Episode 71 - Russia’s role in the Anglo-Boer War

Episode 71 - Russia’s role in the Anglo-Boer War

This week its all about Russians and with good reason. ‘I am wholly preoccupied with the war between England and the Transvaal,’ Tsar Nicholas wrote to his sister at the outbreak of the Boer War in October 1899. ‘Every day I read the news in the British newspapers from the first to the last line . . . I cannot conceal my joy at . . . yesterday’s news that during General White’s sally two full British battalions and a mountain battery were captured by the Boers!’ He was beside himself with glee. Yet a few years after writing this, Russia would be fighting as an ally with Britain against the Germans on the Eastern Front during the First World War. But that was 13 years later. At this moment, Tsar Nicholas was the enemy. The British and Russians had fought head to head during the Crimean War forty years before, and the Royal squabbles and empire building on both sides had alienated one from the other. Some of this week’s episode is drawn from the book “The Russians and the Anglo-Boer War” by Apollon Davidson and Irina Filatova published in 1998. I’ve also used historian RW Johnson’s comments at times too. The characters involved .. as usual .. are unforgettable. We've met people from all over the world who’ve had a hand to play in this war, and the Russians were some of the most colourful. By the way, its largely thanks to Sol who lives in Russia for prompting this episode. I hope you’re not too cold right now! But back to the episode… In 1899 the Tsar was particularly interested in the Boer War and Britain’s hold on South Africa because the route to India lay via the Cape, and Russia had its own designs on India. Even Leon Tolstoy had a view about the Anglo-Boer war, and he supported the Boers.

Episoder(143)

Episode 127 -A treacherous spy meets his Nemesis and Jan Smuts heads for the beach

Episode 127 -A treacherous spy meets his Nemesis and Jan Smuts heads for the beach

We’ll kick off where we left off last week – where Jan Smuts’ commando was near Calvinia in the northern Cape evading the English. But its also where commandant Bouwer was surprised by a mounted infan...

23 Feb 202019min

Episode 126 - Jan Smuts makes a remarkable speech & we meet the treacherous colonial Lambert Colyn

Episode 126 - Jan Smuts makes a remarkable speech & we meet the treacherous colonial Lambert Colyn

This week we’ll find out what happened to Jan Smuts and his commando as they combine forces with Kommandant van Deventer who is in the middle of a major skirmish with the British near Calvinia in the ...

16 Feb 202020min

Episode 125 - A sleepy blockhouse stymies Kitchener’s New Model Drive & Jan Smuts leaves Kakamas

Episode 125 - A sleepy blockhouse stymies Kitchener’s New Model Drive & Jan Smuts leaves Kakamas

February 1902 is full of surprises, not least for Lord Kitchener who has designed his great Drives which are similar to hunting Grouse on the moors of England. Lines of men walk side by side, twenty y...

9 Feb 202018min

Episode 124 -The incredible tale of the seven foot tall Coenraad de Buys and his independent clan

Episode 124 -The incredible tale of the seven foot tall Coenraad de Buys and his independent clan

This week we’ll concentrate on surely one of the more unique southern africans of the 18th Century, who’s descendents feature as a small independent people in modern South Africa, and who found themse...

2 Feb 202019min

Episode 123 - Major Vallentin eats his last lunch & General Botha fights his last Transvaal battle

Episode 123 - Major Vallentin eats his last lunch & General Botha fights his last Transvaal battle

This is episode 123 and its January 1902. The war has four months to run, and there are still a few big shocks. One would be Lord Methuen’s capture by General Koos de la Rey. More about that in just...

26 Jan 202018min

Episode 122 - The dishonourable ex-fiancé Karel de Kock & the Witwatersrand Rifle Regiment

Episode 122 - The dishonourable ex-fiancé Karel de Kock & the Witwatersrand Rifle Regiment

This is episode 122 and we will take a close look at the love-life of a Boer spy – who’s tale is laced with an unusual irony that involves a regiment called the Witwatersrand Rifles. The nature of the...

19 Jan 202019min

Episode 121 - – The Kenyan Trek Boers of Eldoret & Smuts goes swimming

Episode 121 - – The Kenyan Trek Boers of Eldoret & Smuts goes swimming

General Jan Smuts is making merry in the Cape, trying to stoke uprisings, while Lord Kitchener’s been more successful in clearing the Eastern Transvaal, forcing General Louis Botha to shift towards Vr...

12 Jan 202022min

Episode 120 - Reitz meets a Swiss Family Robinson & Kitchener rethinks the Concentration Camp system

Episode 120 - Reitz meets a Swiss Family Robinson & Kitchener rethinks the Concentration Camp system

Its new year – the first week of January 1902 and we continue to ride, or rather walk, with Deneys Reitz as he and seven other colleagues have been separated from General Jan Smuts who is on a mission...

5 Jan 202018min

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