a
reference to the Boer
War (1899-1902), in which Great Britain defeated the Boer republics of Transvaal (then called the
South African
Republic) and
Orange Free
State in
South Africa. (Boers are
South African people whose ancestors were
Dutch colonists.) The
war was caused mainly by
ill will and a struggle for supremacy between the Boers and foreigners (mostly British) called "Uitlanders." The Boers finally surrendered to the British forces in 1902, and the two defeated republics became British
colonies. They both regained
self-
government, however, a few years later.