Hemel Op Die Platteland: A South African TLTTALAIT.

[Damascius]

Office of the First Lord of the Treasury, January 28th 1885, London, British Empire.


William Gladstone threw down the telegram onto the desk and then ran his hand through his hair as he looked to his foreign and colonial secretaries. “Woe and bloody double woe! First Gordon and now Warren! Africa will be the end of me!”
The pair glanced between themselves before Granville, Earl Granville, the Foreign Minister cleared his throat.
“It may just be William. This whole morass in the Sudan has seen us entrenched and bogged down and now the Bechuana and their German backers have pushed us back in South Africa. What're we to do?”
“We hold on, God damnit.”
“And the Bechuana? The Germans? Another expedition won't be popular.”
“Give me some time to think Granville.”


There was a pause as Gladstone paced behind his desk before stopping and looking out the window onto the Thames. He could see people moving along on the opposite shore. Already the papers of note had started picking at him, the Little Englanders of his own constituency reminding him of Majuba Hill a mere four years before and the poor wisdom of the Grand Old Man for his imperial follies.


Gladstone's stewing was interrupted by Edward, the Earl of Derby, and Colonial Secretary.
“If I may, perhaps we should sit this one out. We have more pressing concerns in the immediate future. Parnell's Irish are agitating for Home Rule. Adventure in Africa is all well and good when we win, but we have problems closer to home.”


Granville looked at Edward for a moment, his eyebrow raising as he did so.
“We can't stand to be seen to be defeated in Africa, twice in a month.”
“We can't take our eyes off the most pressing concern of the day.”


Gladstone coughed and the other two looked to him.
“Edward, we have had this discussion before. Granville, I expect you to send a strong rebuke to Germany.”


Granville spoke.
“And what are we going to do? What about Stellaland?”
“We'll give the Boers what they crave.”
“Is that really wise?”
“We might be able to use them against the Germans.”
“More likely they'll leap into bed with one another against us.”
“We cross that bridge when we come to it. Perhaps they'll recall our magnanimity in defeat.”
“Perhaps.”
“Are you certain about rebuking the Bismarck? He is no friend of German colonialism.”
“I know, and hopefully he'll squelch them before they try and squeeze further East.”
“Perhaps we should divert some funds to backing the Nama.”
“A possibility Granville... One step at a time though. We don't want to provoke a European war now...”
“Mmm, and I am sure quite a few on the continent wouldn't mind twisting the dagger.”


Gladstone nodded and then sat at his desk, perturbed and perplexed. Granville and Derby left him after a short while and he remained there for several hours until the sun had set.


~


//The Bechuanaland Expedition and the death of Gordon at Khartoum fell within the same week. A PoD too good not to pass up!

 

[Bartholome de Fonte]

Gladstone not screaming for Imperial glory? What world is this?

 

[Damascius]

//Gladstone's/Granville's policy was restrained compared to that of old Dizzie. Don't worry, Rhodes will save the day with his muscular imperialism... but for now, a change of pace...

Nights of Infamy. The Stellaland Coup: Boers, Britons and Germans in Southern Africa in the Aftermath of the Eerste Vryheidsoorlog
Author(s): Roeloef Wessels
Department of History, University of the Free State
Source: Journal of Southern African War Studies, Vol. 18, No. 1 (Mar., 2000), pp. 42-45
Published by: Taylor & Francis, Ltd.
Accessed: 06/12/2013 10:00
Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use


Abstract:
In January 1885 after an initial token diplomatic resistance by President Paul Kruger of the South African Republic (or Transvaal Republic as it was known), the ill-fated Warren expedition had crossed the Modder into Bechuanaland and thence onto Stellaland to annex the young nation for the British Empire.


Warren was self assured and overly confident that there would be no barriers to his mission to meet with the local chiefs and conclude protection treaties that would emplace British hegemony over Southern Africa. Unknown to him at the time, an elaborate and risky mission was put into place by Kruger. He sent the relatively obscure Basotho War veteran Herculaas De La Rey, better known by his nickname Koos, and twenty other Boers on a daring incursion into the heart of the expeditionary camp.


Koos De La Rey and his men set the tents alight, sowed chaos in the ranks and according to his diary, assassinated Warren in the tent pitched right in the centre of the camp. Deprived of their leader in a key moment, and the misdirections employed by Koos and his men, the body of the British expeditionary corps fell into an extended confusion. Exploiting this combined male population of Rooigrond and Vryburg to fall upon the British forces.


