Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: This article is devoted to the Second Anglo-Boer War (1899–1902), which was not only the most devastating armed conflict in South Africa’s recent history but also a global concern. It sparked public interest in Europe and North America, with more support for the Boers’ independence than for Britain. Russian subjects of different classes, nationalities and ages, who had previously been almost indifferent to the history and problems of South Africa, showed considerable interest in the struggle for independence of the Transvaal and the Orange Free State. Russian periodicals, representing a wide range of political opinion, unanimously condemned Britain’s actions, using the conflict to express their ideological stances and analyse Russia’s present and future. The situation in South Africa was perceived as a lesson for Russia to learn. Political figures sought to make practical conclusions for Russia from the conflict. Historians have only started to examine these lessons, drawing on press archives, political pamphlets, and memoirs. Russian conservatives, Marxists, and supporters of Narodnichestvo and neo-Narodnichestvo considered the Boers’ resistance to imperialist aggression to be a just war. They viewed the defenders of the Transvaal and the Orange Free State as victims of British militarism, which was driven by capitalists seeking control over mineral resources. Conservatives admired the resistance to Western materialism and liberalism, and sought to provide support for the Boers, while taking advantage of Britain’s distraction to further Russian expansion in Asia. Liberals pointed out the inexpediency of military methods to achieving imperialist aims. Antiautocracy political forces found inspiration in the Boer struggle, with Narodniks viewing the conflict in South Africa as a caution against rapid industrialisation and urbanization. Social democrats utilised the workers’ preoccupation with the Boers’ fight to promote socialism and recruit for their movement, while studying how Boer combat tactics could be applied to revolutionary struggle. This marked a significant shift, as it was the first time the African experience was not only widely discussed in Russia but also regarded as a model for addressing national challenges.
Source: Quaestio Rossica
Author: Boris Gorelik
Institutions: Russian Academy of Sciences, Institute for African Studies
Language: Russian
Topic: Soviet and Russian History
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W7117355876