|
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, he eventually fought to have South Africa become a British Dominion. Early life Louis Botha was born in Greytown, Natal one of 13 children born to Louis Botha Senior (26 March 1827 – 5 July 1883) and Salomina Adriana van Rooyen (31 March 1829 – 9 January 1886). He briefly attended the school at Hermannsburg before his family relocated to the Orange Free State. The name Louis runs throughout the family, with every generation since General Louis Botha having the eldest son named Louis. Botha had a younger brother Chris (1864-1902), who was a police officer and like Louis a military commander in the Second Boer War. Zulu conflict Louis Botha led "Dinuzulu's Volunteers", a group of Boers that had supported Dinuzulu against Zibhebhu i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
General (United Kingdom)
General (or full general to distinguish it from the lower general officer ranks) is the highest rank achievable by serving officers of the British Army. The rank can also be held by Royal Marines officers in tri-service posts, for example, General Sir Gordon Messenger the former Vice-Chief of the Defence Staff (United Kingdom), Vice-Chief of the Defence Staff. It ranks above Lieutenant-general (United Kingdom), lieutenant-general and, in the Army, is subordinate to the rank of Field marshal (United Kingdom), field marshal, which is now only awarded as an honorary rank. The rank of general has a NATO-code of OF-9, and is a four-star rank. It is equivalent to a Admiral (Royal Navy), full admiral in the Royal Navy or an air chief marshal in the Royal Air Force. Officers holding the ranks of lieutenant-general and Major-general (United Kingdom), major-general may be generically considered to be generals. Insignia A general's insignia is a crossed sword and baton. This appeared o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Annie Botha
Annie Botha ( Emmett; 3 July 1864 – 20 May 1937) was a South African civic leader and political hostess. She was the wife of Louis Botha, who served as the first Prime Minister of South Africa. She established an orphanage in South Africa and, with Georgiana Solomon, co-founded and chaired the South African Women's Federation. Biography Botha was born Annie Emmett on 3 July 1864 in Swellendam to John Cheere Emmett, a farmer, and his wife, Helen Laetitia Bland. She was raised in the Anglican faith and her family were members of the Church of the Province of Southern Africa. In 1869, her family moved to the Orange Free State and settled on a farm between Harrismith and Vrede. She was educated at St. Michael's School, an Anglican school in Bloemfontein run by the Community of St Michael and All Angels. Botha later taught at the school until she moved with her parents to Vryheid. While living in Vryheid, she met Louis Botha. They married at the Dutch Reformed Church in Vryheid ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dinuzulu
Dinuzulu kaCetshwayo (1868 – 18 October 1913, commonly misspelled Dinizulu) was the king of the Zulu nation from 20 May 1884 until his death in 1913. He succeeded his father Cetshwayo, who was the last king of the Zulus to be officially recognised as such by the British. Zululand had been broken up into thirteen smaller territories by the British government after the Anglo-Zulu War, and Cetshwayo, and subsequently Dinuzulu, administered one of them. The British later realized the futility of breaking up Zululand into the territories and restored Cetshwayo as paramount leader of the territories. However, they left one of Cetshwayo's relatives, Usibepu (Zibhebhu), alone with his lands intact. On 22 July 1883, Usibepu attacked Cetshwayo's new kraal in Ulundi, wounding the king and causing him to flee. Dinuzulu's volunteers To contest the succession, Dinuzulu first appealed to the British, but received no response. He then offered rewards of land to Boer farmers of the Vryheid a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dinuzulu's Volunteers
Dinuzulu's Volunteers (1884) were a militant group of farmers that fought for Dinuzulu kaCetshwayo, the king of the Zulu nation, led by Louis Botha. Cause of unrest After the Anglo-Zulu War, Britain divided Zululand up into 13 'chiefdoms', governed over by compliant chiefs. This did not last for long, however, and eventually the rightful heir Dinuzulu, son of the former king Cetshwayo kaMpande was reinstated. However, one chief, Zibhebhu kaMaphitha (also known as Usibepu), was left alone and allowed to keep his land. Formation of Dinuzulu's Volunteers Dinuzulu appealed to the British against this decision, but received no response, which led to the Boers from Utrecht and Vryheid Vryheid ( zu, IVryheid) is a coal mining and cattle ranching town in northern KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Vryheid is the Afrikaans word for "freedom". History After Boer farmers, who lived in the Vryheid area, had helped King Dinuzulu defeat his ... being called into Dinuzulu's Volunteers in ret ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chris Botha
Christiaan Botha (also Chris Botha and in English language literature mistakenly Christian Botha, 6 October 1864 – 29 October 1902) was a younger brother of Louis Botha (1862–1919) and likewise a Boer general in the Second Boer War (1899–1902) who then both fought the British to the end. Early years Chris and Louis Botha were among the fifteen children born to Louis Botha senior (Somerset East, Cape, 26 March 1827–Harrismith, Orange Free State, 5 July 1883) and Salomina Adriana van Rooyen (Somerset East, 31 March 1829–Harrismith, 9 January 1885). They were the first inhabitants of the Boer Nieuwe Republiek (or Vrijheid Republiek, 1884-1888), which was incorporated in the South African Republic in 1888. Chris Botha was to father one son and two daughters by his spouse Maria Elizabeth Rachel Johnstone. In 1898 Botha became head officer of the police in Swaziland (later Eswatini). Second Boer War (1899–1902) In the Second Boer War Christiaan Botha served the South African ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Orange Free State
