A Weakened Empire
Even while the Boer War did not make as big of an impact geographically because of the small size of the stage on which it took place, for the British, it was very telling of the strengths and weaknesses of both the psyche of their military fighting force as well as the physical strength of their fighting force. Though we have the convenience of looking at this war in hindsight, it is still blatantly obvious the Boer War indicated that because of the technological advancements in weapons were going down a path that lead to the unavoidable fact that the defensive side of combat was becoming heavily favored over the offensive side of combat. The new rapid fire machine guns and much more accurate and rapid fire rifles meant that running through open areas at the enemy was no longer a viable strategy of attack, as the defender held all the strategic advantages of being under cover and shooting stationary. This should have been obvious to British military minds as the British considered their fighting forces to be the most advanced and skilled in the world, but instead they showed their greatest weakness, arrogance and the inability to change. A large portion of Britain’s military leaders were of the same mind as the Colonel John French who believed that there was nothing that could stand up to an all out cavalry charge, and who believed that it was the strength and morals of the individual man in combat which decided victory, not the overall strategy of the battle. This lead British leaders to begin “attempting to answer technical problems with moral solutions” betraying the quality of the military and artificially inflating the public’s moral with the false sense that everything was going to be alright.
In many ways public opinion was just as important as actual success in war and they were both extremely connected and in many ways the masses were of a similar state of mind as the military leaders in that they believed that the British way was always the best way because there had never been any evidence to the contrary. And while the Boer did not completely destroy public morale, it certainly planted seeds of doubt in some minds. The simple fact that these primitive warriors were able to fight back and give the famed British Army a run for its money was enough to swing the public’s opinion about the war, which had the potential to drastically change the amount of support was war got. This highlighted another weakness of the British Empire which was the reality that at the slightest hint of trouble or failure, the British population would lose all faith in whatever cause they had committed to making victory that much harder and putting massive amounts of extra pressure on military leaders who already bear an amazing amount of pressure before the weight of public opinion. The simple fact that there was any public opinion that was anti-Boer War was a sign that there could be tough times ahead with World War I looming and showing the potential to be on a much bigger scale than any conflict in human history. Apparent physical deterioration was a new factor in changing the public’s opinion about the state of the empire as more and more reports began to come out saying that recruits and current soldiers were being declared unfit for the army at higher levels than ever before. This coincided with reports that the British Army was struggling with defeating the Boers causing the widespread worry that for the first time in almost a century that British fighting men were no longer strong enough to defend the power of the empire. This worry, though partially alleviated by victory in the Boer War, was still carried into World War I which was a contributing factor to the British Government never being able to garner full public support for the upcoming war.
In many ways public opinion was just as important as actual success in war and they were both extremely connected and in many ways the masses were of a similar state of mind as the military leaders in that they believed that the British way was always the best way because there had never been any evidence to the contrary. And while the Boer did not completely destroy public morale, it certainly planted seeds of doubt in some minds. The simple fact that these primitive warriors were able to fight back and give the famed British Army a run for its money was enough to swing the public’s opinion about the war, which had the potential to drastically change the amount of support was war got. This highlighted another weakness of the British Empire which was the reality that at the slightest hint of trouble or failure, the British population would lose all faith in whatever cause they had committed to making victory that much harder and putting massive amounts of extra pressure on military leaders who already bear an amazing amount of pressure before the weight of public opinion. The simple fact that there was any public opinion that was anti-Boer War was a sign that there could be tough times ahead with World War I looming and showing the potential to be on a much bigger scale than any conflict in human history. Apparent physical deterioration was a new factor in changing the public’s opinion about the state of the empire as more and more reports began to come out saying that recruits and current soldiers were being declared unfit for the army at higher levels than ever before. This coincided with reports that the British Army was struggling with defeating the Boers causing the widespread worry that for the first time in almost a century that British fighting men were no longer strong enough to defend the power of the empire. This worry, though partially alleviated by victory in the Boer War, was still carried into World War I which was a contributing factor to the British Government never being able to garner full public support for the upcoming war.