Name and etymology
In 1853 the Volksraad adopted a resolution briefly adopting the name of the (South African Republic). The same year, the Volksraad renamed the state to the (South African Republic to the North of the Vaal River). In 1858, the constitution permanently established the name of the country as the . The ZAR was also commonly referred to as in reference to the area beyond (or " trans") the Vaal River, including by the British and European press. The British objected to the use of the name . After the end of the First Boer War, the ZAR came under British suzerainty and in the Pretoria Convention of 3 August 1881, the British insisted on the use of the name Transvaal State over . This convention was renegotiated in a subsequent treaty between Britain and the ZAR, the London Convention of 27 February 1884, where Britain acquiesced to the ZAR's demands to revert to the use of the previous name. The name of the South African Republic was of such political significance that on 1 September 1900, the British declared by special proclamation that the name of the country had been changed from to "the Transvaal". This proclamation was issued during the British occupation of the region in theHistory
Establishment
The South African Republic came into existence on 17 January 1852, when the British signed the Sand River Convention treaty with about 40,000British annexation
The unpopular presidency of Thomas F. Burgers came to a head with his campaign against the Bapedi under Sekhukhune. The Republic was close to bankruptcy and his siege of Sekhukhune's stronghold failed because commando members objected to Burgers's theology, calling him a heretic, and abandoned the siege in droves. Burgers, having failed to eliminate the threat of the Bapedi, resigned and left the country. A. N. Pelzer writes: "Although Sekhukhune made overtures for peace, he was not defeated and this fact, together with the shaky financial position, gave Sir Theophilus Shepstone the pretext he required to annex the republic Transvaal,_a_British_colony,_on_12_April_1877." Sir_ Transvaal,_a_British_colony,_on_12_April_1877." Sir_Garnet_Wolseley">Transvaal_Colony.html"_;"title="s_the_Transvaal_Colony">Transvaal,_a_British_colony,_on_12_April_1877." Sir_Garnet_Wolseley,_High_Commissioner_for_South_East_Africa,_declared_war_on_Sekhukhune. With_British_troops_and_allied_troops_(including_the_Swazis_who_had_supported_Burgers),_in_1879_Wolseley_defeated_Sekhukhune_and_imprisoned_him_in_Pretoria._With_the_Bapedi_threat_removed,_the_burghers_were_no_longer_so_amenable_to_British_rule. On_13_December_1880,_the_members_of_the_last__were_summoned_to_a_meeting_at_Krugersdorp.html" ;"title="Garnet_Wolseley.html" ;"title="Transvaal_Colony.html" ;"title="s the Transvaal Colony">Transvaal, a British colony, on 12 April 1877." Sir Garnet Wolseley">Transvaal_Colony.html" ;"title="s the Transvaal Colony">Transvaal, a British colony, on 12 April 1877." Sir Garnet Wolseley, High Commissioner for South East Africa, declared war on Sekhukhune. With British troops and allied troops (including the Swazis who had supported Burgers), in 1879 Wolseley defeated Sekhukhune and imprisoned him in Pretoria. With the Bapedi threat removed, the burghers were no longer so amenable to British rule. On 13 December 1880, the members of the last were summoned to a meeting at Krugersdorp">Paardekraal. The meeting placed authority in the hands of a triumvirate:Independence
The ZAR became fully independent on 27 February 1884, when the London Convention was signed. The country independently also entered into various agreements with other foreign countries after that date. On 3 November 1884 the country signed a postal convention with the government of the Cape Colony and later a similar convention with the Orange Free State. In November 1859, the independent Republics of Lijdenburg and Utrecht merged with the ZAR. On 9 May 1887, burghers from the territories ofCollapse and conquest
Constitution and laws
The constitution of the ZAR was legally interesting for its time. It contained provisions for the division between the political leadership and office bearers in government administration. The legal system consisted of higher and lower courts and had adopted a jury system. Laws were enforced by theDemographics
The State Almanac for 1897 states that the total white population was 245,397; with the total black population being 622,544.Religion
Initially, the state and church were not separated in the constitution; citizens of the ZAR had to be members of the Nederduitsch Hervormde Kerk, a denomination which had broken from the Dutch Reformed Church. In 1858, these clauses were altered in the constitution to allow for the to approve other Dutch Christian churches. The Dopper Church was approved by the in 1858, which had the effect of allowingCitizenship
Citizenship of the ZAR was legislated by the constitution as well as Law No 7 of 1882, as amended on 23 June 1890. Citizenship was gained by being born in the republic or by naturalisation. The voting age was 16 years. Persons not born in the republic could become citizens by taking the prescribed oath and procuring the letters of naturalisation. The oath involved abandoning, discarding and renouncing all allegiance and subjugation towards foreign sovereignties and in particular their previous citizenship. Under a law of 1855, only white people were permitted to be citizens of the ZAR and to own land. The constitution of the ZAR stated: "The ''volk'' (people) are not prepared to allow any equality of the non-white with the white inhabitants, either in the church or the state". The Witwatersrand gold rush led to an influx of Indians and Chinese into the new city of Johannesburg that was emerging on the ''veld'', which led the ''volksraad'' to pass Law Number 3, which was aimed at stopping Asian immigration into the Transvaal. Under Law Number 3, all Asians which were defined as "Coolies, Chinese etc, Arabs, Malays, and Mohammedan subjects of the Turkish dominion" were forbidden from owning fixed property, had to register with the local