At the time however, the misdirection employed of Bechuana raiders, backed by German arms lead to tensions in the Gladstone government as well as an accusation of German interference in the affairs of Britain. Stellaland was quietly annexed by the South African Republic the following month with the tacit agreement of the Granville Foreign Office in the face of a growing brush war along the border between the Cape Colony and German South West Africa using various regional tribes as proxies.


At the time, the Boers were regarded with a certain romantic air as Germanic blood brothers, and this combined with the initial affront of the British memorandum meant that the German public was quite incensed even as cooler heads prevailed in the Reichstag. The result of this brief, futile and nearly bloodless conflict between Britain and Germany was the Berlin Convention of 1885. It built on the previous London Convention of 1884, controversially removing the Boer territorial expansion clause from the text and giving the Hygap River as the Eastern Border of German South West Africa, providing they could enforce their claim within five years.


By the time the report of one of the few survivors, the 3rd Earl Lucan, George Bingham, had reached the authorities at Cape Town and on to London, the treaty had been signed and it was too late to do anything, except for Gladstone's already shaky government to collapse in spectacular fashion. The Boers played their hand further and taxed trade through the new province of Stellaland (which had crept southward until it bordered Griqualand West). The incoming government of Lord Salisbury lodged a formal protest, but the gambit had paid off in the immediate term.


~

 

[Legend-in-Exile]

Not wanting to sound overly critical (and I'm hardly an expert) but if Koos is Koos de la Rey, wasn't he against war with Britain? Rather vocally? He was also quite known for his chivalry, so having an enemy general summarily executed seems out of character (he had plenty of reasons to hate the British of course, but seems to have never acted so callously). So what caused the changes in him?

Anyway seems interesting

Also I like the translations of the Afrikaans. Especially;

“Dag sê, dag sê broeders, kan een van julle my vertel of hierdie pragtige stuk aarde Stellaland is?” This is Stellaland, Yes?

Made me chuckle anyway

Edit; just saw your post, and it answers the "Why is Koos starting a war with Britain" question, he was loyal to his government after all and even if he thought war against Britain was madness he would do his duty.

 

[Damascius]

//The Afrikaans was done for me by a friend, unfortunately we won't get it too often, he has a thesis to be writing. As for Koos being anti-war - yes he was. However he was also proud enough to be stung by Kruger calling him a coward!

In this timeline Kruger has taken the victory after Majuba Hill as a sign to take a more muscular approach in Boer policy towards the British. Majuba has been taken as more of a national moment in this timeline, than simply a moment for the Transvaal. Thus he is fighting a war that is undeclared for the time being, for the Afrikaner Volk. He has managed to convince De La Rey that the plan for God's people in their land requires an assertive policy. De La Rey had been mostly absent from the Eerste Vryheidsoorlog and Kruger is the sort of man who will move heaven and earth once he is set on a path in my reading.

I will change my posting by the way, since I currently write about 1 page A4 to a scene, but the screen on here is wider than that and it looks a bit diminutive. I will instead write a number of scenes and end each 'run' with a faux-academic article.

 

[Jonathan Edelstein]

This is going to give the Boers a bad case of victory disease, I fear. They've beaten the British Empire twice and escaped retaliation because they were too small and remote to matter, but if they attack Natal or try to expel the Uitlanders from the gold fields, it will be a very different story. And I'm guessing they will cause that kind of trouble, given that the victory in Stellaland will make Kruger more aggressive than IOTL.

 

[Damascius]

//Oh Jonathan. It's your lucky day. I think you might be right though. Still got to put all my pawns into position first!

Living Room, March 21st 1886, Cape Town, Cape Colony.


Cecil Rhodes paced across the brightly lit room and glanced to Jan Hofmeyr of the Afrikaner Bond. In one corner of the room sat his associate, Charles Rudd of De Beers, smoking a cheroot. Rhodes returned to the table where Hofmeyr stood and pointed to the newest map that lay spread out upon it. His fingernail dug into the Witwatersrand as he looked to Hofmeyr and Rudd turned on his chair, looking to the pair silently. Rhodes spoke, an exasperated tone in his voice.


“Gold! On Kruger's doorstep! To be such a man, to be so fortunate. The Cape Colony is already emptying of men and more will be coming by ship, to Cape Town and to Durban and it is to be exploited by that backwoods Boer. He's already wringing our necks on the road from Kimberley.”


