Opposition to the Second Boer War
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Opposition to the Second Boer War in Britain was quite small when the war began on 11 October 1899. However, influential groups were formed to protest the war including the Stop the War Committee.
These groups succeeded in increasing popular support for an early end to the campaign. Furthermore, as the war started to drag on and it became clear that it would not easily be won, support began to wane. This contributed to the defeat of the British Conservative government in 1906.
The tactics used in the war by the British army caused a large backlash. There was much public outrage at the use of scorched earth tactics such as the burning of Boer homesteads, and over the conditions in the concentration camps. It also became apparent that there were serious problems with the health of the British soldiers, with up to 40% of recruits unfit for military service. Most were suffering from poverty-related illnesses such as rickets. Concern over the health of the recruits coincided with increasing concern for the general state of the poor in Britain.
In England William Thomas Stead set up the Stop the War Committee in 1899. The group featured prominent figures of the day and campaigned against the war.
Opposition to the war was strongest amongst the Irish. Many Irish nationalists sympathised with the Boers as a people supposedly oppressed by British imperialism, much like themselves. Though there were many Irish troops fighting for the British army, some Irish fought on the side of the Boers. Irish miners already in the Transvaal at the start of the war formed the nucleus of two Irish commandos, and small groups of Irish volunteers went to South Africa to fight with the Boers.
The existence of anti-war sentiment contributed to the perceptions of British actions after the war. There was much public revulsion in the UK against the use of Chinese labour, known as Coolies, after the war by the governor of the new crown colonies, Lord Milner. Workers were often kept in appalling conditions, received only a small wage and were forbidden to socialise with the local population. Some believe the Chinese slavery issue can be seen as the climax of public antipathy towards the war.
References
- [Biography of W.T. Stead], W.T. Stead and his "Books for the Bairns", Sally Wood-Lamont, Salvia Books, Edinburgh, 1987
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