The 150th Anniversary of the Orange Free State.

This date February 23 2004 marks the 150th (one hundred & fiftieth)anniversary of the founding of the Orange Free State. The Orange Free State was a former Boer Republic located in southern Africa which was established in 1854 by local Boers who were Voortrekkers who migrated from the eastern Cape during the 1830s & 40s & was officially recognized as an independent republic on February 23 1854 with the signing of the Bloemfontein Convention. Two years prior: the British also recognized the independence of the Transvaal Republic with the Sand River Convention.

The Orange Free State was called the "model republic" & was more politically stable than the Transvaal Republic (which was plagued by internal competing factions during the 1850s). The OFS was briefly under threat by Basothos during the 1860s.

During the build up to the second Anglo-Boer War in 1899: a debate raged in the Volksraad (people's parliament) of the Orange Free State concerning whether to assist their neighbouring Boer Republic: the Transvaal, also called the South African Republic. After much effort on the part of OFS President Marthinus Steyn to avoid a war with the British Empire, the Orange Free State decided to enter into military alliance with the Transvaal Republic in its imminent war with the British who were building up there forces on the Transvaal border much to the consternation of the Transvaalers. President Steyn was noted as stating: "I would rather lose the independence of the Free State with honour, than to keep it in dishonour and disloyalty." For the Orange Free State: entering the war on the side of the Transvaal was a matter of honour.

On October 11 1899 President Paul Kruger (of the Transvaal Republic)'s ultimatum to remove British troops on the Transvaal border expired & the war began. People from the The Orange Free State served along side their cousins from the Transvaal in an effort at repelling the British & maintaining their independence which they had for almost 50 years. The Boers employed the Commando system of fighting & scored early victors against the British due to their knowledge of the terrain & the effective Mauser rifles they acquired from Germany. The Boer Commandos of the republics fought under two common battle flags which were both amalgams of the flags of their respective republics. Boers from the (mainly eastern) Cape who fought on the side of their republican cousins were known as the Cape Rebels & those who were captured were severely punished by the British authorities.

While the Boer capitals of Pretoria (named after Andries Pretorious) (of the Transvaal) & Bloemfontein (of the Orange Free State) were captured by the British in 1900, a guerilla war ensued on the part of Boer Commandos. This led the British under Horatio Kitchener to pursue "scorched Earth" tactics in which Boer farms were burned & in which almost half of the Boer civilian population were rounded up into the infamous concentration camps in which at least 27 000 (twenty seven thousand) died as a result.

The Anglo-Boer War ended on May 31 1902 upon the signing of the Vereeninging peace treaty ending also the independence of both Boer Republics which were then subjugated under a new British created state known as South Africa. This is where the artificial state of South Africa originates. Not just from the British colonies of the Cape (which conquered Xhosaland & Pondoland) & Natal (which conquered Zululand on 1879) but also from conquering the Boers of the Boer Republics -where small groups of Venda & Pedi lived in the northern Transvaal & where some Tswana & Sotho (including the Barolong who were allied with the Boers during the 1830s) live as well.

The conquering of the Boer Republics left the Boers without self determination for the first time since before the Great Trek. The British incorporation of them into the artificial new state of South Africa linked them with the large Xhosa & Zulu nations of the Cape & Natal made them co-responsible for the British initiated segregationist laws (which were passed by British financier & Cape Premier Cecil Rhodes) in which Afrikaans nationalists (of whom most were of non Voortrekker /republican descent) (the Afrikaans Language Movement was started by a one S J Du Toit from the western Cape in 1880 at a time when the Boers were fighting for their independence in the Transvaal after British annexation) would later term Apartheid when campaigning to expand these existing segregationist laws during the 1930s.

Though the hagiography of the Boers & their struggles (mainly against Britain) were a potent force the Afrikaans nationalists used in rationalizing the implementation of expanding the British initiated segregationist laws. The defeat of the Boers inflamed an Afrikaans nationalism heretofore unseen & was opportunistically used by nationalists & ethnicists as a means of attempting to unite the White (nominally) Afrikaans speakers mainly against British then later Black domination.

While it is difficult to speculate as to how different things might be today for the Boers if the Orange Free State not been caught up in the war which engulfed the Transvaal Republic: a war which was ultimately responsible for the deaths of at least twenty seven thousand Boer civilians (the majority of whom were children under the age of sixteen) in the British created concentration camps -one can not help but wonder.

The Boers are & certainly have been one of the most beleaguered peoples in the history of the world. Their Dutch ancestors fought against Spanish rule in the Netherlands during the 1640s. Their French Calvinist / Huguenot ancestors fought against Catholic persecution in France during the 1500s & 1600s. The Boer nation came about spontaneously as the result of Dutch East India Company servants becoming free citizens in 1657.