Hofmeyr spoke in his characteristic understated fashion.
“Well they found the gold on a Sunday, perhaps it really is the promised land that God gave the Africanders. Still, I don't see much problem of it. The trekboere are heading out to the Transvaal and Free State though, that does concern me. The Berlin Convention has my voterbase shrinking by the day now.”


Rhodes looked to him a moment as Rudd serenely pulled on his cheroot.
“We can apply for a contract with Kruger. He would not be so unfair as to deny De Beers a hearing outright. We do pay our taxes. But you are right Jan, the Bond weakening as the poorer Africanders head north is his gain and our loss. We will have to accelerate our plans. That is why Mr. Rudd is here.”


Rudd looked to Rhodes a moment and then to Hofmeyr.
“Prime Minister Upington is quite unwell. If he is unopposed, he will resign sooner or later and someone like Sprigg will take the reins and we'll get more cautious frontier security policy when we should be pushing our frontiers into the hinterland. We want the Bond to call a vote of no-confidence in Upington soon. Once we have the Cape, De Beers will finance an expedition. It is apparently deemed too unpalatable for London to dirty it's hands, so it falls to Cape Colony and Natal to do so.”


Hofmeyr coughed a little. He was known as the Mole for his non-confrontational politics and Rhodes was asking him to go against every fibre of his being.
“What's in it for the Bond?”
“The gold of the Transvaal. We'll see you are very handsomely rewarded for your co-operation.”


