Treaty of Vereeniging

The Treaty of Vereeniging (commonly referred to as Peace of Vereeniging) [See [http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Peace_of_Vereeniging Peace of Vereeniging] for original text.] was the peace treaty, signed on 31 May 1902, that ended the South African War (Second Anglo-Boer War) between the South African Republic and the Republic of the Orange Free State on one side and Great Britain on the other.

This settlement entailed the end of hostilities and the surrender of all Boer forces and their arms to the British, with the promise of eventual self-government to the Transvaal (South African Republic) and the Orange Free State as colonies of the British Empire. The Boer republics agreed to come under the sovereignty of the British Crown and the British government agreed on various details including the following:
# To eventually give the Transvaal and the Orange Free State self-government (granted in 1906 and 1907, respectively).
# To avoid discussing the native (Black) enfranchisement issue until self-government had been given (not completely achieved until 1994).
# To pay the Afrikaners £3,000,000 in reconstruction aid.
# To imprison only Cape Afrikaner rebel leaders for their role in the war.
# To allow the use of Dutch (later Afrikaans) in the schools and law courts.

Subsequent to the British government giving the Boer colonies self-government, the Union of South Africa was created on 31 May 1910. The Union gained complete independence under the 1926 Imperial Conference and the 1931 Statute of Westminster. The country became a republic in 1961.

Although the treaty is named after the town of Vereeniging in Transvaal, where the peace negotiations took place, the document was actually signed at Melrose House in Pretoria.

See also

*History of South Africa
*Military history of South Africa
*Jan Smuts in the Boer War
*Francis William Reitz

References

Notes

External links