The Orange Free State ( nl, Oranje Vrijstaat; af, Oranje-Vrystaat;) was an independent Boer sovereign republic under British suzerainty in Southern Africa during the second half of the 19th century, which ceased to exist after it was defeated and surrendered to the British Empire at the end of the Second Boer War in 1902. It is one of the three historical precursors to the present-day Free State province. Extending between the Orange and Vaal rivers, its borders were determined by the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in 1848 when the region was proclaimed as the Orange River Sovereignty, with a British Resident based in Bloemfontein. Bloemfontein and the southern parts of the Sovereignty had previously been settled by Griqua and by '' Trekboere'' from the Cape Colony. The ''Voortrekker'' Republic of Natalia, founded in 1837, administered the northern part of the territory through a ''landdrost'' based at Winburg. This northern area was later in federation wi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hermannsburg, KwaZulu-Natal
Hermannsburg is a small hamlet located in the Province of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. It is home to the Hermannsburg School (german: Deutsche Schule Hermannsburg). History Hermannsburg was established in 1854 as the first station of the Hermannsburg Missionary Society based in Hermannsburg, Germany. The Hermannsburg Missionary Society was founded on the initiative of Louis Harms, who served the Saints Peter and Paul Lutheran Congregation in Hermannsburg, Germany. Under his leadership, the missionaries originally planned to reach Ethiopia, but were forced to turn back when the Sultan of Zanzibar denied them permission to enter his dominions. They turned back and stopped over in Port Natal (Durban), where local Lutherans in New Germany under the leadership of Wilhelm Posselt encourage them to consider a mission to the Zulu people. The Hermannsburg missionaries accepted and started a mission in South Africa. They bought the farm Perseverance on the edge of Zululand near Greyt ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dominion
The term ''Dominion'' is used to refer to one of several self-governing nations of the British Empire. "Dominion status" was first accorded to Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Newfoundland, South Africa, and the Irish Free State at the 1926 Imperial Conference through the Balfour Declaration of 1926, recognising Great Britain and the Dominions as "autonomous within the British Empire, equal in status, in no way subordinate one to another in any aspect of their domestic or external affairs, though united by a common allegiance to the Crown and freely associated as members of the British Commonwealth of Nations". Their full legislative independence was subsequently confirmed in the 1931 Statute of Westminster. Later India, Pakistan, and Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) also became dominions, for short periods of time. With the dissolution of the British Empire after World War II and the formation of the Commonwealth of Nations, it was decided that the term ''Commonwealth country'' shou ... [...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] |
Battle Of Spion Kop
The Battle of Spioen Kop ( nl, Slag bij Spionkop; af, Slag van Spioenkop) was a military engagement between British forces and two Boer Republics, the South African Republic and the Orange Free State, during the campaign by the British to relieve the besieged city Ladysmith during the initial months of the Second Boer War. The battle was fought 23–24 January 1900 on the hilltop of Spioen Kop (1), about west-southwest of Ladysmith. It resulted in a Boer victory. Prelude Planning and crossing the Tugela General Sir Redvers Buller, VC, commander of the British forces in Natal, was attempting to relieve a British force besieged in Ladysmith. The Boers under General Louis Botha held the Tugela River against him. Although Botha's men were outnumbered, they were mostly equipped with modern Mauser rifles and up-to-date field guns, and had carefully entrenched their positions. In late December, 1899, Buller made a frontal assault on the Boer positions at the Battle of Colenso ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Battle Of Colenso
The Battle of Colenso was the third and final battle fought during the Black Week of the Second Boer War. It was fought between British and Boer forces from the independent South African Republic and Orange Free State in and around Colenso, Natal, South Africa on 15 December 1899. Inadequate preparation, lack of reconnaissance and uninspired leadership led to a British defeat. Background Shortly before the outbreak of the war, General Sir Redvers Buller was dispatched to South Africa at the head of an army corps, and appointed Commander-in-Chief of British Forces in South Africa. On arrival, he found British garrisons besieged on widely separated fronts, with limited communications between the fronts. Having detached forces under Generals Lord Methuen and Gatacre to the western and central fronts, Buller assumed command of his largest detachment and proposed to lead it to the relief of a besieged British force in Ladysmith, in Natal. On this front, the Boers had conducted ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Second Boer War
The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the South African Republic and the Orange Free State) over the Empire's influence in Southern Africa from 1899 to 1902. Following the discovery of gold deposits in the Boer republics, there was a large influx of "foreigners", mostly British from the Cape Colony. They were not permitted to have a vote, and were regarded as "unwelcome visitors", invaders, and they protested to the British authorities in the Cape. Negotiations failed and, in the opening stages of the war, the Boers launched successful attacks against British outposts before being pushed back by imperial reinforcements. Though the British swiftly occupied the Boer republics, numerous Boers refused to accept defeat and engaged in guerrilla warfare. Eventually, British scorched eart ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
