Dutch Farmers Against the Empire: ZAR Mausers of the Boer War

"However, the Boers didn't use bayonets. They didn't let you get close enough for a bayonet to be relevant." I love this quote.

As a South African who has gone through the trouble of studying this history I am truly impressed by the accuracy in this video. This greatly increases my confidence in the accuracy of the info in all your other videos.

As a South African hearing Ian speak Afrikaans Is simply great.

Take a community of Dutchmen of the type of those who defended themselves for fifty years against all the power of Spain at a time when Spain was the greatest power in the world. Intermix with them a strain of those inflexible French Huguenots, who gave up their name and left their country forever at the time of the revocation of the Edict of Nantes . The product must obviously be one of the most rugged, virile, unconquerable races ever seen upon the face of the earth. Take these formidable people and train them for seven generations in constant warfare against savage men and ferocious beasts, in circumstances in which no weakling could survive; place them so that they acquire skill with weapons and in horsemanship, give them a country which is eminently suited to the tactics of the huntsman, the marksman and the rider. Then, finally, put a fine temper upon their military qualities by a dour fatalistic Old Testament religion and an ardent and consuming patriotism. Combine all these qualities and all these impulses in one individual and you have the modern White Boer." Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Thank you, Ian, for a good video on my country. The Boers could muster less than 60 000 troops, all told throughout the 2nd Boer War, compared to the British forces of over 450 000. Johannesburg is pronounced with a hard J, and often simplified to Joburg (Joe-berg) today. My family fought against the English in stopping the Jameson Raid and through the Boer War. The Boers were joined by small numbers of foreigners from around the world as well, such as American, Irish, Dutch, German, Norwegian, Russian, and even some English and Scotsmen.

As a South African Boer, I'm very impressed with your historic accuracy. Unfortunately we are often referred to as "Dutch farmers", due to the Cape Colony being started by the Dutch, and Afrikaans being fairly similar to Dutch.

Such a pitty the Boer Wars are greatly overlooked by many, the British truly treated the Afrikaners horribly both during and after the war. The British went as far as not giving out rations to the captivated women and children of the men who were fighting on the frontlines. This was done to shatter morale among the Boer soldiers fighting at the front. The British also used scorched earth tactics, killing off lifestock and burning down all farms on the land they conquered. After the Treaty of Vereeniging was signed the British forbade Afrikaners to teach their children Afrikaans at schools. President Paul Kruger of the ZAR once spoke wise words: "The people rejoiced when they found the gold at the Witwatersrand, they instead should have wept, for the gold will bring a massive amount of bloodshed to our country"

My great grandfather was a British settler working in the mines In Johannesburg at the time the war broke out, he opted to fight on the side of the boers saying that " we might not speak the same language but we share this land as equals".Since then my family has always answered the call to Arms, my Old man himself serving in the border war. I hope one day I can honour them all if or when the time comes to take our country back. Awesome video, God bless the Boer nation.

Thank you for addressing a common misconception - the Boers, after a few early skirmishes, managed to get along just fine with the Zulus. Both groups respected each other as formidable warriors, and that kept them living quite peacefully. Neither of these groups, however, had much love for the Xhosa, and the distrust between Zulu and Xhosa is still something that is enormously prevalent in our politics, and frequently overlooked by people who think the ethnic tension of the region is simply white vs black.

“Every man had a rifle,it’s just how it was” that warmed my little heart😊lmao

Got to admit, that I love the historical background more than the guns themselves. History is cool!

The 7x57 is still a very good round, very sweet shooting and accurate, everyone should have at least one.

I can not Believe the level of detail in this! Dude, you're not just a gun nut, you're a history nerd! And it's all really accurate, too!

As an Afrikaans person it was amazing to hear Ian pronounce Dutch and Afrikaans words

Boers are the type of people I aspire to be. Self-sufficiant, not taking any shit from anyone, creative and one with the land.

Thanks for showing this video Ian, much appreciated. My great grandfather and my grandfather (he was a young boy) rode kommando against the British in the 2nd Boer War (my great grandfather fought in both). Interesting point - my older brother inherited my grandfather's Maurer and on the butt was scratched 42 lines. When we asked my father what they were, he told us that it was the number of British soldiers he had shot. My grandfather was an exceptional shot, and never missed when we went out hunting.

19:50 The Boers themselves ran out of ammunition before the end of the war and started using the Lee-Metfords of the British. When they surrendered a lot of Boers actually destroyed their own rifles

Definitely not boering

Thank you Ian. I am Boer descendent. Nice to see a bit of our History. Badly needed inspiration today.

*6000 Boers died *20000 Brittish died *26000 women and children died in concentration camps