The Memories and Mythologies of South Africa’s Great War
Date
2009-06
Authors
Nasson, Bill
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
AOSIS OpenJournals
Abstract
For those who start them, wars are almost
always an illusion, in the sense that the
conflict with which they end up is rarely
the contest which they had imagined at
the beginning. In forcing war upon South
Africa’s Boer Republics in 1899, Britain’s
War Office envisaged a short little colonial
war, easy on the purse and light on casualties.
Instead, in its bid to crush settler
republicanism and thereby complete the
imperial conquest of southern Africa,
London got rather more than it had
bargained for. The British found themselves
lumbered with a draining, costly
and controversial military campaign
which did them little credit. Likewise, the
Boers, too, discovered that they had
bitten off more than they could chew.
Running down to the wire, they had to
wage a desperate and tormented ‘people’s
war’ for existence.
Description
The original publication is available at http://www.sajs.co.za/
Keywords
South Africa, Great War, War, Boer War, Concentration camps, Mourning Becomes, Liz Stanley, Book review
Citation
Nasson, B. 2009. The Memories and Mythologies of South Africa’s Great War. South African Journal of Science, 105, 171.