This led to a distinct permanent local white community against the wishes of the Dutch East India Company. During the late 1600s these free citizens of mainly Dutch origin were joined by 200 French Huguenot refugees escaping religious persecution in France & by many German Protestants. Some intermarriage with imported Indian slaves during this time produced offspring which added to the rich multi national ethnic composition of the Boers which includes Scandinavian, Belgian & Scottish origins as well.

During the 1600s & 1700s the nascent Boer nation fought against Khoi (the aboriginal people of the Cape) raiders. The term "boer" was the Dutch word for "farmer" & became the term used to describe the emerging indigenous White Afrikaans speaking culture since most were semi nomadic migrating farmers or pastoralists. The Trek Boers later encountered frontier & border wars with the Xhosa (a Bantu group of Nguni origin migrating westwards) shortly after first encountering them in around 1775. A full one hundred & twenty years after the first arrival of the Dutch ancestors & just under one hundred years from the arrival of their French Calvinist ancestors.

The Trek Boers (semi nomadic migrating farmers) fought against Dutch rule at Swellendam & Graff-Reinet in 1795. Some Boers resisted British encroachments at Slagters Nek in 1815 only to end up executed. About ten thousand Boers -known as Voortrekkers- trekked from the Cape into the interior from 1836 until 1843 in order to escape continuous borer wars & British colonialism. The erroneous contention that the abolition of slavery played a part in the Trek is mooted when considering that most Trek Boers did not own slaves unlike their more affluent western Cape cousins who did not participate in the Great Trek. The Cape Dutch derided the series of mass migrations later known as the Great Trek.

Some Voortrekkers were attacked by expanding tribes & some Boers were allied with other tribes such as the Barolong & the Griqua. Piet Retief & his contingent initially acquired a land treaty from Dingaan: the Zulu King only to be double crossed & killed along with half of his followers. Other Voortrekker leaders were killed such as Hans Van Rensburg & Gerhard Maritz or died of malaria such as Hendrik Potgieter. The Natalia Republic established in 1839 was annexed by Britain in 1843 precipitating another trek of most of the local Boers into the Transvaal & Transorangia.

The Transvaal was recognized as an independent Boer Republic with the Sand River Convention in 1852. The Orange Free State was recognized as an independent Boer Republic with the Bloemfontein Convention in 1854. Wars with the Basotho in the 1860s threaten the stability of the Orange Free State. Financial bankruptcy threatens the stability of the Transvaal Republic. The Transvaal Republic is annexed by Britain in 1877.

The first Anglo-Boer War erupts in 1880 in resistance to British annexation concluding in a victory for the Boers at Majuba Hill. The Transvaal regains its independence in 1881 with the signing of the Pretoria Convention. Full independence is restored in 1884 with the London Convention. Gold discovered in 1886 leads to an influx of mainly English speaking outlanders.

The second Anglo-Boer War erupts in 1899 concluding in the subjugation of the Boers & the annexation of their republics in 1902. Some Boer War era Generals stage a rebellion in opposition to the pro British South African government in 1914 attempting to restore the erstwhile Boer Republics. The rebellion is put down & its leaders are jailed or executed.

The Boers are recognized by many Africans as a tribe & were a semi-nomadic cattle owning people. The BBC has called the Boers the White Tribe of Africa.

Attempts at eradicating the identity of the Boers was attempted with the label Afrikaner which lumps them in with their Cape Dutch cousins. The descendents of the Boers are instrumental in turning South Africa into a republic in 1961 after a close referendum in which 51 % of the electorate voted in favour of adopting a republic.

During recent times Boer farmers have been under increasing attacks & more than 1 500 (one thousand five hundred) have been killed since 1994. The Boer farmer has been reported as the most at risk group for murder in the whole world. An average of 3 Boer farmers are killed each week.

The Orange Free State was named after the Orange River. The Orange River was named after the House of Orange. Part of the Orange River divides the Cape from the Free State aka Orange Free State. The Afikaans dialect spoken by the Griquas (part Boer & Khoi) is called Orange River Afrikaans after the Orange River where they trekked to founding a minimal state known as Griqualand in 1810. The dialect spoken by the Voortrekkers & Trek Boers was called Eastern Border Afrikaans due to their location in the eastern Cape & thus the eastern frontier.

Hi folks. I uploaded a web page which deals with the French Huguenot character of many South Africans & Boers. I compiled a list of some famous & prominent South Africans & Boers who have French surnames & even some first names.

Famous South Africans With French Names.

Famous Boers With French Names.

The Names of the French Huguenot Ancestors.

The third link is a list I found in a French book written in France but available in Quebec which lists a number -though apparently not all- of the French Huguenot ancestors who left France due to religious persecution & arrived in the Cape during the late 1600s & early 1700s.

I am also working on posting information on a few nations.

Nations.

The site is still a work in progress. I am hoping on having a page dealing with the Boer Republics up soon.

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