery of diamonds and gold in these states, lead to Second Boer War. In this war the Transvaal and Orange Free State were defeated and annexed by the overwhelmingly larger British forces and they officially ceased to exist in 1902 with the signing of the Vereenigning Peace Treaty. A new British colony, the Union of South Africa, was subsequently established.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "History", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki