The Conez Imperium wrote:Great Confederacy Of Commonwealth States wrote:...
You really have a high regard of your own opinion, don't you?
They did have an important role in African politics, especially in the South. By their action, the Boer war dragged on for three years longer than it should have, thus making possible a peace more favourable to the Boers.
I am aware that Kaiser Wilhelm sent a telegram to the "Boers" pledging his support but I am not aware that any significant help was sent. May I have a source for that please.
'De Boerenoorlog', by Martin Bossenbroek. I suggest you start there.
Wilhelm sent rifles, pistols, cannon, munitions and machine guns to help the Boers fight in the conflict. The German Mauser rifles were superior at range and had a greater rate of fire than the British rifles. Using them, in combination with machine guns, the Boers could lay down large amounts of lead to supress the British superior numbers when they began a frontal assault. The British formations could not close the distance with the Boers, preventing the Brits from engaging in their favourite close-by fighting. Boers, in turn, were great at fighting at range, and this meant the battles in the first months generally went to the Boers, all thanks to the Mauser and the Maxim. Only when lord Redvers Buller was replaced by lord Roberts as supreme commander did the Boers began to lose ground, and it took them another two years before they surrendered entirely. Had the Boers not had the Mauser, the war would have been over much sooner, and much less in favour of the guerilla forces that would later pop up.