The decline of Osman began with the Battle of Vienna. Do you know which war started the decline of the British Empire?

As we all know, the watershed of the Ottoman Turkish Empire across Asia, Europe and Africa was1the failure of the Ottoman Empire to besiege Vienna in September 683. This war not only successfully prevented the Ottoman Empire from entering Europe, but also was a watershed for the prosperity and decline of the Ottoman Empire.

So, do you know which war the rise and fall of the British Empire began? In fact, there really is a war, just like the Battle of Vienna in the Ottoman Empire, which is regarded as the beginning of the decline of the British Empire. This war is the little-known Boer war in southern Africa.

So, what kind of war was the Boer War? Why is there such a great magic that can stop the expansion of the powerful British empire at that time and make it flourish and decline?

The Boer War is a war between Britain and the descendants of Dutch immigrants, the Boers (now called Afrikaners), the Transvaal Republic and the Orange Free State for the territory and resources of South Africa. In fact, there were two Boer wars. The first time was a small-scale war between 1880, 12, 16, 188 13. Today we are going to talk about the second Boer War between1October 1899, 1 1, and May 1902.

This war is a war with the largest number of troops and the most tragic situation in the history of British imperial expansion. It was this Boer War that stopped the expansion of the British Empire, which not only humiliated the British Empire, but also suffered heavy losses in authority and strength. At the same time, it also strengthened the desire of emerging empires like Germany for their colonies, which indirectly led to the two subsequent world wars.

In Dutch, "Boer" means "farmer". Bohr refers to the descendants of the Dutch, the "sea coachman" in the southern African colony. 1652, the first Dutch came to the Cape of South Africa to establish a colony. After 100 years of expansion and development, Boer people have become the main ethnic group in the local area. However, the Boers do not have the strength to rule South Africa.

1795, the British landed in Cape, South Africa, and started fighting with the Boers in South Africa for more than 100 years. After years of conflict, the Boers feel that they are no match for the British, and it is best to take thirty-six measures. Boers began to migrate northward, and in 1852 and 1854, Transvaal and Orange were established respectively.

The Boers want to hide in these two places, which were originally backward in all colonies, and live a quiet life by farming, raising cattle and sheep. Because nothing grows here, Europeans don't want to come here at all However, in 1867, diamonds were discovered on the Orange River, and in 1896, the largest Rand gold mine in the world was discovered in Transvaal. In less than 20 years, these two discoveries suddenly made South Africa angry. At that time, old and new empires swarmed, and Transvaal and Orange became the first choice of thousands of adventurers.

However, how can the British Empire, which made its fortune by colonies, let go of the diamonds and gold here? Therefore, from the beginning, Britain wanted to monopolize this land with diamonds and gold. 1887, Britain sent troops to occupy Zulu territory, and the Boer sea passage was cut off. At the same time, it constantly encroaches on Transvaal and grabs resources with Boers, resulting in constant conflicts.

1895, the British government secretly ordered Governor Cape to send troops to annex Transvaal. However, just as nearly a thousand people were preparing to sneak attack, the Germans got this information and leaked it to Transvaal. However, the miserable Boers didn't even have an army, so they had to temporarily form a militia of 2000 people. But such a team, relying on favorable terrain, actually beat the British out of the water and surrendered.

How did the British Empire, which was in full swing at that time, tolerate such a thing? Then in 1896, the British Empire mobilized 450,000 troops from the mainland, Canada, Australia and New Zealand to launch a large-scale attack on the Boers. But at that time, all the people in Bourdelin and Orange added up to only 440,000, and all the young and middle-aged people went into battle, with less than 90,000 troops.

At this time, the western world expressed sympathy and solidarity with the situation of the Boers. Many non-governmental organizations have been established in the Netherlands and Belgium to collect donations, build public opinion and donate mobile hospitals and medical equipment during wartime. Thousands of volunteers from the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, France, the United States, Russia, Ireland, Italy and Scandinavia crossed the ocean to Transvaal, determined to fight side by side with the Boers. Therefore, the Boers are greatly encouraged. While everyone was worrying about the Boers in danger, the Boers relied on their heroic and tenacious spirit and flexible guerrilla tactics to deal with the British for two and a half years.

However, the cruelty of war is unimaginable. The Boers killed 22,000 British soldiers at the expense of killing 70% of the young people, spent 2 billion pounds on military spending, and finally negotiated a truce with the British Empire. Although Britain won the war, serious consequences gradually emerged.

The most important thing is that the reputation of the boss of the British Empire has disappeared. As the world leader of the British Empire, he spared no effort to grab diamonds and gold, which was demeaning and ugly and was despised and condemned by the national society. There is also a feeling that the fighting capacity of the British army, which has dominated the world for a hundred years, is so low that even the Boers with a population of only 440,000 are so difficult to fight, so people think that Britain can't. Therefore, Germany, which is eager to become the boss of Europe, is eager to move. What makes Britain complain even more is that in the two and a half years when they tried their best to fight the Boers, Germany, France and Russia, the three major European powers, were not idle at all, seizing the opportunity to seize the territory and expand their strength. As a result, the balance of power in Europe was gradually unbalanced, and the British imperial system was unsustainable, which also laid the groundwork for the subsequent World War I and even World War II.

In short, the Boer War, like the Battle of Vienna, was a watershed in Britain. It gradually lost its former glory and glory, slowly fell from the peak to the trough, and began a journey of decline.