III.

Leadership in the Boer War

In December 1899 Kitchener entered the Boer War in southern Africa, serving as commander in chief of British forces from November 1900 to the end of the war in May 1902. He employed ruthless tactics to stamp out a guerrilla war launched by the Dutch-descended population, known as Afrikaners or Boers, against occupying British forces. Kitchener’s tactics included burning the Afrikaner farms that sustained and sheltered the guerrillas and placing black African and Afrikaner women and children in concentration camps. During peace negotiations to end the Boer War in 1902, Kitchener persuaded the Boers to submit to British colonial rule in the Treaty of Vereeniging. For his achievements, Kitchener was made a viscount and received the Order of Merit in 1902.