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Battle Of Sandfontein
The Battle of Sandfontein was fought between the Union of South Africa on behalf of the British Imperial Government and the German Empire (modern-day Namibia) on 26 September 1914 at Sandfontein, during the first stage of the South West Africa Campaign of World War I, and ended in a German victory. Background The outbreak of World War I led to the transfer of the British Imperial garrison from South Africa to France. Expecting the war to finish quickly, many South Africans also departed for Europe, aiming to take part in the combat. The Union Defence Force took the responsibility of independently protecting South Africa from a possible German offensive. In the meantime, prime minister Louis Botha found himself in the middle of a confrontation between pro-British loyalists supporting full involvement in the war and Afrikaner nationalists advocating neutrality. German colonial troops in South West Africa numbered 140 officers, 2,000 regulars, and 2,500 reservists organized in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
South West Africa Campaign
The South West Africa campaign was the conquest and occupation of German South West Africa by forces from the Union of South Africa acting on behalf of the British imperial government at the beginning of the First World War. Background The outbreak of hostilities in Europe in August 1914 had been anticipated and government officials of South Africa were aware of the significance of their common border with the German colony. Prime Minister Louis Botha informed London that South Africa could defend itself and that the Imperial Garrison might depart for France; when the British government asked Botha whether his forces would invade German South West Africa, the reply was that they could and would. South African troops were mobilised along the border between the two countries under the command of General Henry Lukin and Lt Col Manie Maritz early in September 1914. Shortly afterwards another force occupied the port of Lüderitz. The news about the start of World War I reached ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Herero Wars
The Herero Wars were a series of colonial wars between the German Empire and the Herero people of German South West Africa (present-day Namibia). They took place between 1904 and 1908. Background Pre-colonial South-West Africa The Hereros were cattle grazers, occupying most of central and northern South West Africa. Under the leadership of Jonker Afrikaner, who died in 1861, and then later under the leadership of Samuel Maharero, they had achieved supremacy over the Nama and Orlam peoples in a series of conflicts that had in their later stages, seen the extensive use of fire-arms obtained from European traders. German colonization In the early 1880s, the German statesman Otto von Bismarck, reversing his previous rejection of colonial acquisitions, decided on a policy of imperial expansion. In 1882 Bismarck gave permission to Adolf Lüderitz to obtain lands which Germany would bring within its "protection", under the conditions that a port was established within the territorie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Manie Maritz
Manie Maritz (1876–1940), also known as Gerrit Maritz, was a Boer officer during the Second Boer War and a leading rebel of the 1914 Maritz Rebellion. Early years Maritz was born in Kimberley, Northern Cape then in the British colony of the Cape of Good Hope, and as such, was a British subject. He was christened Salomon Gerhardus Maritz. When he turned 19 he went to Johannesburg and was employed as a cab driver by his uncle. During the Jameson Raid he volunteered as a guard of the Johannesburg fort. This entitled him to become a citizen of the Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek (ZAR). This, in turn, permitted him to join the Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek Politie (ZARP), the police force in Johannesburg.Maritz, Manie, My lewe en strewe, published by the author in 1939. Second Boer War Maritz joined the Boksburg Commando and proceeded to the Natal front. Later he joined Daniel Theron's reconnaissance corps and then participated in the invasion of the Cape Colony. He eventually lande ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tim Lukin
Major General Sir Henry Timson Lukin (24 May 1860 – 15 December 1925) was a South African military commander. He fought in the Anglo-Zulu War (1879) and the Basutoland Gun War (1880–1881), the Bechuanaland Campaign (1897), and the Anglo-Boer War when he was in command of the artillery during the defence of Wepener for which action he was awarded a Distinguished Service Order. From 1900 to 1901 he commanded the Cape Mounted Riflemen, from 1904 to 1912 he was Commandant-General of the Cape Colonial Forces and in 1912 Inspector-General of the Permanent Force of the Union of South Africa. Brig Gen Lukin transferred to the new Union Defence Forces in 1912 as Inspector-General of the Permanent Force. He commanded a formation in the German South West Africa Campaign (1914–1915), and commanded the 1st South African Infantry Brigade of the South African Overseas Expeditionary Force in Egypt (1916) and France (1916), at Delville Wood before being promoted to a divisional comma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maritz Rebellion
The Maritz rebellion, also known as the Boer revolt or Five Shilling rebellion,General De Wet publicly unfurled the rebel banner in October, when he entered the town of Reitz at the head of an armed commando. He summoned all the town and demanded that the court shorthand writer take down every word he said, among which he complained: "I was charged before he Magistrate of Reitzfor beating a native boy. I only did it with a small shepherd's whip, and for that I was fined 5/–". On hearing the contents of the speech, General Smuts christened the rising as "the Five Shilling Rebellion". (). Other sources place the incident in the town of Vrede on 28 October 1914 – see, for example, P.J. Sampson, ''The Capture of De Wet: the South African Rebellion, 1914'' (1915), pp. 145-146. was an armed insurrection in South Africa in 1914, at the start of World War I. It was led by Boers who supported the re-establishment of the South African Republic in the Transvaal. Many members of the S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Upington
