Editing Paul Kruger (section)

===Road to war===
[[File:Lord Milner.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.1|[[Alfred Milner, 1st Viscount Milner|Sir Alfred Milner]], the British [[High Commissioner for Southern Africa]]|alt=A moustachioed man in a dark three-piece suit]]
Anglo-German relations warmed during late 1898, with Berlin disavowing any interest in the Transvaal; this opened the way for Milner and Chamberlain to take a firmer line against Kruger.{{sfn|Meintjes|1974|pp = 218–219}} The so-called "Edgar case" of early 1899, in which a [[South African Republic Police]]man was acquitted of [[manslaughter]] after shooting a British subject dead during an attempted arrest, prompted outcry from the British element in the Transvaal and is highlighted by Nathan as "the starting point of the final agitation which led to war".{{sfn|Meintjes|1974|pp = 221–222}}

The South African League, a new uitlander movement, prepared two petitions, each with more than 20,000 signatures, that appealed to Queen Victoria for intervention against the Transvaal government, which they called inefficient, corrupt and oppressive.{{sfn|Meintjes|1974|p = 223}} Other uitlanders produced a counter-petition in which about as many affirmed their satisfaction with Kruger's government.{{sfn|Meintjes|1974|p = 223}} Attempting to address the main point of contention raised by Milner and Chamberlain, Kruger spoke of reducing the residency qualification for foreigners to nine years or perhaps less.{{sfn|Meintjes|1974|p = 223}} In May and June 1899 he and Milner met in Bloemfontein, with Steyn taking on the role of mediator. "You ''must'' make concessions on the franchise issue", Steyn counselled. "Franchise after a residence of 14 years is in conflict with the first principles of a republican and democratic government. The Free State expects you to concede&nbsp;... Should you not give in on this issue, you will lose all sympathy and all your friends."{{sfn|Meintjes|1974|p = 225}} Kruger answered that he had already indicated his willingness to lower the franchise and was "prepared to do anything"—"but they must not touch my independence", he said. "They must be reasonable in their demands."{{sfn|Meintjes|1974|p = 225}}

[[File:Slow and Sure - JM Staniforth.png|thumb|upright=1.2|British press depiction of Kruger attempting to appease the uitlanders; Joseph Chamberlain looks on, unimpressed, in the background|alt=A cartoon; see description. The uitlander is depicted as towering over Kruger, who has to stand on a ledge to reach the sign he is pointing to explaining the franchise law.]]
[[File:El último discurso de Chamberlain, de Xaudaró.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Spanish press depiction of Kruger and Chamberlain|alt=]]
Milner wanted full voting rights after five years' residence, a revised naturalisation oath and increased legislative representation for the new burghers. Kruger offered naturalisation after two years' residence and full franchise after five more (seven years, effectively) along with increased representation and a new oath similar to that of the Free State.{{sfn|Meintjes|1974|pp = 226–228}} The High Commissioner declared his original request an "irreducible minimum" and said he would discuss nothing else until the franchise question was resolved.{{sfn|Kruger|1902|p = 275}} On 5 June Milner proposed an advisory council of non-burghers to represent the uitlanders, prompting Kruger to cry: "How can strangers rule my state? How is it possible!"{{sfn|Meintjes|1974|pp = 226–228}} When Milner said he did not foresee this council taking on any governing role, Kruger burst into tears, saying "It is our country you want".{{sfn|Meintjes|1974|pp = 226–228}} Milner ended the conference that evening, saying the further meetings Steyn and Kruger wanted were unnecessary.{{sfn|Meintjes|1974|pp = 226–228}}

Back in Pretoria Kruger introduced a draft law to give the mining regions four more seats in each volksraad and fix a seven-year residency period for voting rights. This would not be retroactive, but up to two years' prior residence would be counted towards the seven, and uitlanders already in the country for nine years or more would get the vote immediately.{{sfn|Meintjes|1974|pp = 228–230}}{{#tag:ref|Under this bill the enfranchisement of individual uitlanders would depend on conditions such as never having been "guilty of any crime against the independence of the country", and on "the personal acquaintance of the field cornets and landdrosts of the wards and districts in which they lived".{{sfn|Ash|2014|pp=120–121}} These officials would be asked to attest to the prospective voter's domicile, uninterrupted registration and obedience to the law.{{sfn|Ash|2014|pp=120–121}} Alternatively two "more than respectable" burghers could recommend an uitlander of seven years' residence for the franchise if they had both known him as long as he had lived in the country.{{sfn|Ash|2014|pp=120–121}}|group="n"|name="qualifications"}} [[Jan Hendrik Hofmeyr (Onze Jan)|Jan Hendrik Hofmeyr]] of the Afrikaner Bond persuaded Kruger to make this fully retrospective (to immediately enfranchise all white men in the country seven years or more), but Milner and the South African League deemed this insufficient.{{sfn|Meintjes|1974|pp = 228–230}} After Kruger rejected the British proposal of a joint commission on the franchise law, Smuts and Reitz proposed a five-year retroactive franchise and the extension of a quarter of the volksraad seats to the Witwatersrand region, on the condition that Britain drop any claim to suzerainty.{{sfn|Meintjes|1974|pp = 228–230}} Chamberlain issued an ultimatum in September 1899 in which he insisted on five years without conditions, else the British would "formulate their own proposals for a final settlement".{{sfn|Meintjes|1974|p = 230}}

Kruger resolved that war was inevitable, comparing the Boers' position to that of a man attacked by a lion with only a pocketknife for defence. "Would you be such a coward as not to defend yourself with your pocketknife?" he posited.{{sfn|Meintjes|1974|pp = 228–230}} Aware of the deployment of British troops from elsewhere in the Empire, Kruger and Smuts surmised that from a military standpoint the Boers' only chance was a swift [[pre-emptive strike]]. Steyn was anxious that they not be seen as the aggressors and insisted they delay until there was absolutely no hope of peace. He informed Kruger on 9 October that he also now thought war unavoidable; that afternoon the Transvaal government handed the British envoy [[Conyngham Greene]] an ultimatum advising that if Britain did not withdraw all troops from the border within 48 hours, a state of war would exist. The British government considered the conditions impossible and informed Kruger of this on 11 October 1899. The start of the [[Second Boer War]] was announced in Pretoria that day, at 17:00 local time.{{sfn|Meintjes|1974|pp = 230–231}}