The Anglo-Boer War of 1899-1902 was thebiggest, bloodiest, most expensive and most disastrous war involving people of European descent, from the Napoleonic wars, until World War I.
It was called "primarily a geological war," in which the pursuit of the mineral wealth of the Transvaal and Free State Republics caused the greatest empire in the history of the world, to engage two of the youngest and smallest republics in the world in full-scale war. The war broke out in October 1899 and in England it was expected to be over by Christmas of that same year. Instead it became a war of annihilation which would drag on for almost three years, during which time the British Empire suffered severely embarassing losses and setbacks. Peace finally brought victory but no honour. Much has been written about the war, but owing to a language barrier, the Boer perspective is sometimes overshadowed. This website presents the other half of the story.
