Episode 2 of 2

War Declaration

When: 11 October 1899
Where: Natal and Cape Colony areas
Part of: Jan Smuts meets Conyngham Greene in final bid to avert war

The Boer republics declared war on 11 October 1899, launching an offensive into British-held territories, marking the start of the Second Boer War.

Following the failure of diplomatic negotiations, the republics initiated military action in Natal and Cape Colony. This event followed the October ultimatum and reflected the escalation of tensions over Uitlander rights and British annexation attempts.

Sources

Jan Smuts Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-12
Second Boer War Wikipedia, revision of 2026-10-11

Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.