Great trek
The escape of the Boers from the Cape Colony ( South Africa ) from 1835 to 1841 is referred to as the Great Trek ( Afrikaans Groot Trek ) .
background
The reasons for the Great Trek lie in the British annexation of the Cape in 1814, as a result of which the Boers lost their dominant position due to increased British immigration. In addition, English was declared the only official language and English law was introduced, which, among other things, provided for equality between whites and free non-whites. The abolition of slavery in the British Empire in 1833 deprived many Boers of their livelihoods. In addition to Dutch as the official language, the possibility of speaking Dutch or Afrikaans in court has been abolished. In order to escape the sphere of influence of British law, they again dodged into the hinterland. The migration began in 1835. A total of around 12,000 Boers, so-called “ Voortrekkers ”, set out on their way north. Other sources give different numbers for different time periods.
The direction of migration
The main route split after crossing the Orange River : some trains went further north, others east to Natal , where in 1839 they founded the first of the independent Boer republics , namely Natalia . A large part of the settlers in Natal soon left because they were attacked by the Zulu and the British occupied the coast. They moved on to the area between Oranje and Vaal , where they founded the Orange Free State , and finally to the area between Vaal and Limpopo , where they established the Boer republic " Transvaal ".
Military clashes
In the course of the Great Trek there were repeated clashes with the local population, especially with the Zulu. In 1838 the Zulu king Dingane killed 500 Voortrekkers, including Pieter Retief , in uMgungundlovu , whereupon a punitive expedition, led by Andries Pretorius , defeated the Zulu on December 16, 1838 in the " Battle of the Blood River ".
There were also frequent clashes with the Ndebele under Mzilikazi . But since the native tribes were weakened by Shaka's wars of subjugation and their consequences (the " Mfecane "), the Boers won and were able to spread in the areas.
The consequence of the great trek
The displacement of the native African population triggered a migration of peoples throughout southern Africa. This and military defeats weakened the powerful Zulu Empire, which ultimately made it easier for Great Britain to subjugate it.
While Natalia was already under British occupation in 1843, the other two Boer republics mentioned lasted longer. In the Sand River Convention in 1852, the British ceded all areas north of the Vaals to the Boers and recognized the independence of the republics. Here the Boers were only defeated in the Second Boer War (1899–1902). In 1910 the territories of the South African Union were incorporated.
literature
- Henry Cloete (Author), W. Brodrick-Cloete (Ed.): The History of the Great Boer Trek and the Origin of the South African Republics . J. Murray London 1900 ( PDF file; 2.9 MB )
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Hermann Giliomee : The Afrikaners - biography of a people. Cape Town 2003, p. 75ff.
- ↑ Christoph Marx : In the sign of the ox wagon: the radical Afrikaaner nationalism in South Africa and the history of the Ossewabrandwag. LIT, Münster 1998, ISBN 3825839079 , p. 1. Excerpts from books.google.de
- ↑ Jan C. Visagie: Voortrekkerstamouers 1835-1845. Protea Boekhuis, Pretoria, 2010. pp. 14-15, ISBN 978-1869193720
- ^ Albrecht Hagemann: Brief history of South Africa. Verlag CH Beck, 2007, p. 36, ISBN 978-3-40645949-8 .