“Women’s” war has its own colours, its own smells, its own lighting, and its own range of feelings. Its own words. There are no heroes and incredible feats, there are simply people who are busy doing inhumanly human things.”

― Svetlana Alexievich

 

The 2^nd Anglo Boer War or South African War of 1899 – 1902 created the horrific, yet favourable circumstance for the establishment of the world’s first concentration camps. Similar ‘reconcentration’ of civilian populations had taken place in Cuba under the Spanish in 1895 – 98, however the British were the first to construct camps in an organised manner for the specific purpose of removing civilian women and children.[i] The system would ultimately consist of 45 camps of various sizes and conditions to house white Afrikaner women, children and men who were elderly or not of fighting age yet. What was supposed to be a straightforward and easily won war by the powerful British Empire against two colonies in Southern Africa, ended up becoming a drawn-out war, which was won by the British using ‘methods of barbarism’ as Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman stated in June 1901.[ii]

 

The war was also unique for the fact that it was the first Imperial conflict waged against those of European descent which led to questions about Imperialism and Victorian values with regards to the responsibility towards women and class hierarchies.[iii] Britons were challenged with the necessity for men to protect women and children, even though Boer women could suddenly be viewed as combatants in the war.[iv] Millicent Fawcett and the Ladies Commission appointed to inspect the camps focused on class and criticized the Boer women for their ‘backwardness’ or ‘filthy habits’, which were used as reasons to justify the necessity of the camps.[v] Fawcett and Emily Hobhouse were upper class British women, however Hobhouse compared Boer social class to British social class in order to invite sympathy from the public, instead of disdain.[vi]

 

The public response was unfortunately racialised, since black camps and death figures were not properly recorded and would not have evoked the same strong sympathy as they did for their white counterparts. Gender, race, and class were all interwoven with imperialistic ideas. The concentration camps and the figures mentioned in this piece will refer to the camps that housed white women and children. The black concentration camps were a separate system and colonial record keeping was structurally and institutionally racist which meant that correct accounts of African experiences in the camps and deaths do not exist.^[vii]  Even though this piece focuses on Boer women and children, it does not diminish the suffering of the black men, women and children who were also interred in the camps against their will.

 

This project aims to place the women and children who had no political say in world affairs at the forefront as innocent victims and pawns in war. The experience of women and children have always been a unique, yet often overlooked aspect of warfare. Women’s suffering is equally important, not more so or less so than the men fighting. There isn’t a hierarchy of suffering, but rather there was joined suffering and different suffering. This project will focus on the suffering of women who, as investigative journalist Svetlana Alexievich stated, did ‘inhumanly human things’ during a time of war. Women have traditionally played a crucial role as guardian of the hearth and home. Therefore, the absence of the husband, the loss of home and the inability to care and nourish children was a devastating consequence Afrikaner women had to bear in the concentration camps.

 

By examining visual primary sources such as satirical prints, and photographs of camp life, it becomes possible to discern the political commentary on the war by using universal emotional motifs such as motherhood, loss, heartbreak, grief, and chivalry. The visual imagery at the time of the war had been used and misused by various parties for arguments in favour and against the war. War imagery have been traditionally used for several reasons such as propaganda, portraying the realities of war and making political statements.[viii] By examining private and public meaning of the visual sources, we can establish a fuller picture of the political and social commentary made of the war as well as establish a picture of what the women and children endured[ix]. There are also several remarks taken from diary entries and official reports to establish a balanced, yet accurate view of the events that transpired from different angles. Bethulie camp inmate, Rensche van der Walt, wrote extensively in her diary of her experiences, as did Bethulie camp’s Chaplain A H Luckhoff. Luckhoff’s observations are insightful as he was both an observer of the women and children’s experiences, but also a participant who encouraged, prayed with, and supported the inmates whilst they were dying. Lieutenant L M Bruce who served as the Superintendent for Irene concentration camp offers the official British masculine view, but a view that was substantiated by being involved with the running of the camps. And finally, Emily Hobhouse’s observations as an upper-class British woman who fought for better conditions for the Boer women and children.

