Editing Pretoria (section)

==History==
{{see also|Timeline of Pretoria}}
Pretoria was founded in 1855 by [[Marthinus Wessel Pretorius|Marthinus Pretorius]], a leader of the [[Voortrekkers]], who named it after his father [[Andries Pretorius]] and chose a spot on the banks of the ''[[Apies River|Apies rivier]]'' ([[Afrikaans]] for "Monkeys river") to be the new [[capital city|capital]] of the [[South African Republic]] ({{langx|nl|Zuid Afrikaansche Republiek}}; ZAR). The elder Pretorius had become a national hero of the Voortrekkers after his victory over [[Dingane]] and the [[Zulu people|Zulu]]s in the [[Battle of Blood River]] in 1838. The elder Pretorius also negotiated the [[Sand River Convention]] (1852), in which the United Kingdom acknowledged the independence of the [[South African Republic|Transvaal]]. It became the capital of the South African Republic on 1 May 1860.

The founding of Pretoria as the capital of the South African Republic can be seen as marking the end of the Boers' settlement movements of the [[Great Trek]].

===Boer Wars===
{{Main|Boer Wars}}
During the [[First Boer War]], the city was besieged by Republican forces in December 1880 and March 1881. The peace treaty that ended the war was signed in Pretoria on 3 August 1881 at the [[Pretoria Convention]].

The [[Second Boer War]] resulted in the end of the [[Transvaal Republic]] and start of British [[hegemony]] in South Africa. The city surrendered to British forces under [[Frederick Sleigh Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts|Frederick Roberts]] on 5 June 1900 and the conflict was ended in Pretoria with the signing of the [[Peace of Vereeniging]] on 31 May 1902 at [[Melrose House]].

The [[Pretoria Forts]] were built for the defence of the city just prior to the Second Boer War. Though some of these forts are today in ruins, a number of them have been preserved as national monuments.
[[File:Pretoria Union Buildings-001.jpg|thumb|295x295px|The [[Union Buildings]], seat of South Africa's government]]

===Union of South Africa===
{{Main|Union of South Africa}}
The Boer Republics of the ZAR and the [[Orange River Colony]] were united with the [[British Cape Colony|Cape Colony]] and [[Natal Colony]] in 1910 to become the [[Union of South Africa]]. Pretoria then became the administrative capital of the whole of South Africa, with [[Cape Town]] serving as the legislative capital and [[Bloemfontein]] as the judicial capital. Between 1910 and 1994, the city was also the capital of the province of [[Transvaal Province|Transvaal]]. (As the capital of the ZAR, Pretoria had superseded [[Potchefstroom]] in that role.)
On 14 October 1931, Pretoria achieved official city status.<ref>South African History Online, [http://www.sahistory.org.za/dated-event/pretoria-receives-city-status] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150216183414/http://www.sahistory.org.za/dated-event/pretoria-receives-city-status|date=16 February 2015}}, 2011]</ref> When South Africa became a republic in 1961, Pretoria remained its administrative capital.<ref>Roman Adrian Cybriwsky, ''Capital Cities around the World: An Encyclopedia of Geography, History, and Culture'', ABC-CLIO, USA, 2013, p. 54</ref>