Marthinus Theunis Steyn

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Official portrait of Marthinus Theunis Steyn as President of the Orange Free State, around 1896

Marthinus Theunis Steyn , also Martinus Theunis Steyn (born October 2, 1857 in Rietfontein near Winburg , † November 28, 1916 in Bloemfontein ) was a Boer lawyer and politician and from 1896 to 1902 the last elected President of the Orange Free State .

Education and political career

Steyn studied law at Gray College in Bloemfontein, at the University of Leiden in the Netherlands and in England . After his studies he practiced as a lawyer in Bloemfontein and was appointed public prosecutor in the Orange Free State in 1889 in quick succession and a few months later appointed as a judge at its Supreme Court. In the 1896 election, Steyn prevailed with the support of Pan-Boer forces against the leader of the Moderate Party, John G. Fraser, as the successor to President Francis William Reitz and was sworn in on March 4, 1896. Politically, both Reitz and Steyn have been around the publisher of the Bloemfontein Express , a German named Borckenhagen, since 1881 and were actively involved in the founding of Afrikander Bond , who advocated anti- imperialist politics and the unification of the South African states into one Boer-dominated republic entered.

As president, Steyn therefore strongly advocated the protection of the Dutch language and the economic independence of the Orange Free State from the influences of British immigrants ( Uitlanders ). As a result of the Jameson Raid on the New Year's weekend of 1895/1896, his foreign policy was oriented more strongly than that of his predecessors towards closer ties to the second Boer republic in the Transvaal, known as the South African Republic, and its president Paul Kruger . This was evident in Steyn's state visits in 1896 and 1898 in Pretoria and a return visit by Kruger in 1897, as well as a treaty on a formal military defensive and offensive alliance between the two Boer republics.

South African War 1899–1902

In the emerging conflict between Great Britain and the Transvaal , Steyn tried to take on the role of mediator over a longer period of time. His attempt at mediation between Kruger and the British High Commissioner for South Africa Alfred Milner failed, however, at the Bloemfontein Conference, which took place on May 30, 1899 . As a result, Steyn refused for a long time to draw the conclusions from the acute danger of war and, to the annoyance of both Kruger and large parts of his own population, delayed preparations for a preventive strike against the British Army in the Cape Colony, which were still weak at the time . It was not until September 1899 that he declared his full support for the Transvaal, mobilized the troops of the Orange Free State at the beginning of October and joined Kruger's side in the South African War (also known as the Second Boer War ).

Steyn's initial attempts to initiate a rebellion of the Afrikaans in the Cape Colony failed and after the Battle of Modder River he went into the field for a short time at Kruger's request to strengthen the morale of the Free State troops, which at the time was considered fickle. Following the capture of Bloemfontein by British troops on March 13, 1900, Steyn continued the fight as a guerrilla leader until the end of the war in May 1902. In a change from his originally moderating attitude, he was now determined not to surrender to the British. On November 6, 1900, near Bothaville and in July 1901, near Reitz , Steyn narrowly escaped capture by the British twice, while in the course of the conflict, his ally, the Transvaal, increasingly tended to negotiate with the British, who now appeared overpowering due to massive troop reinforcements. Steyn remained in the field until the end with the commander of the Free State Forces, General Christian De Wet , and joined the remainder of the Transvaal command under General Koos de la Rey in March 1902 , until peace negotiations with the British began in April 1902 became inevitable. He took part in preliminary negotiations in Klerksdorp with the British negotiator Lord Kitchener , during which he insisted both consistently and in vain on maintaining the independence of the Boer republics as a condition for peace. Due to his weakened health, he resigned before the signing of the Treaty of Vereeniging on May 31, 1902 and instructed General De Wet to sign it . With the end of the Orange Free State as an independent entity under international law , Steyn's presidency also formally ended.

Work after the South African War

As a result of the peace treaty and the incorporation of the Boer republics into the British Empire, Steyn went to Europe to restore his health, from where he returned in autumn 1904 and took the oath on the British crown. As a result, he was extremely popular with the Boer population, and again actively participated in South African politics and especially campaigned for the rights of the Boers. From 1908 to 1909 he was Vice-President of the Closer Union Convention and appeared in particular as an opponent of the reconciliation policy with Great Britain carried out by the Prime Minister of the Transvaal, Louis Botha .

On November 28, 1916, Marthinus Theunis Steyn died at the age of 59 as a result of a heart attack.

literature

  • Hugh Chisholm (Ed.): Encyclopaedia Britannica (11th edition). “Orange Free State.” Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1911, p. 157.
  • Hugh Chisholm (Ed.): Encyclopaedia Britannica (11th edition). “Steyn, Martinus Theunis.” Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1911, p. 915.
  • Cecil Headlam (Ed.): The Milner Papers. South Africa 1897-1899 . Vol. I, Cassell & Company Ltd., London 1931.
  • Cecil Headlam (Ed.): The Milner Papers. South Africa 1899-1905 . Vol. II, Cassell & Company Ltd., London 1931.
  • Thomas Pakenham: The Boer War . Macdonald & Co Ltd., London 1982, ISBN 0-7088-1892-7 .

Web links

Commons : Martinus Theunis Steyn  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Hugh Chisholm (Ed.): Encyclopaedia Britannica . 1911, p. 915.
  2. ↑ Cecil Headlam (Ed.): The Milner Papers. South Africa 1897-1899 . 1931, p. 44.
  3. ^ Hugh Chisholm (Ed.): Encyclopaedia Britannica . 1911, p. 157.
  4. ↑ Cecil Headlam (Ed.): The Milner Papers. South Africa 1897-1899 . 1931, pp. 203-204.
  5. ↑ Thomas Pakenham: The Boer War . 1982, pp. 102-103.
  6. ↑ Marthinus Theunis Steyn on the page of the Encyclopaedia Britannica. (engl.)
  7. ↑ Thomas Pakenham: The Boer War . 1982, pp. 471-475.
  8. ↑ Thomas Pakenham: The Boer War . 1982, pp. 549-551 and Cecil Headlam (Ed.): The Milner Papers. South Africa 1899-1905 . 1931, pp. 207, 220-221.
  9. ↑ Cecil Headlam (Ed.): The Milner Papers. South Africa 1899-1905 . 1931, pp. 331-339.
  10. ↑ Cecil Headlam (Ed.): The Milner Papers. South Africa 1899-1905 . 1931, p. 362.
  11. ^ Hugh Chisholm (Ed.): Encyclopaedia Britannica . 1911, p. 915.
personal data
SURNAME Steyn, Marthinus Theunis
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Steyn, Martinus Theunis
BRIEF DESCRIPTION President of the Orange Free State
DATE OF BIRTH October 2, 1857
PLACE OF BIRTH Rietfontein near Winburg
DATE OF DEATH November 28, 1916
Place of death Bloemfontein