The failed British raid on the Transvaal republic embarrassed the British government, removed Cecil Rhodes from power, and helped precipitate the Second Boer War.
Key Facts
- Date range
- 29 December 1895 – 2 January 1896
- Force size
- 500 British South Africa Company police
- Launch point
- Rhodesia
- Target territory
- South African Republic (Transvaal)
- Intended outcome
- Uitlander uprising against Boer government
- Political consequence
- Cecil Rhodes removed as Cape Colony prime minister
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Cecil Rhodes, prime minister of the Cape Colony, sought to overthrow Paul Kruger's Boer government in the Transvaal and gain control of its gold mines. He planned to use discontented British expatriate workers, known as Uitlanders, to stage an internal uprising timed to coincide with an armed incursion led by his administrator Leander Starr Jameson.
On 29 December 1895, Jameson led approximately 500 British South Africa Company police from Rhodesia into the Transvaal in an attempt to spark an Uitlander revolt. The expected internal insurrection never materialized, the raiding force was quickly surrounded and captured by Boer forces, and the operation collapsed within days without achieving any of its objectives.
The raid humiliated the British government and forced Cecil Rhodes to resign as prime minister of the Cape Colony. Boer confidence and dominance over the Transvaal and its gold mines was reinforced. The withdrawal of troops left Rhodesia exposed, contributing to the Second Matabele War shortly afterward. More broadly, the raid deepened Anglo-Boer tensions and became a contributing cause of the Second Boer War.