Rhodes stared down Hofmeyr for a moment, who coughed into his sleeve before he spoke once more.
“I'll have to see.”


~~~
Kraal of the King, June 5th 1886, Ulundi, Zululand.


The Boer bowed in deference to seated Dinuzulu kaCetshwayo when he entered the Kraal. The wind gusted outside and made the acacia tree in the compound creak in the breeze. The guards looked warily on at the mercenary. The seventeen year old king regarded the man, who had lead the Boer mercenaries who had fought on his side in his war with Zibhebhu two years ago. Outside the women sung and the men danced in celebration of the Battle of Ghost Mountain that had seen Dinuzulu ascend the throne two years ago. Each spoke in English.


“Greetings oh King Dinuzulu kaCetshwayo, ruler of the Zulus.”
“Greetings Louis Botha, President of the Nieuwe Republiek.”


Both men smiled after a moment and Botha walked toward Dinuzulu, who stood and offered a hand. They shook one another's hands, each grasping firmly and smiling a little warily as they did so. Botha spoke after Dinuzulu released his grip.


“Good to see you young man. You look good as a King.”
“You still look like a mercenary.”
“Really?”
“You Africanders all dress the same regardless of your profession.”


The pair laughed, the older man nodding a little as he grinned.


“You are no doubt aware of the gold find in Transvaal.”
“Straight to business?”
“Time is pressing. I intend to ride to Pretoria after we speak.”
“And you will not stay and celebrate our victory?”
“I will celebrate, thanking God.”


Dinuzulu nodded a little, smiling and then returning to his throne, sitting upon it and then looking keenly to Botha.


“So, Transvaal gold.”
“The Nieuwe Republiek is having a little trouble financing our government now we have the prospect of the British seeking to assuage their wounded pride. We are thinking to move toward the Zuid African Republiek in the near future. Oom Paul will take us in. The British have had their appetite lessened by Stellaland, but we have heard rumours that Zululand is on their list of places to annex more thoroughly. I'd offer you real independence.”
“You're making two meals and serving them to me as one dish. Which one should I act on, mmm?”


Botha paused a little at the perceptive remark and then stroked his goatee a little uncomfortably for a moment.


“First I wanted to warn you. I only thought it was fair. Second, the gold. Kruger needs manpower, both miners and guards. He's uncomfortable with the numbers of British and other foreigners coming to the camps south of Pretoria. How would you see an alliance? Manpower, training, a portion of the proceeds. We can't lie down in the face of the British or they'll divide us and rule us.”


Dinuzulu nodded thoughtfully, mulling it over as he chewed the meat of this meal.


“And you will not try and claim the kingdom out from underneath me?”
“Your people will be working our land. We will help you defend yours, but the borders between the two nations will remain as they are.”
“They will not like this in Natal.”
“Friend, they do not like us in Natal already.”


Dinuzulu let out a belly laugh and slapped his knee.


“Alright. I will await your return with the news of Kruger's answer to your bold little proposition.”
“Remember Isandhlwana and Rorke's Drift.”
“I will, remind Paul Kruger of it.”
~


Imperialism's High Tide: South Africa, Rhodes and Kruger
Author(s): Goodwill Siwundhla
Faculty of Social Studies, University of Ulundi, KwaZulu
Source: The Journal of Modern History, Vol. 24, No. 2 (Jun, 1972), pp. 30-68.
Published by: Taylor & Francis, Ltd.
Accessed: 18/11/2013 10:00
Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use


… Rhodes had connived to bring down the Upington government via a vote of no-confidence, ousting Spriggs, who would have otherwise been Upington's successor. He immediately put into place a muscular imperialism, putting the money of the De Beers company into arming and funding a large force of primarily European stock. These mercenaries hailed from as far afield as Russia, Argentina and Australia. The explicit intention in Rhodes raising this force was to overthrow the Kruger government in the Transvaal. The machinations of the master colonial capitalist in his tireless thirst for subordinate peoples to enslave to Britain were never laid more transparent than at the drill field that still remains as a monument east of Cape Town.


The Boers, whilst managing to exploit the wealth the Witwatersrand gold fields represented, were not in a position to summon a similar force. However the radical proposition of liberally minded Louis Botha provided them with a previously untapped resource. Botha was the leader of the Nieuwe Republiek, a state that was absorbed into the Zuid African Republiek as a federal autonomous republic on the same grounds as the United States of Stellaland had been a year prior shortly after the conclusion of the treaty of Vryheid.


Said treaty publicly concerned the warming of relations between the Zuid African Republiek and Zululand and the employment of subjects of the Zulu king on the Witwatersrand gold fields. In secret documents, Zululand received the off casts of the Boer armed forces as they began a modernisation program. The ZAR provided arms, training and employment to the Zulus in exchange for their alliance in the event of war with the British Empire.


The role of the Boers in allying with the Zulus at this time was and still is extremely controversial. Paul Kruger's diaries indicate he had several weeks of agonies about Botha's proposition, but the stories of fighting alongside the Zulus and the pliability of the seventeen year old Dinuzulu apparently swayed him to overlook the Weenen and the betrayal of Retrief by Dingane some thirty years earlier. The Zulu factor would ultimately prove decisive in the years to come.

 

[Nassirisimo]

