Kruger, Paul
1825–1904

Known for his leadership of the Transvaal, significantly during the lead up to the South African War (1899–1902), Stephanus Johannes Paulus Kruger personified the Afrikaner independent spirit. This father of Afrikaner nationalism, he was born in the eastern Cape Colony in 1825. In 1835 his family joined the Great Trek. Kruger developed his beliefs in the crucible of a developing Afrikaner nationalism. He fought Ndebele forces led by Mzilikazi (1795?–1868) at Vegkop in 1836, and went on to become a veldkornet, or district law enforcement officer, for the local government.

In 1883 Kruger became president of the Transvaal, following upon the state's victory over the British in the Anglo-Transvaal War (1880–1881). Combining his spiritual beliefs with a clear notion of Boer independence from British imperial encroachment, Kruger secured what he considered to be the republic's clear sovereignty from Britain in the Treaty of London in 1884. In 1886 gold was discovered at Witwatersrand, south of the capital at Pretoria. This, the largest gold deposit in the world, enabled the Transvaal to enjoy a new economic lease on life.

The Treaty of London did not halt Britain's imperial expansion. In 1890 diamond magnate Cecil Rhodes (1853–1902) established the colony of Rhodesia north of the Transvaal. Rhodes envisioned building a British "road to the north" from Cape Town to Cairo. He also argued for the destruction of the two Boer republics by suffocation, surrounding them with British territory. Rhodes's actions served to increase the tension between Kruger's government and Britain. This was played out in the winter of 1895 to 1896, when Rhodes sanctioned a raid into the Transvaal to overthrow the state government. Although the raid failed, it did succeed in driving Kruger to arm the republic (using capital from the gold mines), complete with the construction of forts around the Pretoria.

In 1899, following a summer of heated debate, the two republics declared war. Early and important victories went to the Boers, forcing Britain to send more troops while implementing a crash recruiting program at home. The tide began to turn in 1900, however, as new leadership in the British army helped secure the fall of the Orange Free State in March and the Transvaal Republic in June. With British troops spilling into his country, Kruger went on the run, finally leaving his beloved nation in October 1900. He went to the Netherlands seeking international assistance for his war with Britain. He received sympathy, but little else. Britain won the war in 1902, but gave the Boers substantial aid as part of the peace agreement. Paul Kruger died in exile in Switzerland in 1904, having never returned to the Transvaal.

A man of solid faith and solid nationalism, Kruger's folksy demeanor helped endear him to his fellow Afrikaners, many of whom he received on the front porch of his house near the capitol building in Pretoria. "Oom Paul" (Uncle Paul) remained a beloved figure in the Afrikaner national memory, helping to strengthen the growing mythology of apartheid.

see also Great Trek.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Fisher, John. Paul Kruger: His Life and Times. London: Secker and Warburg, 1974.

Kruger, Paul. The Memoirs of Paul Kruger: Four Times President of the South African Republic, Told by Himself. London: Unwin, 1902. Reprint, New York: Negro Universities Press, 1969.

Pakenham, Thomas. The Boer War. New York: Random House, 1979.

Shillington, Kevin. A History of Southern Africa. Harlow, U.K.: Longman, 1987.

Thompson, Leonard M. A History of South Africa, 3rd ed. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2001.