magistrate within 8 days of arriving, were restricted to living in certain neighborhoods and had to pay an entry free of £25. The Indian merchants, who were classified as "Arabs", objected to this law and appealed to the British government to protect their rights as British subjects. Following British diplomatic pressure, Law Number 3 was amended by the ''volksraad'' in 1887 to allow the "Asiatics" the right to own fixed property, though not land, and the entry fee was lowered to £3. Because the Indians in the ZAR had the British government to protect them, the anti-Asian laws in the ZAR tended to single out the Chinese, though the Hong Kong Chinese were like the Indians able to claim as British subjects certain exemptions from the anti-Chinese laws. To be eligible for citizenship, white foreigners had to have been residing in the Republic for a period of two years, be of good character and have been accepted as member of the Dutch Reformed or Reformed Church. On 20 September 1893 the ZAR Constitution was amended so that two-thirds of theMilitary
In common with the Orange Free State, the basis of the military of the ZAR was the ''kommando'' system under which all able-bodied ''burghers'' could be called up for military service under their own elected officers. The men of the ''kommandos'' wore no uniforms and had no medals. The basic officer was the field cornet who was elected by the local ''burghers'' and performed both military and administrative functions in his district. The field cornet was responsible for collecting taxes, performing the census, training the male ''burghers'', collecting arms and with upholding the power of the state over the local black population. The commander of the ZAR's military was the elected commandant-general who like the field cornets performed both military and political functions. The commandant-general was responsible for buying guns and ammunition, fixed the prices of commodities and most importantly controlled the ivory trade. The economy of the Transvaal was very much a barter economy, and ivory was one of the principal currencies used in trade and commence. The professional military of the ZAR was the ''Staatsartillerie'' (State Artillery), who in 1899 numbered 314 men. The ''Staatsartillerie'' was armed with the modern Krupp artillery guns imported from Germany, and whose second-in-command was the Austrian officer Captain Adolf Zboril, who did his best to bring up the ''Staatsartillerie'' to the level of a European army. The closest the ZAR had to a professional infantry and cavalry was the para-military ZARP (''Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek Politie''-Language
The language spoken and written by the citizens of the ZAR was a variant of Dutch, locally referred to as . On 3 October 1884, the stated that they had reason to believe that in certain schools impure Dutch (in fact an early form of Afrikaans) was being used. The issued Proclamation 207 and compelled the Superintendent of Education to apply the language law enforcing the exclusive use of Dutch. On 30 July 1888, Dutch language was declared the sole official language, in court as well as education, trade and general use. All other languages were declared "foreign". These changes to the ZAR laws made the use of all other foreign languages illegal in the ZAR. On 1 October 1895 Alfred Fernandez Harington was appointed English master at the Staats Model School in Pretoria. Use of any foreign language was subject to criminal penalty and fine of £20 (ZAR) for each offence. The British similarly had declared English to be the only language spoken in the Cape Colony some decades earlier to outlaw the Dutch language. The discovery of gold in 1885 led to a major influx of foreigners. By 1896, the language of government and citizens remained Dutch but in many market places, shops and homes the English language was spoken.Military history
War with Mapela and Makapaan, 1854
Hendrik Potgieter was elected at the assembly of 1849 as commandant general for life and it became necessary, to avoid strife, to appoint three commandants general all possessing equal powers. Commandant General Andries Pretorius became commandant general of the Potchefstroom and Rustenburg districts. On 16 December 1852, Andries died and his son, Piet Pretorius, was appointed as commandant general of the Lydenburg and Zoutpansberg districts in his stead. There were some disputes over cattle which Mapela was raising on behalf of Potgieter and earlier Commandant Scholtz had confiscated a large number of rifles and amounts of ammunition, rifle repair equipment and materials of war from the home of an English missionary, the Reverend Livingstone. Livingstone admitted to storing weaponry for the Secheli, a breach of the Sand River Convention, which prohibited providing arms or ammunition to the natives. In 1853, Herman Potgieter was called to Mapela to aid in a cull of the elephant population. Upon arrival, Maphela guided the Potgieter party, which included Herman, his son, his groom and a few other burghers to the purported location where the elephants were herding. Rather instead, Mapela led them unsuspecting Boers into an ambush where hundreds of native warriors attacked the Potgieter party, killing Andries, then proceeding to drag Herman up a hill, where he was skinned alive. They stopped once they had torn the entrails from his body. At the same time of these events, the Ndebele chief Magobane (known to the Boers as Makapaan) attacked and killed an entire convoy of women and children traveling to Pretoria. The two chiefs had concluded an agreement to murder all the Europeans in their respective districts and to keep the cattle that they were raising for the Europeans. General Piet Potgieter set out with 100 men from Zoutpansberg and Commandant General Pretorius left Pretoria with 200 men. After the commandos met up, they first attacked Magobane and the natives were driven back to their caves in the mountains where they lived before. The Boers held them at siege in their caves and eventually hundreds of women and children