Prelude to War
In the 19th century the British tried to expand their power in the southern tip of Africa. They had annexed the Cape Colony in 1806, which caused the Dutch farmers of the region, the Boers to travel inland on the Great Trek. The British annexed the Transvaal region in 1877 and although Paul Krueger, later to become the Transvaal president, tried to resist diplomatically the Boers were reluctant to fight the British while the powerful Zulu nation existed. When the British defeated the Zulus in 1879 the balance of power shifted. The Boers of the Transvaal declared their independence. In a short series of battles, culminating in the Battle of Majuba Hill in 1880, the British were humiliated and signed a peace treaty.
The discovery of a major gold field in the Witwatersrand of the Transvaal in 1886 upset the uneasy peace. Tens of thousands of foreign adventurers and investors went to the Transvaal to make their fortunes. 
The Transvaal government heavily taxed these foreigners and there was wide spread dissatisfaction among the Uitlanders (the Boer word for “outsiders”). Cecil Rhodes and Joseph Chamberlain, the British Secretary of State for the Colonies, conspired to support a coup by the “Reform Committee” in Johannesburg. They also secretly financed and assembled a force under Dr. Leander Jameson, which invaded the Transvaal in 1896. The Boers quickly defeated Dr. Jameson and he and his officers were sent to London for trial. The British paid the Transvaal over £1,000,000 in reparations.1
Dr. Jameson was obviously a scapegoat for the designs of the British Empire. Rudyard Kipling penned the poem ‘If’ in commemoration of the raid. 'If you can make a heap of all your winnings / And risk it at one turn of pitch and toss / And lose, and start again from your beginnings / And never breathe a word about your loss...' His plight was made a rallying point for 
British Patriotic fervor and the future prime minister of South Africa Jan Smuts would write, “The Jameson raid was the real declaration of war in the Anglo Boer conflict.”2
In December of 1898 the newly appointed Governor of the Cape Colony, Sir Alfred Milner sent back highly exaggerated reports concerning the problems confronting the Uitlanders of the Transvaal. He had cherry picked his intelligence reports to show the Boers in a bad light. He was preparing the British government and people for possible war, to protect democracy for fellow countrymen. His main argument was that the Uilanders were British subjects that were being subjected to high taxes and did not have the right to vote. He argued that the case for intervention was overwhelming and the prestige of Britain was at stake. After a conference between Milner and Kruger in June of 1899, Milner proposed unacceptable demands of Kruger and then walked out when Kruger said "It is our country you want."
Diplomatic efforts continued throughout the summer and fall. On October 9th President Krueger issued an ultimatum to the British stating that if Britain did not accede to his demands within two days the Transvaal would consider that a state of war existed between the countries. The Boers outnumbered the British and had the advantage of knowledge of the terrain. This allowed them to quickly defeat the British. In the second week of December 1899, known as “Black Week” in the British press, the British were defeated at the Stromberg, Magersfontein and Colenso. The British knew they were in a full blown war and it would take a lot more troops then they originally planned.