A Zulu-Boer alliance? This could become very interesting indeed. Though I suspect with increasing numbers of Zulu miners the position of the Uitlanders may become rather tricky, inflaming the British. Obviously after hearing Rhodes though, it doesn't seem that it matters one iota. I wonder how the alliance will prove "decisive" in the future.

 

[Legend-in-Exile]

//The Afrikaans was done for me by a friend, unfortunately we won't get it too often, he has a thesis to be writing. As for Koos being anti-war - yes he was. However he was also proud enough to be stung by Kruger calling him a coward!

I seem to recall that when he was called cowardly he (rightly as it turned out) retorted that he would remain fighting long after those who insulted him had fled.

I don't speak Afrikaans otherwise I'd offer to help. It's similar to Dutch but not enough that I could guarantee I was doing it right. It is fun to read though.

And the part I quoted made me laugh because Koos is being very florid in his question compared to what was translated
“Dag sê, dag sê broeders, kan een van julle my vertel of hierdie pragtige stuk aarde Stellaland is?” Good day Brothers, can one of you tell me whether this here beautiful bit of land is Stellaland?

 

[Jonathan Edelstein]

A Zulu-Boer alliance? This could become very interesting indeed.

They have a common enemy - and remember that Dinuzulu came to the throne with the aid of Boer mercenaries. I could imagine, also, that Kruger might decide that Zululand is more valuable as a dependent allied kingdom than a restive province, as long as the ZAR's access to the sea is guaranteed.

 

[Damascius]

And the part I quoted made me laugh because Koos is being very florid in his question compared to what was translated
“Dag sê, dag sê broeders, kan een van julle my vertel of hierdie pragtige stuk aarde Stellaland is?” Good day Brothers, can one of you tell me whether this here beautiful bit of land is Stellaland?

The notes in English are what I sent My friend obviously had some poetic license

 

[Julius Vogel]

Its a reasonably original POD too.

It seems rather unlikely that the British have much prospects here, the way things are shaping up. Their main advantage being that the Gold wealth hasn't had time to flow through so much, in terms of infrastructure, patronage and of course arms.

But will a short, sharp shock be enough for the Cape forces? I would have thought not, the Boers clearly have the stomach for a longer fight and its unlikely that's changed.

 

[Vnix]

The notes in English are what I sent My friend obviously had some poetic license

It's just funny to read since knowing Dutch allows us dutchmen and belgians to grasp what is said in general context. So we will pich up the differences. I only read the English bits if the Afrikaans bits are not clear to me.

 

[Bartholome de Fonte]

Boers and Zulu holding against the most dreadful British Imperialist in Africa... Something fitting about it. If naval access lasts perhaps the Portuguese try (and likely fail) to get a cut of the gold proceeds?

 

[TFSmith121]

Very interesting...

Are there any examples of the Boers allying with the African tribal states against the British, however?

I mean, both sides took pains to keep the 1st and 2nd wars as - largely - "white man's wars"...

This is a pretty significant reversal of decades of policy in southern Africa, on the part of both the British and the Boers.

And it is 1885. Not exactly a time with the color bar and racial superiority theory was being relaxed...

Best,

 

[Damascius]

Are there any examples of the Boers allying with the African tribal states against the British, however?

I mean, both sides took pains to keep the 1st and 2nd wars as - largely - "white man's wars"...

This is a pretty significant reversal of decades of policy in southern Africa, on the part of both the British and the Boers.

And it is 1885. Not exactly a time with the color bar and racial superiority theory was being relaxed...

Best,

I wrote a great portion of my dissertation on specifically how most popular history of the Boer War is a bunch of popularised propaganda BS for domestic consumption in the UK....

So I will merely comment thusly on the 'White Man's War'.

British reliance on Zulu scouts was dramatized in the defense of Fort Itala, a small fort on the borders of Zululand.

When the Boers attempted to penetrate the fort, the faithful scouts alerted the British commander, Major Chapman, who in turn sent 80 men to intercept the invaders. The British were badly outnumbered and defeat looked imminent. Kruger (1959: 447) recounts what occurred when it seemed that the end had come:
Chapman, wounded but unbowed, called together his Zulu scouts. His ammunition was also spent; he had lost over a quarter of his men and the remainder were utterly exhausted; he told the scouts to go before the Boers killed them all, but the Zulus chose to share their master's fate.

At this crucial point, the Boers launched another attack nearby at Fort Prospect. The fort was bombarded and it appeared inevitable that the British would be overpowered.

The Boers called on their enemy to surrender:
Surrender be damned! ... Thereupon the defenders, assisted by a machine-gun and a party of barefooted Zulu Police, drove off
the Boers with forty casualties to their own nine [Kruger, 1959:448].

Such employment of the Zulus in the Anglo-Boer War was know not only by local officials in South Africa, but by all levels of the British government. In a letter addressed to Colonial Secretary Joseph Chamberlain from Sir Alfred Milner (1900c), high commissioner in South Africa (1897-1905), Milner informed Chamberlain that he:

has called out native levies to support him in upholding the Queen's authority, and has armed a certain proportion of them, of whose trustworthiness he felt perfectly sure with rifles.

The reluctant recognition by the British of the necessity of using non-European troops was consistent with the realities of their situation. Once this fact was accepted, they were in much better position to prosecute the war.