came out. Orphan children of the native tribes were booked in strictly controlled by legal process, at appointed Boer families to look after them until they came of age. The administration was similar to the system of indentured workers, which was simply another form of slavery, with the exception that children so registered had to be released at age 16. The commando would return all such children to the nearest landdrost district, for registration and allocation to a Boer family. As there were slavers and other criminals dealing in children, any burgher found in possession of an unregistered minor child was guilty of a criminal offence. These children were also often called "oorlams" in reference to being overly used to the Dutch culture, and in reference to a hand-raised orphan sheep, or "hanslam". These children, even after their 16th birthday, and being free to come and go as they please, rarely re-connected with their own culture and own language and except for surviving and being cared for in terms of food and shelter, were basically forcefully divorced from their native tribe forever. Among the casualties of this war was Commandant General Potgieter. The natives were armed with rifles and were good shots. The general was killed by a native sniper on the ridge of a trench and his body recovered by then commandant Paul Kruger whilst under heavy fire from the natives. What remained of the joint commando, now under command of General Pretorius focussed their attention on Mapela. By the time the commando had reached Mapela, the natives had fled. A few wagons, bloody clothes, chests and other goods were discovered at a kop near Mapela's town. Mapela and his soldiers escaped and with their rifles and ammunition intact and Mapela was only captured much later, in 1858.Civil War, 1861–1864
Commandant-General Stephanus Schoeman did not accept the proclamation of 20 September 1858, under which members of the Reformed Churches of South Africa would be entitled to citizenship of the ZAR. Consequently, Paul Kruger was not accepted as a citizen and disallowed from political intercourse. Acting President van Rensburg called a special meeting of the general council of the Dutch Reformed Church, which then voted in a special resolution to allow members of the Reformed Church access to the franchise.Sekhukune War, 1876
In 1876, a war between the ZAR and the Bapedi broke out over cattle theft and land encroachment. The declared war on the Pedi leader, Sekhukune, on 16 May 1876. The war only began in July 1876. The president of the ZAR, Burgers led an army of 2000 burghers and was joined by a strong force of Swazi warriors. The Swazis joined the war to aid Mampuru, who was ousted from his position of chieftain by Sekhukune. One of the early battles occurred at Botsabelo Mission Station on 13 July 1876, against Johannes Dinkwanyane, who was Sekhukune's brother. The Boer forces were led by Commandant Coetzee and accompanied by Swazi warriors. The Swazi warriors launched a surprise and successful attack while the Boers held back. Seeing this, the Swazis refused to hand over to the Boers any spoils from the battle, thereafter leaving and returning to Swaziland. Dinkwanyane's followers also surrendered after this campaign.First Boer War, 1880–1881
On 12 April 1877, the British issued the "Annexation of the S. A. Republic to the British Empire." In it, the British stated that the country was "unstable, ungovernable, bankrupt and facing civil war", though in reality they wished to annex it merely for its strategic position, using the skirmishes merely as a poor excuse to justify this. The unsuccessful annexation apparently would not suspend self-government, but nonetheless attempted to convert the ZAR into a colony of the British Empire. The ZAR recognised this proclamation as an act of aggression, and resisted. Instead of declaring war, the country decided to send a delegation to the United Kingdom and the United States, to protest. This did not have any effect, and the First Boer War formally broke out on 20 December 1880. The First Boer War was the first conflict since theMalaboch War, 1894
TheSecond Boer War, 1899–1902
The British first attacked the ZAR with the December 1895 Jameson Raid, which ended in failure. British forces started building up troops and resources at the borders, followed by a demand for voting rights for the ZAR's 60,000 foreign nationals—of whom 50,000 were British. Kruger rejected the British demand and called for the withdrawal of British troops from the ZAR's borders. When the British refused, Kruger declared war against Britain, Britain received assistance from its possessions Australia, and Canada, as well as Natal and the Cape Colony. TheMaritz Rebellion, 1914–1915
The Maritz rebellion was an armed insurrection which occurred inEconomy and transport
The discovery of gold during the Witwatersrand Gold Rush in 1886 changed the economic fortunes of the formerly impoverished ZAR. The city of Johannesburg was founded as a gold mining town in the same year. Within 10 years it grew into the largest city in Southern Africa, surpassing Cape Town. The discovery of gold allowed the construction of a railway network in the ZAR. The east–west railways in the ZAR, and notably the line from Pretoria to Lourenço Marques in Portuguese East Africa, were constructed by the Netherlands-South African Railway Company. The construction of the Pretoria-Lourenço Marques line allowed the ZAR access to harbour facilities not controlled by the British Empire, a key policy of Paul Kruger who deemed it vital to the country's long-term survival.Flag
The flag of the South African Republic featured three horizontal stripes of red, white and blue (mirroring theBooks and articles
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References
External links
* {{Authority control 19th century in South Africa 1856 establishments in South Africa 1902 disestablishments in South Africa Former republics States and territories established in 1852 States and territories disestablished in 1902 South Africa and the Commonwealth of Nations