THE BOER WAR - Ten Interesting Facts

“These God-fearing farmers spilling blood for the freedom of their Fatherland will forever be closer to the heart of Holy Rus than our sworn enemy, the cold and haughty England,” wrote the popular Russian newspaper Novoye Vremya on Oct. 16, 1899.
This emotional outpouring was caused by the Second Boer War, which had just begun in South Africa between the Boers — the descendants of Dutch, German, and French colonists, who where defending the independence of their two states (Transvaal and Orange Free State) — and the encroaching British Empire.
The Boers’ plucky resistance struck a chord with many countries around the world, including the Russian Empire, where admiration for these freedom-loving folk was combined with deep-seated Anglophobia.