Upington ( Nama: //Khara hais) is a town founded in 1873 and located in the Northern Cape province of South Africa, on the banks of the Orange River. The town was originally called Olijvenhoutsdrift ('Olive wood drift'), due to the abundance of olive wood trees in the area, but later renamed after Sir Thomas Upington, Attorney-General and then Prime Minister of the Cape. It originated as a mission station established in 1871 and run by Reverend Christiaan Schröder. The mission station now houses the Kalahari Orange Museum. The museum is also the home of a donkey statue, which recognises the enormous contribution that this animal made to the development of the region during the pioneering days of the 19th century. The elevation of Upington is 2,742 feet (835 metres). It is the closest large centre to the Augrabies Falls (arguably the greatest of South African waterfalls) and the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park. The landscape is very arid but the soil is fertile and crops such as fru ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Port Nolloth
Port Nolloth is a town and small domestic seaport in the Namaqualand region on the northwestern coast of South Africa, northwest of Springbok, Northern Cape, Springbok. It is the seat of the Richtersveld Local Municipality. The port was previously a transshipment point for copper mining, copper from the Okiep mines, and diamond mining, diamonds from the Namaqualand, Namaqua coast. Since the 1970s the principal seagoing activities have been fishing and small-vessel tourism. Today the town is a sleepy commercial hub with a number of holiday homes and a caravan park at the adjacent McDougalls Bay. It is also a gateway to the Richtersveld National Park, located to the north along the Orange River. History The bay upon which the port sits was known by the indigenous Namaqua people as ''Aukwatowa'' ("Where the water took away the old man"). Its location was marked by Portuguese people, Portuguese explorer Bartolomeu Dias on his epic voyage around the Cape of Good Hope in 1487. It was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Louis Botha Government
The Louis Botha government appointed the members of the government in South Africa led by Prime Minister Louis Botha between 31 May 1910 and 3 September 1919. The former boer general Louis Botha Louis Botha (; 27 September 1862 – 27 August 1919) was a South African politician who was the first prime minister of the Union of South Africa – the forerunner of the modern South African state. A Boer war hero during the Second Boer War, ..., Prime Minister of Transvaal was appointed by the British crown to become the first Prime Minister of the Union of South Africa during its formation on 31 May 1910. The very first national general elections were held on 15 September 1910 and ended in the victory of the coalition led by the "Het Volk" party led by Louis Botha (67 seats) against the 37 seats won by the Unionists of Leander Starr Jameson. The remaining 26 seats were won by small parties. The Botha coalition, made up of Anglo-Afrikaner parties, became the South African Par ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Swakopmund
Swakopmund (german: Mouth of the Swakop) is a city on the coast of western Namibia, west of the Namibian capital Windhoek via the B2 main road. It is the capital of the Erongo administrative district. The town has 44,725 inhabitants and covers of land. The city is situated in the Namib Desert and is the fourth largest population centre in Namibia. Swakopmund is a beach resort and an example of German colonial architecture. It was founded in 1892 as the main harbour for German South West Africa. Buildings in the city include the '' Altes Gefängnis'', a prison designed by Heinrich Bause in 1909. The ''Woermannhaus'', built in 1906 with a prominent tower (Damara tower), is now a public library. Attractions in Swakopmund include a Swakopmund Museum, the National Marine Aquarium, a crystal gallery, and spectacular sand dunes near Langstrand south of the Swakop River. Outside the city, the Rossmund Desert Golf Course is one of only five all-grass desert golf courses in the world. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Windhoek
Windhoek (, , ) is the capital and largest city of Namibia. It is located in central Namibia in the Khomas Highland plateau area, at around above sea level, almost exactly at the country's geographical centre. The population of Windhoek in 2020 was 431,000 which is growing continually due to an influx from all over Namibia. Windhoek is the social, economic, political, and cultural centre of the country. Nearly every Namibian national enterprise, governmental body, educational and cultural institution is headquartered there. The city developed at the site of a permanent hot spring known to the indigenous pastoral communities. It developed rapidly after Jonker Afrikaner, Captain of the Orlam, settled there in 1840 and built a stone church for his community. In the decades following, multiple wars and armed hostilities resulted in the neglect and destruction of the new settlement. Windhoek was founded a second time in 1890 by Imperial German Army Major Curt von François, whe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Keetmanshoop
Keetmanshoop is a city in the ǁKaras Region of southern Namibia, lying on the Trans-Namib Railway from Windhoek to Upington in South Africa. It is named after Johann Keetman, a German industrialist and benefactor of the city. History Before the colonial era, the settlement was known as ''ǂNuǂgoaes'' or ''Swartmodder'', both of which mean "Black Marsh" and indicated the presence of a spring in the area. The first white settler, Guilliam Visagie, arrived here in 1785. When in February 1850 the Kharoǃoan clan ( Keetmanshoop Nama) split from the Red Nation, the main subtribe of the Nama people, they settled permanently here. In 1860 the Rhenish Missionary Society founded a mission there to christianise the local Nama. The first missionary, Johann Georg Schröder, arrived in Keetmanshoop on April 14, 1866, which is now marked as the founding date of Keetmanshoop. The mission station was named after the German trader and director of the Rhenish Missionary Society, , who supp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