There are further examples in the article of British use of Sotho, Xhosa and other groups.

The Boer reaction to this wholesale use of non-Europeans as combatants by the British was predictable, as the course of the protracted war started to go against them. Writing about the breach of the gentlemen's agreement, General C. R. deWet of the Orange Free State informed Kitchener:

In the last times [of late] with your Lordship's troops you are using armed Kaffirs, and Coloured persons, against my Bur-ghers, which comprise a great majority of your fighting men- against which and on behalf of my Republic I strongly protest, and request you as Commanding His Majesty's troops to remove all armed natives over the border [ P.R.O., 1901a.].

Kitchener's reaction implied that the Boers were the real culprits in the use of non-Europeans, and that the malicious charges were attempts at blackmail. Kitchener defended and recriminated:

I would point out to you that in numerous cases armed Natives have been found employed by the Burgher forces, particularly in the commando of General Beyers, and that armed Natives been found in the commandos have frequently fighting against us [P.R.O., 1901a].

Indeed, the record shows that the Boers also were pressed into the use of non-Europeans to support their own war effort. As early as October 31, 1899, an African had been caught spying for the Boers.

So it is not so out of the ordinary to see Africans working with the Boer or the Brit. To go outright and publically ally with them? Yes, this is not happening historically. Was there a possibility of it to happen? Yes, of course or I would not write it down.

Dinuzulu is a young man. He owes his throne partly to Boer military competencies. He has no love for the British, who have interfered in his nations business. The Boers beat the British back at Majuba Hill. They have resisted attempts to annex their Republics with a more muscular policy than historically and in line with that I can see Kruger taking Botha's personal vouching for Dinuzulu and forming an alliance on the sly.

In terms of alliances, it is a bit of a Lesotho situation but have you ever heard of 'Thaba Nchu' ? It was a land of the Seleka-Rolong annexed in 1884 by the Free State after several decades of being a friendly enclave in the lands of the Free State. Even then it was unwillingly done. Why? Well as in the notes above in my faux-academic articles and story, there is a good economic incentive to keep things as they are...

Economic considerations were probably the decisive factor in the continuing restraint of the Free State. Administration of new territory would cost money, and there is some evidence that Thaba Nchu's independence served the purposes of one segment of the Free State population nicely. We have already noted that in 1882-4 drought and disease had driven many people from Thaba Nchu to seek work on Free State farms. It seems that they had done so even in better times, for after his visit in 1874 the historian James Anthony Froudestated that the Free State maintained Thaba Nchu as 'a nursery for labourers '.5 This suggests that those Boers with farms large enough to need additional labour were being served adequately by the status quo of Thaba Nchu.

So, why did it not happen in history? Well historically Zululand was well under the British heel by the 2nd War. Dinuzulu was serving an exile on St. Helena after 1890. The Sotho peoples and the Boers had poor relations - you won't see Lesotho tossing away British protection treaties. Bechuanaland/Botswana will probably be a very different place in this timeline as it is now on hold in the Scramble for Africa that is occurring... (someone should start a list on that by the way. The Boers are going to be kicking out some serious ripples as time goes on )

 

[Julius Vogel]

Well it will be interesting to see what a wider war would look like so far as the colonial contributions go. Otl, NZ, Australian and Canadian contributions were marked as milestones in self governance and imperial patriotism. Ittl, if there is a need, then some of that will occur no doubt but the butterflies could be rather large.

Whether the colonies would be keen for prolonged military deployment during the Long Depression is another question!

You might also see butterflies with Australian federation, either speeding it jo, breaking it before it starts, or the oft used incorporation of NZ.

 

[TFSmith121]

Um, okay, but that's not even the level of the NNC, is it?

I wrote a great portion of my dissertation on specifically how most popular history of the Boer War is a bunch of popularised propaganda BS for domestic consumption in the UK....

So I will merely comment thusly on the 'White Man's War'.





So it is not so out of the ordinary to see Africans working with the Boer or the Brit. To go outright and publically ally with them? Yes, this is not happening historically. Was there a possibility of it to happen? Yes, of course or I would not write it down.

Dinuzulu is a young man. He owes his throne partly to Boer military competencies. He has no love for the British, who have interfered in his nations business. The Boers beat the British back at Majuba Hill. They have resisted attempts to annex their Republics with a more muscular policy than historically and in line with that I can see Kruger taking Botha's personal vouching for Dinuzulu and forming an alliance on the sly.

In terms of alliances, it is a bit of a Lesotho situation but have you ever heard of 'Thaba Nchu' ? It was a land of the Seleka-Rolong annexed in 1884 by the Free State after several decades of being a friendly enclave in the lands of the Free State. Even then it was unwillingly done. Why? Well as in the notes above in my faux-academic articles and story, there is a good economic incentive to keep things as they are...



