The relationship between the Transvaal and the British deteriorated
In 1884, prospecting experts conducted a survey in the Transvaal Territory between Pretoria and the Vaal River. On a remote pasture, the world's largest Witwatersrand gold mine (Rand for short) was discovered. Johannesburg was subsequently founded on this gold mine. Profits and taxes from the gold mines enabled the Transvaal Republic's economy to develop rapidly, while also intensifying friction with Britain.
In 1890, the Transvaal government announced that foreigners settled in Johannesburg would have to pay full taxes, but would not enjoy the right to participate in presidential and legislative assembly (Volksraad) elections, except in the Transvaal. Have lived there for 14 years and become a naturalized citizen. In addition, all foreigners are prohibited from holding government offices and their children cannot attend government-funded schools. This law was protested by the British, because most of the foreigners in the Transvaal were British. The trade war and tariff barriers between the Transvaal and the British South African colonies, as well as the Transvaal's high taxes and economic restrictions on domestic British-owned mining companies, were the main reasons for the tense relationship between the Transvaal and the British in the late 19th century. Three main causes of deterioration. In 1895, Joseph Chamberlain became the British Colonial Secretary, and the mining magnate Cecil Rhodes became the Prime Minister of the British Cape Colony. On December 28 of that year, Rhodes' friend Dr. Jameson, a senior employee of the South African Mining Company, led 500 South African Company police and several machine guns in an attempt to expedition to the Transvaal and overthrow the Transvaal. The regime of Paul Kruger. On January 2, 1896, Jansen's armed forces were surrounded by the South African police force in Krugersdorp. Except for 134 people who were shot dead, the rest, including Jansen, were all captured. The Alien Reform Committee, which was preparing to launch a riot in Johannesburg, quickly launched an uprising, but was suppressed by the South African police. Jensen and his associates were handed over to the British and sentenced to 15 months in prison for "attempting a military expedition against a friendly power". The leaders of the Johannesburg "Alien Reform Committee" were sentenced to death by a Transvaal court. Later, under strong protest from the British, the sentence was commuted to 15 years in prison and each was fined 25,000 pounds.
After the Johnson Expedition, Kaiser Wilhelm II sent a famous telegram to Transvaal President Paul Kruger to express his congratulations. The telegram worsened Anglo-German relations and at the same time Britain was determined to resolve its dispute with the Transvaal by force.
In April 1899, Sir Alfred Milner, Prime Minister of the British Cape Colony, instructed British expatriates in the Transvaal to write a letter of grievance to Queen Victoria, requesting She protected the interests of British subjects. In June of that year, Milner and Kruger held their last negotiations in Bloemfontein on the issue of protecting the rights and interests of foreigners. While negotiating, the British seized the opportunity to dispatch troops from overseas to South Africa. In 1899, the Western world launched a movement to sympathize with and support the Boer Revolutionary War. The Netherlands and Belgium formed numerous civil society groups, solicited donations, published articles, established foundations, and donated wartime mobile hospitals and medical equipment to the Transvaal. Thousands of volunteers from the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, France, the United States, Russia, Ireland, Italy and Scandinavian countries crossed the ocean and came to the Transvaal, preparing to fight alongside the Boers.
In September 1899, Kruger told Milner that he could consider reducing the period of residence for foreigners to obtain Transvaal citizenship from 14 years to 5 years, but asked the United Kingdom to stop imposing restrictions on the Transvaal in the future. *** and the country put forward a request for suzerainty. Affected by domestic public opinion, the British Parliament said in its reply to Kruger: "... Her Majesty's Government considers that the response from the South African Government is negative or inconclusive... Her Majesty's Government reserves the right to comment on the current situation. The right to reconsider the situation and adopt appropriate final solutions."
In order to increase military pressure on the Transvaal, Britain dispatched two thousand men each from India and the Mediterranean to reinforce the Natal colony.
On October 9, 1899, the Transvaal government issued an ultimatum to Britain, requiring Britain to stop sending more troops to South Africa, withdraw all troops that arrived in South Africa after June 1, and submit all disputes to diplomatic arbitration within 48 hours. reply. On October 10, Chamberlain ordered Milner to reject South Africa's conditions. At five o'clock in the afternoon on October 11, 1899, the Federal Parliament of the Republic of Transvaal and the Republic of Orange Free State declared war on Britain, and the second Anglo-Boer War broke out.