No Discovery of Gold and Diamonds in the Boer Republics of South Africa in the 1800s?

Simply put, if gold and diamonds hadn't been discovered in the 1800s, what impact would that have had on the Orange Free State and Transvaal? Would the British still have fought two wars to exert authority over them if the mineral discovery had been delayed until the 1900s? Would the two countries have floundered as agrarian republics without mineral wealth? How would discovery of the gold and diamonds have in the 1900s have gone over-say discovery doesn't occur until sometime during or immediately after an alt-World War One in the 1910s? What about potential European immigration to the South African Republics after such a war following the discovery of the gold and diamonds?
 
I honestly think the British would have still fought over them if only to gain more land. After that if the wealth hadn't been discovered they probably would have left them alone. More likely to keep them independent than to absorb what would be assumed a messy hotbed of Boer resistance for zero economic gain. Now that opinion might and no doubt will change after its discovery.

To be honest I've always thought that without the wars that eventually the various Boers Republiks would have banded together into a creating a much larger South African Republic (ZAR) in order to keep the greater powers at bay. Immigration? Even with the demand for labor, I don't think the Boers would ever appreciate that or desire at all, unless it was of course more Afrikaners.
 
To be honest I've always thought that without the wars that eventually the various Boers Republiks would have banded together into a creating a much larger South African Republic (ZAR) in order to keep the greater powers at bay. Immigration? Even with the demand for labor, I don't think the Boers would ever appreciate that or desire at all, unless it was of course more Afrikaners.

Immigration wise I figured that if Germany were defeated in WWI and then gold were discovered, we might seem some German immigration to the Boer republics who could see it as a better option than British?
 
Immigration wise I figured that if Germany were defeated in WWI and then gold were discovered, we might seem some German immigration to the Boer republics who could see it as a better option than British?

Well to the Boer, anyone is going to be better than the Anglo :p The new question is will these Germans assimilate into Afrikaaner culture? Even adopt the Dutch Reformed Church as their faith? They'll be labeled as outlanders initially which means they'll be without any rights as a citizen burgher. I would think that the ZAR if properly demographically motivated might pass a law allowing for citizenship granted to their children provided of course that they are raised to identify themselves as Afrikaaner.
 
Well to the Boer, anyone is going to be better than the Anglo :p The new question is will these Germans assimilate into Afrikaaner culture? Even adopt the Dutch Reformed Church as their faith? They'll be labeled as outlanders initially which means they'll be without any rights as a citizen burgher. I would think that the ZAR if properly demographically motivated might pass a law allowing for citizenship granted to their children provided of course that they are raised to identify themselves as Afrikaaner.

Well there is a German branch of Calvinist churches, so it wouldn't be too alien for them to convert to Dutch Reform
 
Well there is a German branch of Calvinist churches, so it wouldn't be too alien for them to convert to Dutch Reform

Yeah it shouldn't be too too hard of course then, that of course opens up a new class of bankers, miners, etc. made up of these immigrants which should increase the wealth and development of the ZAR
 
Yeah it shouldn't be too too hard of course then, that of course opens up a new class of bankers, miners, etc. made up of these immigrants which should increase the wealth and development of the ZAR

Yeah probably Protestant immigrants from Germany and the Netherlands in the early 1900s as they try to build up a population to prevent British conquests once the gold and diamonds are discovered.
 
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