 

The British Army underestimated the fervour and skill of the Boers and it cost the lives of many soldiers on both sides. The war resulted in more than 120,000 British and Imperial casualties, including 22,000 dead.[x] The Boer military casualties stood around 6,000.[xi] Around 28,000 Boer women and children died in the camps.[xii] The number of African deaths in the black concentration camps numbered around 20,000.[xiii]

 

Initially, most British citizens were in favour of the war, but when the news broke of the conditions that civilians – and even worse, women and children, were being kept many people started to oppose how the war was being fought. This piece will endeavour to shed light on the concentration camp system and how a pragmatic solution to a refugee crisis became one of the biggest scandals perpetrated by the British military. The war in South Africa developed into the largest and most expensive war since the Napoleonic Wars and would only be overtaken by the First World War.[xiv] The war lasted two and a half years when it was only expected to last a few months, at the cost of 230 million pounds.^[xv] There were cases of deliberate harm and destruction on both sides, but there were also cases of deliberate mercy and kindness. Therefore, the examples given in this project are not meant to be used as blanket generalisations.

 

The primary sources assembled in this piece have been dated as accurately as possible. The photographs within this piece date between 1899 and 1902, unless otherwise stated. The satirical posters by Frenchman Jean Veber will be used to illustrate the international response to the atrocities committed against the Afrikaner women and children. Veber was one of France’s most popular caricaturists commenting on major political figures such as Otto von Bismarck and King Edward VII as well as political events such as the Anglo Boer War.[xvi]^[xvii] The posters were created by Veber as a collection on 28 September 1901 when conditions were already notorious in the camps and the death figures were exceptionally high.

 

 

[i] Jonas Kreienbaum, A Sad Fiasco: Colonial Concentration Camps in Southern Africa, 1900 -1908, trans. by Elizabeth Janik (New York and Oxford: Berghahn Books, 2019), p. 11.

[ii] Dennis Judd and Keith Surridge, The Boer War (London: John Murray, 2002), p. 11.

[iii] Paula Krebs, ‘The Last of the Gentlemen’s Wars: Women in the Boer War Concentration Camps Controversy’, History Workshop Journal, 33, 1992, 38–56 (p. 39).

[iv] Krebs, p. 54.

[v] Krebs, p. 48.

[vi] Krebs, p. 49.

[vii] Peter H. Conlin, ‘Victorian Racism: An Explication of Scientific Knowledge, Its Social Character, and Its Relation to Victorian Popular Culture’, Inquiries Journal, 10.01 (2018) <http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1719/victorian-racism-an-explication-of-scientific-knowledge-its-social-character-and-its-relation-to-victorian-popular-culture> [accessed 9 May 2022].

[viii] Joanna Bourke, ‘Paintings, Protest and Propaganda: A Visual History of Warfare’, CNN <https://www.cnn.com/style/article/depicting-war-through-art/index.html> [accessed 5 May 2022].

[ix] Bourke.

[x] ‘Boer War | National Army Museum’ <https://www.nam.ac.uk/explore/boer-war> [accessed 5 May 2022].

[xi] ‘The Boer War – Timeline – Dates, Causes and Casualties’, FamilyHistory.Co.Uk <https://www.familyhistory.co.uk/the-boer-war/> [accessed 6 May 2022].

[xii] ‘The Boer War – Timeline – Dates, Causes and Casualties’.

[xiii] ‘The Boer War – Timeline – Dates, Causes and Casualties’.

[xiv] Kreienbaum, p. 30.

[xv] Kreienbaum, p. 30.

[xvi] ‘Modernist Journals | Veber, Jean (1868-1928)’ <https://modjourn.org/biography/veber-jean-1868-1928/> [accessed 22 February 2022].

[xvii] ‘Modernist Journals | Veber, Jean (1868-1928)’.