Hello,
my questions are based on the articles of the 2nd Boer war in
Military History May 2010
Clausewitz 2/2015 (german military magazine)
wikipedia
After reading the articles I find the following flaws of the Boer warriors:
They had no chief of staff. They saw that the british were building fences but nobody looked at the big picture and thought that the british would put all of Boer country behind fences and divide the country by fences.
The Boer made raids and sieges in the beginning but had no desire to conquer. Their soldiers were too individualistic and homebound. So the british had in the Cape colony a nearly safe base of operations.
So, what would have happened if these and other mistakes had been corrected?
Sending headhuntersquads after Milner, Kitchener and Rhodes and the british government in London?
Infiltrating Cape Town and burning it down.
Going for tu quoque. If the british do not care about Boer civilians, why should the Boers not respond in kind?
And now to the most controversial question:
(Yes, I know that the Boer were considered to be the god guys and they would loose it all including german support, but...)
Was Queen Victoria a legitimate military target?
Taking her hostage and forcing her to sign a paper accepting the independance of Boer territory.
Or killing her in revenge for the camps where the Boer women and children died.
What would be the reaction to such an attack even if it not succeeded?
Please remember that according to Military History page 32 Kitchener had given the "Take no prisoners" order.
And why did some of the Boer did not take revenge after 1902?
If my wife and children would have died in a camp I would have tried to get at Kitchener.
What do you think?
my questions are based on the articles of the 2nd Boer war in
Military History May 2010
Clausewitz 2/2015 (german military magazine)
wikipedia
After reading the articles I find the following flaws of the Boer warriors:
They had no chief of staff. They saw that the british were building fences but nobody looked at the big picture and thought that the british would put all of Boer country behind fences and divide the country by fences.
The Boer made raids and sieges in the beginning but had no desire to conquer. Their soldiers were too individualistic and homebound. So the british had in the Cape colony a nearly safe base of operations.
So, what would have happened if these and other mistakes had been corrected?
Sending headhuntersquads after Milner, Kitchener and Rhodes and the british government in London?
Infiltrating Cape Town and burning it down.
Going for tu quoque. If the british do not care about Boer civilians, why should the Boers not respond in kind?
And now to the most controversial question:
(Yes, I know that the Boer were considered to be the god guys and they would loose it all including german support, but...)
Was Queen Victoria a legitimate military target?
Taking her hostage and forcing her to sign a paper accepting the independance of Boer territory.
Or killing her in revenge for the camps where the Boer women and children died.
What would be the reaction to such an attack even if it not succeeded?
Please remember that according to Military History page 32 Kitchener had given the "Take no prisoners" order.
And why did some of the Boer did not take revenge after 1902?
If my wife and children would have died in a camp I would have tried to get at Kitchener.
What do you think?