Alfred Milner summary

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Below is the article summary. For the full article, see Alfred Milner, Viscount Milner.

Alfred Milner, later Viscount Milner (of St. James’s and Cape Town), (born March 23, 1854, Giessen, Hesse-Darmstadt—died May 13, 1925, Sturry Court, near Canterbury, Kent, Eng.), British high commissioner in South Africa (1897–1905). At the crucial Bloemfontein Conference with Pres. Paul Kruger (1899), Milner advocated granting full citizenship to the Uitlanders (British residents in the Transvaal) after five years’ residence. Kruger opposed the policy but was prepared to make concessions. Milner was not, claiming that “war has got to come”; Boer forces invaded Natal four months later, marking the beginning of the South African War. Milner later served as secretary for war (1916–19) and colonial secretary (1919–21).

Transvaal Summary

Transvaal, former province of South Africa. It occupied the northeastern part of the country. The Limpopo River marked its border with Botswana and Zimbabwe to the north, while the Vaal River marked its boundary with Orange Free State province to the south. It was bounded by Mozambique and

South African War Summary

South African War, war fought from October 11, 1899, to May 31, 1902, between Great Britain and the two Boer (Afrikaner) republics—the South African Republic (Transvaal) and the Orange Free State—resulting in British victory. Although it was the largest and most costly war in which the British

British Empire Summary

British Empire, a worldwide system of dependencies—colonies, protectorates, and other territories—that over a span of some three centuries was brought under the sovereignty of the crown of Great Britain and the administration of the British government. The policy of granting or recognizing

government Summary

Government, the political system by which a country or community is administered and regulated. Most of the key words commonly used to describe governments—words such as monarchy, oligarchy, and democracy—are of Greek or Roman origin. They have been current for more than 2,000 years and have not