Drifts Crisis
The Drifts Crisis of 1895 was an
Escalation
In late 19th century South Africa, the landlocked
Once the Cape Colony had finished building a
The Drifts Crisis
The Cape Colony attempted to get around this by unloading goods at the border and hauling them by wagon the 50 miles (80 km) or so to Johannesburg. There was no road bridge over the Vaal River, which constituted the border; wagons had to make their way across by crossing fords, which in South Africa were known as 'drifts'.[1] The SAR responded by closing the drifts to all goods traffic. There was a great deal of anger toward this protectionism and exclusion, not only in the Cape Colony but also in the Orange Free State and among Afrikaners. The Afrikaner Bond supported the strong stand by the Rhodes government, urging action, even war, if the drifts were not reopened. Eventually, the SAR did relent, and the crisis passed. However, there were lingering clashes of interests.[2] Afrikaners outside the SAR wanted access to the markets of the Rand and to share in the wealth being generated by the gold mining; the SAR government wanted to preserve markets for its own farmers, build up manufacturing to help employ its landless white burghers, and make itself as free as possible from influence by the British.[2][3]
Jameson Raid
The British government demanded that Kruger open the drifts and used the situation to involve itself directly in
The
Aftermath
Rhodes was forced to resign as the prime minister of the Cape Colony, and the political problems between Afrikaans- and English-speaking colonists became worse than ever. The Orange Free State co-operated more closely with the Transvaal. Transvaal residents felt that they were being threatened and the Uitlanders were treated with more suspicion than ever before. Eventually this growing resentment accentuated itself into the Second Boer War.[2][5]
References
- ^ a b c d Mills, William G. "Origins of Afrikaner Nationalism". stmarys.ca. Archived from the original on 10 May 2005. Retrieved 12 September 2008.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Olson, James Stuart; Robert Shadle (1996). Historical Dictionary of the British Empire. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.
- ^ a b c d "The second Anglo-Boer War". sahistory.org.za. Retrieved 12 September 2008.
- ^ .
- ^ ISBN 0-297-78136-7.