Britain expected a quick colonial skirmish when war broke out with the Boer repu

Featured Event 1899 Event

Boer War Begins: Britain Clashes With South Africa

Britain expected a quick colonial skirmish when war broke out with the Boer republics on October 11, 1899. Instead, Afrikaner commandos using guerrilla tactics and modern Mauser rifles humiliated the British army for months. British forces eventually deployed 450,000 troops against 88,000 Boers. To deny guerrillas support, Lord Kitchener implemented scorched-earth tactics, burning Boer farms and interning civilians in concentration camps where roughly 28,000 Boer women and children died of disease and malnutrition, along with at least 20,000 Black Africans held in separate camps. The war cost Britain 22,000 dead and shattered the myth of imperial invincibility. Emily Hobhouse's reports from the camps caused a scandal in Britain and introduced the term 'concentration camp' to the English language.

Talk About This Event

October 11, 1899

127 years ago

What Else Happened on October 11

1138 Event

The 1138 Aleppo earthquake hit on October 11th with enough force to collapse the city's citadel — a fortress that had stood for centuries. Chroniclers wrote tha…

1138 Event

The earth violently fractured beneath Aleppo, leveling the city’s citadel and crushing thousands of residents in one of history’s deadliest seismic events. This…

1142 Event

The Jin Dynasty and Song Dynasty had been fighting for decades over northern China. The 1142 treaty froze the border along the Huai River. Song agreed to pay Ji…

1142 Event

The Jin and Song dynasties had been at war for fifteen years. The treaty signed in 1142 gave Jin control of all of northern China. The Song paid annual tribute …

1311 Event

English barons and clergy forced King Edward II to accept the Ordinances of 1311, stripping him of his power to appoint ministers or declare war without parliam…

1531 Event

Huldrych Zwingli died in 1531 with a sword in his hand. He was a Protestant reformer, a theologian, a preacher — and he marched with Zurich's army as a chaplain…

View all events on October 11 →

Talk to History

Have a conversation with historical figures who witnessed this era. Ask questions, explore perspectives, and bring history to life.

Start Talking

← Back to October 11

Boer War Begins: Britain Clashes With South Africa

Key Figures & Places

What Else Happened on October 11

Talk to History