TOPIC:

Hey there,

Frist of all I would like to quickly introduce myself.
My name is Justus and I´m from Germany. My great-grandfather
fought on the side of the boer and my grandfather used to
tell me a lot about the stories of his father.

Well, after all I got quite interessted in that topic and
I noticed that this war has many names.

My great-grandfahter simply called it the boer war but this
is an english expression. I read up several names as for
example: South African war, second war of Liberation or the
Anglo-Boer war. I think the last is most used expression.

Second war of Liberations sounds great but I think this term
would rather be used by Afrikaner where as South African war
would also be used by other ethical groups in South Africa. It
wasn´t only an Afrikaans English war at all. Or am I wrong?

Would love to hear your thoughts about that topic.

Kind Regards

Justus

Justus

I stand to be shot for mentioning the words "Politically Correct"....with that said I do believe the present name being used by many The South African War is preferred by the present SA Government.By using this title it covers all population groups...many blacks died in the war and their participation had until the 1990's, been largely overlooked.

I however and many others prefer Anglo Boer War, it was historically a war fought between Britian and her Empire against the Boer Republics.

BC

Welcome to the forum Justus!

It must have been wonderful to hear stories of the War from your great grandfather. Was he living in South Africa at the time or did he join one of the foreign corps?

You are right that there are many names for the War and that these are based on your perspective and country of origin.

I would imagine that the War has names in French, Dutch, Italian and Russian too as many nationalities supported the Boers. This is an area requiring more research.

With best wishes
David

Good Morning Everyone......

To throw my 2 cents into the discussion my way of describing the name is as follows.....

When talking to a non historian I call it The Anglo-Boer War.....

When talking to someone who knows the history I call it The South African or just The Boer War.....

It is like the old saying "The Winner Writes the History", like The American War of Independence, not the American Rebellion......

Mike