King Edward VII Announces the End of the Boer War Immediately Upon Receiving Word of the Peace Treaty

Edward expresses his personal feelings; he is “overjoyed” that the costly, divisive, and damaging war is over

The Boers were the descendants of Dutch settlers who had migrated to South Africa in the 18th century when the Dutch East India Company controlled the area. But in the early 19th century the British moved in, starting a series of conflicts between them and the Boers that lasted over a century. In 1877 the British tried to annex Boer lands, but they were decisively defeated and forced to recognize Boer sovereignty in the republics of Transvaal and Orange Free State. Then in 1886 gold was discovered in the Transvaal, which whetted the British appetite for annexation and heightened Boer fears of just such an annexation. The attitudes of the British High Commissioner for South Africa and the British Colonial Secretary became aggressive, and in 1899 matters came to a crisis when Transvaal, under President Paul Kruger, refused to grant political rights to the primarily English population of the mining areas of the Witwatersrand. The Second Boer War began on October 11, 1899, following a Boer ultimatum directed against the reinforcement of the British garrison in obvious anticipation of military action.

The Second Boer War was the largest and most costly war in which the British engaged between the Napoleonic Wars and World War I, though it was fought between wholly unequal protagonists. The total British and Commonwealth military strength in South Africa reached nearly 500,000, all trained military men, whereas the Boers were farmers who could muster no more than about 88,000 untrained part-time soldiers. But the British were fighting in a hostile country over difficult terrain, with long lines of communications, while the Boers, armed by the Germans and mainly on the defensive, were able to develop effective tactics. Initially the British were unprepared and militarily weak. In 1889 Boer armies attacked on two fronts, defeated the British in a number of major engagements, and besieged the key towns of Ladysmith, Mafeking, and Kimberley. Then the British relieved the besieged towns, beat the Boer armies in the field, and rapidly advanced up the lines of rail transportation. But just as the war seemed to be going the British way, at the end of 1900 Boer commandos using guerrilla tactics started harrying British army bases and communications; large rural areas of the Transvaal and the Orange Free State (which the British had supposedly annexed) remained out of British control. The war began progressing poorly for the huge, well-trained and well-armed British, and they unexpectedly found themselves forced to fight on with no end in sight. With the Boers engaged in guerrilla warfare and the fighters melting back into the population, the British lashed back, burning Boer’s farms and worse, herding Boer women, children and men unfit for service, as well as blacks working with them, into concentration camps.

In Britain, public support waned as it became apparent that the war would not be easy, and unease developed following reports about the treatment of the Boer civilians by the British Army. Public and political opposition to government policies in South Africa was first expressed in Parliament in February 1901 in the form of an attack on the policy, the government, and the Army by the future prime minister, David Lloyd George. Henry Campbell-Bannerman, another future prime minister, took up the assault and answered the rhetorical “When is a war not a war?” with “When it is carried on by methods of barbarism in South Africa.” In foreign nations the Boer cause was very popular, and anti-British demonstrations took place throughout Europe.  In the United States, interest in the conflict was keen and largely pro-Boer and anti-British. William Jennings Bryan, Andrew Carnegie, and many other Americans publicly proclaimed their feelings, with Mark Twain saying, “I think that England sinned when she got herself into a war in South Africa which she could have avoided.” Thus, the Boer War was giving the British a very visible black eye, at home and abroad.

It was not until 1902 that the world’s most powerful military managed to exhaust the Boer’s into submission. On May 31, 1902, the two sides signed the Treaty of Vereeniging, under which the British promised limited autonomy for the Boer states of Transvaal and Orange Free State. By the time the war was over, in excess of 60,000 people died. The British lost almost 30,000 fighting men, while Boer forces lost some 5,000. More than 20,000 Boer civilians died in the concentration camps; how many blacks suffered the same fate is unknown.

Amidst this, on January 22, 1901, Queen Victoria died and her son succeeded her as King Edward VII. Under the British system of constitutional monarchy, the monarch cannot publicly express opinions about the policies of the government, and this forbearance included the Boer War as all else. Many have wondered how Edward really felt about the war. Here we find the answer.

Prince George, Duke of Cambridge was a grandson of King George III, cousin of Queen Victoria, and great-uncle of King Edward VII. An army officer by profession, he served as Commander-in-Chief of the British Army from 1856 to 1895. He remained deeply interested in military matters for the rest of his life.

The peace treaty was signed on May 31, 1902, shortly before midnight. The King was notified early in the morning on June 1. He immediately wrote to his great-uncle, who had led British armed forces for so many years, including in South Africa. This is that very letter. Autograph letter signed, on his Buckingham Palace letterhead with its monogramed crown, 3 pages, London, June 1, 1902, to the Duke of Cambridge, announcing the end of the Boer War that had caused so much loss and grief. “You will I know be pleased to hear that the document containing terms of peace was signed at Pretoria yesterday at 10:30 by all the Boer representatives as well as by Lords Milner and Kitchener – this is indeed a matter of great congratulation throughout the country & I am greatly overjoyed. I do not know yet when the announcement is to be made public so perhaps you will kindly keep the news for yourself! Believe me, I am affectionate nephew and cousin, Edward R.”