Apex of Empire
At the end of the 19th century it was believed, but not proven, that the British Empire was the most powerful nation in the world. Britain believed that it was her mission, in the words of Rudyard Kipling to “Bear the White Mans Burden.” Their position is analogous to the position of the United States at the end of the 20th century.1
Britain had fought numerous wars throughout the century to protect her 
interests, protect her citizens, and to bring Christianity and civilization to the world. These wars were widely followed in the penny press and the romanticism of the adventure was captured in a tune that has given a name to unbridled patriotism – Jingoism.
The adventurous spirit and belief in the superiority of the Anglo-Saxon race was epitomized by the actions of Cecil Rhodes and Alfred Milner in South Africa. In the 1870’s Britain had fought the Boers of South Africa which resulted in the creation of an uneasy situation where the Boers were in charge to two independent areas, the Orange Free State and the Transvaal. There were many in Britain who were dissatisfied with this arrangement and demanded that Britain finish the job and take all of South Africa. Rhodes had said,
If there be a God, I think what he would like me to do is to paint as much of Africa British-red as possible and do what I can elsewhere to promote the unity and extend the influence of the English-speaking race.2
The Second Anglo Boer War, or the Second War for Independence as it is called by the Boers,
was a war fought in the transitional time between the set piece battles of the 19th Century and the total wars and firepower of the 20th. It was fought between the overwhelmingly industrialized might of Britain against the individual farmers of the Boers. The war was begun under suspicious motives. The Boers originally had the advantage due to their knowledge of the land, but soon the shock and awe of the huge British war machine destroyed the Boer Armies in the field. By March of 1900 the end of the war seemed imminent. Lord Roberts even began the mop up operations by sending General Kitchener to the interior of the Orange Free State. The military could say Mission Accomplished.3
The Boers, under very able leaders, such as Louis Botha, conducted a very successful and costly guerilla war. The ability of these farmers to stymie the superior British forces was looked upon by the rest of the world with joy by an envious eye. 
The British were able to defeat the Boers through the use of a surge of troops and the establishment of harsh and repressive concentration camps. These tactics caused the loss of prestige and moral high ground for the British and began the process of disillusionment with the idea of Empire at home and throughout the empires possessions. The most famous person disillusioned with the British Empire was an Indian lawyer trained in London who volunteered to support the British in South Africa, Mahatma Gandhi.
There are some similarities in the conduct and attitudes of people towards this war that are similar to the U.S. efforts in Iraq. This web site attempts to give an overview of the Second Anglo Boer War and highlight those places where there are similarities.
