'Methods of Barbarism' or Western Tradition? Britain, South Africa, and the Evolution of Escalatory Violence as Policy

The historical significance of the Second Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902) has traditionally suffered from the conflict’s chronological proximity to the Great War. Compared to the industrial slaughter of 1914-1918, the military extremism employed in the South African conflict has gone largely unanalyzed. A close examination of British military policies during the Second Boer War shows that the resort to escalatory violence sprang from frustration at the elusiveness of decisive battle, deemed vital to shore up Britain’s position as the world’s sole superpower, and was sanctioned by a Western tradition of unrestricted violence towards peoples like the Boers who pursued unconventional battlefield strategies.