So, why did it not happen in history? Well historically Zululand was well under the British heel by the 2nd War. The Sotho peoples and the Boers had poor relations - you won't see Lesotho tossing away British protection treaties. Bechuanaland/Botswana will probably be a very different place in this timeline as it is now on hold in the Scramble for Africa that is occurring... (someone should start a list on that by the way. The Boers are going to be kicking out some serious ripples as time goes on )

Okay, but that's not even the level of the Natal Native Contingent, is it?

Which was about as close as the British (not the Boers, of course) got to an "African" army officered by whites/europeans/etc. recruited in South Africa for use in South Africa.

We're not talking the Indian Army here.

Moreover, did the Boers ever recruit such forces?

Much less ally with the tribal peoples, against their fellow whites/ europeans/ etc.

Thanks

Best,

 

[Damascius]

Historically there is no evidence of a Boer officered army. There is no cause for there to be - the cards were played and the hand they were dealt didn't present that opportunity. What I am saying is, we are here for the what-ifs. The reshuffles of the deck. So I am creating a different situation. Who can say what happens in a different situation? Well as Author, I get word of god on that, but I'll try and be a plausible, logical god.

The Boers will maintain their military superiority with regards to equipment, and the Zulus will move toward a fusion of impi and commando tactics, as well as being expected to provide the bulk of any contingent in an attrition war with the British. The alliance will have it's high points and low points which will be explored by no means will the Zulu-Boer union be perfect. The Zulus have also allied with the Boers in their own wars before - After the Battle of Blood River, the Dingane-Retief treaty was found on Retief's bodily remains, providing a driving force for an overt alliance against Dingane between Prince Mpande and Pretorius.

Would Boers ever train and arm a bunch of Zulus?
Well, there is one historical incidence of such, though it is well out of this forum's purview. In 1994, it was discovered that the right-wing Afrikaner Volksfront lead by SADC General Constand Viljoen (no notes on whether he's related to Ben) and the AWB of Eugene Terreblanche had been training the paramilitary wing of the Zulu Inkatha of Mangosutho Buthalezi.

(you can see the proof of that from the horse's mouth here)

I had a look into the NNC by the way - possibly the worst equipped and lead force in the Anglo-Zulu war, they were misused by Lord Chelmsford and even the NNH were disarmed when they would have been useful. Paranoia about people who were arguably reasonably loyal (historically blacks who worked with the British were happy to work with them again and again - the Boers could do similar) was the squandering of a valuable resource by the British there. I am aware that both sides had their concerns about arming blacks - that is why the Boers went to Zululand rather than arm their own Africans. That's why they arm them only with obsolete weaponry (still better than the muskets they had been using however). The ZAR will never, for example, give gatling guns or artillery to their Zulu allies. They are to be cannonfodder, but they don't know that just yet.

 

[Damascius]

Ferreirasdorp, 17th June 1887, Zuid African Republiek.

The sun hung in the sky, fat and red over the tented city that had sprung up on the humble cutting in the dirt on Ignatius Ferreira's farm. The small group of men from the Volksraad and the Zulu kingdom rode their ponies along the main street of the rough and ready town, surveying the streets. Uitlanders were present in some numbers, though the majority of them were in Johannesburg to the immediate north. Already the streets were busy, Swazi miners from as afar as Gazaland moved towards the cut under the eyes of Boer and Zulu guards.

Suddenly from a ramshackle hut two whites were forcibly ejected by a Zulu bouncer. He looked to the group from the Volksraad, then pointed at the two on the ground who were obviously the worse for drink.

“Uitlander.”

This apparently was enough for him, as a Zulu brewer-woman peered out the hut and then cackled. Oom Paul stroked his beard and looked to the Sangoma whom Dinuzulu had sent to act as his liaison with the ZAR. She looked back to Kruger with a shrug and a half-smile. Voices all around them spoke in Fanagolo, the language that the miners had taken as their own and they paid little heed to the President and his entourage as they rode past the groaning, dirty white bodies that lay on the road and moved at a steady pace.

Up the road, a man stood on a platform, speaking and providing directions to newcomers, pointing out specific tents and naming them as hotels, banks and cafes. In the distance an elephants trumpet could be heard and the man clapped his hands and pointed to the west “Circus!”. They rode past him as they headed toward the home of the eponymous Colonel Ferreira.

Turffontein farm was now a sprawling compound, the proceeds of the diggings and some contact with the Premier of the Cape Colony the previous year having given Ferreira some wealth as the mine captain. Officially Ferreira was a man of independent means, but birds had spoken to Oom Paul about the visits in the night by Charles Rudd and Hans Sauer, both De Beers men. So the President had decided to pay Ferreira a visit. He dismounted his pony and handed it's reins to one of the Boers who had rode from Pretoria with him. Lindiwe dismounted alongside him and with several others they went up to the farmhouse.

Paul rapped his knuckles against the wood of the door to the farmstead from which the sounds of picks could still be heard. When the young Africander girl answered the door, he smiled to her and asked to see Colonel Ignatius. She ran indoors and the entourage stepped into the hallway, waiting to be seen. Ferreira came down the stairs with his usual swagger, until he saw that Kruger was in his hall. He paused as the blood drained from his face. Lindiwe chuckled softly as Paul spoke over her.

