THE AFRIKANER REBELLION 1914
Dr David Brock Katz, research fellow, Faculty of Military Science, Stellenbosch University I
Thursday 29–Friday 30 January 11.15 am COURSE FEES R230; Staff and students R115
The Anglo-Boer War left South Africa bitterly divided. Afrikaners had lost lives, land and their republics. Though the 1902 Treaty of Vereeniging ended hostilities, resentment endured. Alfred Milner’s anglicisation policies (1902–1905) deepened tensions, though his exit and the 1906 granting of responsible government offered brief relief. The 1910 Union of South Africa, led by Louis Botha, was a fragile political compromise. Economic hardship plagued Afrikaners, nationalism surged under JBM Hertzog, and Botha and Smuts’s harsh handling of the 1913–1914 labour unrest stoked anger. When South Africa invaded German South West Africa (GSWA) in 1914, rebellion became a flashpoint for long-festering grievances. The first lecture explores the rebellion’s roots.
Britain’s entry into World War I in August 1914 compelled South Africa to follow. Jan Smuts, eyeing territorial gains, launched an invasion of GSWA under the guise of neutralising German radio posts. Afrikaner nationalists saw an opportunity to restore their lost republics. Discontent coalesced around figures like Koos de la Rey, Christiaan Beyers, Jan Kemp, Christiaan de Wet and Manie Maritz. De la Rey’s accidental death caused temporary hesitation, but with South African boots on GSWA soil, rebellion ignited. Even a hesitant Beyers took up arms. Botha led loyalist forces from Pretoria, using railways, mounted troops and early motor vehicles for rapid mobility. His use of Boer-style manoeuvre warfare and strategic amnesty offers broke rebel cohesion. Within two months, the uprising was suppressed. The second lecture examines how the South African government defeated the Afrikaner Rebellion.
Lecture titles
- The Afrikaner Rebellion 1914: the build-up to rebellion
- The Afrikaner Rebellion 1914: defeating the rebellion
Recommended reading
Anonymous. 2004. The Union of South Africa and the Great War 1914–1918 Official History. Nashville: The Battery Press.
Katz, DB. 2021. Sandfontein: An Operational Re-examination of the Battle, Contextualised within General
J.C. Smuts’ First Phase of the German South West African Campaign 1914. Journal of African Military History, 5(2), pp. 77–120.
Katz, DB. 2022. General Jan Smuts and his First World War in Africa 1914–1917. Johannesburg: Jonathan Ball Publishers.
Reitz, D. 2012. Trekking on: In the Company of Brave Men. Edinburgh: The House of Emslie.
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