Editing History of South Africa (section)

===First Anglo–Boer War===
{{Main|First Boer War}}
{{more citations needed section|date=May 2015}}
[[File:South Africa late19thC map.png|thumb|right|Regional geography during the period of the Anglo–Boer wars:
<br />{{color box|green}} [[South African Republic]]/Transvaal<br />{{color box|orange}} [[Orange Free State]]<br />{{color box|blue}} British [[Cape Colony]]<br />{{color box|red}} [[Colony of Natal|Natal Colony]]]]The Transvaal Boer republic was forcefully annexed by Britain in 1877, during Britain's attempt to consolidate the states of southern Africa under British rule. Long-standing Boer resentment turned into full-blown rebellion in the Transvaal and the first [[First Boer War|Anglo–Boer War]], also known as the Boer Insurrection, broke out in 1880.<ref>Rayne Kruger, ''Goodbye Dolly Gray: The story of the Boer War'', London: Pimlico 1996, p.7 {{ISBN|978-0-7126-6285-7}}</ref> The conflict ended almost as soon as it began with a decisive Boer victory at [[Battle of Majuba Hill]] (27 February 1881).

The republic regained its independence as the ''Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek'' ("[[South African Republic]]"), or ZAR. [[Paul Kruger]], one of the leaders of the uprising, became President of the ZAR in 1883. Meanwhile, the British, who viewed their defeat at Majuba as an aberration, forged ahead with their desire to federate the Southern African colonies and republics. They saw this as the best way to come to terms with the fact of a white Afrikaner majority, as well as to promote their larger strategic interests in the area.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Southern Africa - European and African interaction in the 19th century {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Southern-Africa/European-and-African-interaction-in-the-19th-century |access-date=2022-07-12 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref>

The cause of the Anglo–Boer wars has been attributed to a contest over which nation would control and benefit most from the [[Witwatersrand Gold Rush|Witwatersrand gold mines]].<ref>Thomas Pakenham, ''The Boer War'', New York: Random House, 1979, p.xxi. {{ISBN|0-394-42742-4}}</ref> The enormous wealth of the mines was in the hands of European "[[Randlord]]s" overseeing the mainly British foreign managers, mining foremen, engineers and technical specialists, characterised by the Boers as ''uitlander'', meaning aliens. The  "aliens" objected to being denied parliamentary representation and the right to vote, and they complained also of bureaucratic government delays in the issuing of licenses and permits, and general administrative incompetence on the part of the government.<ref>Robert Crisp, ''The Outlanders: The story of the men who made Johannesburg'', London: Mayflower, pp.73–8 {{ISBN|0583122914}}</ref>

In 1895, a column of mercenaries in the employ of Cecil John Rhodes' Rhodesian-based Charter Company and led by Captain [[Leander Starr Jameson]] had entered the ZAR with the intention of sparking an uprising on the Witwatersrand and installing a British administration there. The armed incursion became known as the [[Jameson Raid]].<ref>{{cite web|title=First Boer War|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/victorians/boer_wars_01.shtml#two|website=BBC}}</ref> It ended when the invading column was ambushed and captured by Boer commandos. President Kruger suspected the insurgency had received at least the tacit approval of the Cape Colony government under the premiership of [[Cecil John Rhodes]], and that Kruger's South African Republic faced imminent danger. Kruger reacted by forming an alliance with the neighbouring Boer republic of Orange Free State. This did not prevent the outbreak of a Second Anglo–Boer war.