“Quite the town you have here Colonel. Or should I call you mine-kapiten?”
“I must admit, President Kruger for your presence here to be quite the surprise.”
“The government of the Zuid African Republiek does extend to it's own territory, Colonel Ferreira. I have been informed that you are making deals with De Beers. I have one hive of villains on my doorstep to your north. Rhodes has his fingers in plenty of pies around here. After all, we have been blessed by Here Vader with a beautiful land. I will not countenance it's wealth being stolen from us.”
“You come in here and say this to me and what proof do you have?”
“Our new understanding with the Zulus would recommend you act with more discretion in future... of course, I recommend you do not continue on this course because you will find you come up against very strong forces. Divinely backed ones. We must have our freedom.”
“You speak for God now, President Kruger? With all respect, I'm a little incredulous.”
“God has a plan for the Boers, and he has provided for us handsomely, but the machinations of the British and their financiers concern me. Consider this a warning Ignatius, as one Africander to another.”

Ferreira reached into his pocket and withdrew a white handkerchief which he brought across his brow, wiping the perspiration that had sprung up there.
“I see, Of course...”

Paul smiled calmly and reached into his pocket, pulling out a small bible and flicking it open and finding a passage.
“Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power, Ignatius.”
“Perhaps, you would like to come in, and stay the afternoon.”
“I think that would be quite nice. Might I introduce you properly to our liaison with the Zulu kingdom, and you can introduce me properly to that darling child. After all, we are all friends here no?”

Ignatius nodded a little nervously and took them through into the kitchen. The room filled rapidly with the entourage, as cool lemonade was served. Lindiwe sat opposite Ignatius who took her hand a little nervously and kissed it when Paul introduced them. She laughed softly and spoke in slow, careful Afrikaans.
“Your moustache tickles...”

Paul could see the discomfort the man was undergoing. He had undergone it himself some time ago, and having the non-Christian African woman insinuated into his business affairs had been very strange. But that had been nine months ago, and he was surprised by the way in which he found himself respecting the Sangoma. Her competent management of the Zulus and organisational skills were frankly phenomenal since she was illiterate as far as Paul knew. The girl turned out to be called Mariette and was one of Ferreira's childen.

...

After a long afternoon of faintly tense conversation, Paul and his men left and returned to their ponies. Lindiwe took hers too and but she left the group, riding off into the chaos of a town that apparently did not sleep to speak to the Zulus there.

~

Brickfields, 20th June 1887, Zuid African Republiek.

The police officer was called only after the body had been dumped in the street of the Brickfields township to the Southwest of Johannesburg. Police Corporal Alwyn Fourie responded along with his two deputies, Eugene Maritz and Nhlahla Nkosi. They found the body and rolled him over before Maritz wrote a description in his notepad.

“Nhlahla, you got anything from the people round here?”
“They say he was an uitlander. Other than that, nobody knows him.”

Fourie crouched and went through his pockets. There was no obvious cause as to why the man was dead, though he'd swollen from lying in the sun and burped when Fourie reached to open his jacket and pull out a folded paper. Unfolding it, Fourie murmured to Maritz as Nkosi watched.

“Credit note from De Beers. Papers with the letter head of a 'Gold Fields of South Africa Ltd'. Never heard of them... Rooinekke looking at him. Quite the beard. Well dressed.”

The paper was refolded and slipped into Fourie's pocket. He looked for some identification further, lifting the jacket off but finding nothing else there, he then checked the man's trousers.

“He's got dirt on his boots and trousers. A prospector perhaps?”
“Perhaps. Here, help me with his legs. Let's get him up on on the cart to the coroners office. He's already been moved once.”

Carefully they manhandled the dead weight of the body, all of the men grunting as they lifted him into the police wagon. As they did so, they bent the man's legs and something fell out the very bottom of his trouser pocket. Fourie spotted it and picked it up, inspecting it closely.
“What's this now...”

Fourie slowly twirled the thin cheroot, inspecting it before nodding to Nkosi and Maritz. The head of the corpse had lolled back, showing the ligature marks that bruised his throat.

“Let's go. Another dead uitlander. All they love is gold and killing each other over it. Strange they didn't take the credit note. Perhaps they were worried about trying to cash it and just took any money he had.”

~

Lindiwe Zulu
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

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Lindiwe Zulu (~1850 – 28 August 1923) was a controversial Zulu Sangoma who rose to prominence as the liaison of Dinuzulu KaCetshwayo to the Volksraad during the Kruger Presidency (Afrikaans: Oom Paul baie jare). Her precise role in this period is undefined, but the Kruger diaries imply she played the role of voice of the King amongst the Zulu mineworkers and guards. She also gained the grudging respect of many Boer leaders [who?] in the Transvaal through her adept administration of the Zulu people living in the Zuid African Republiek at the time.

Contents

• 1 Youth
• 2 Liaison Role
• 3 The Death of Charles Rudd
• 4 Physical appearance
• 5 Legacy and Controversy
• 6 See also
• 7 Notes
• 8 External links