Fuelling the Empire: South Africa's Gold and the Road to War

345 Pages·2003·2.98 MB·English

by  John J. Stephens

Fuelling the Empire
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Fuelling the
Empire
SouthAfrica’sGoldandtheRoadtoWar
John J. Stephens
PublishedintheUKin2003byJohnWiley&SonsLtd,TheAtrium,SouthernGate,
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DEDICATION
To the memory of my father: heloved a good storyand told me many
fromtheolddays ...
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CONTENTS
Acknowledgements ix
Introduction xiii
PartOne Irreconcilableexpectations 1
1 Settingthestage 3
2 BritishexpectationsattheCape 17
3 ExpectationsontheEasternFrontier 29
4 Thepartingoftheways 54
5 TheTransvaalunsettled 66
PartTwo OpenbordersacrosstheVaal 77
6 Foundationandcolonization 79
7 Goldtotherescue? 90
8 Fromflawedtofailed 106
9 Britaintotherescue 117
PartThree Gold ^ themixedblessing 131
10 Economics,thegoldstandardandBritishpolicyin
SouthAfrica 133
11 Wars,concessionsandashortboom 142
12 OpeningPandora’sbox ^ miningthegold 152
13 Thechallengetomining 164
PartFour Intrigueandconfrontation 183
14 Afrikanernationalismandrailwaypolitics 185
15 Ataleoftwocities 198
16 Theconspiracyandtheraid 222
17 Powerpolitics 232
18 Ashortwar ^ alongbattle 266
CONTENTS
Epilogue 287
BibliographicalNotes 301
Bibliography 315
Index 319
viii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
T
his book would not have been possible without the encour-
agement and support I received from Sally Smith, my
executive editoratJohnWileyand Sons.Were it not forher initial
responsiveness and positive suggestions, the whole idea of this
book might still have been languishingatthe backof my mind. It
was our first history project together and, as always, I found
workingwithheratremendousjoy.ButIoweadebtofgratitudeto
manyothersalso.
Researching a book like this always presents a tremendous
challenge. In this, I was greatly assisted by the unstinting
and enthusiastic attention of a number of librarians and their
assistants. First on this list must be Cathy Erasmus, the chief
librarian of the Harold Strange Library of African Studies in
Johannesburg. She and her assistant, Linda Boswell, managed
to meet all my numerous requests and found some amazing
materials,someofwhichIfearedmightbeimpossibletoget,given
theoftenvagueandgeneralnatureofmyrequests.Cathyisafount
of knowledgeand informationonworks on SouthAfricanhistory
andespeciallythatofearlyJohannesburg.
Iwasalsothebeneficiaryofveryfriendlyadviceandcourteous
service by various kind assistants in the library of the Chamber
of Mines in Johannesburg, the main reading room of the
Johannesburg Central Library and the reference section of the
Mogale City Library. Dr. Janet du Plooy of the latter library
warrantsaspecialwordofthanksforherveryhelpfulinformation
andthefactthatshearrangedformetohaveuntrammelledaccess
to the archives of the Mogale City Museum. In my delicious
ramblingsthroughthearchives of the museum, Iwas verykindly
and very ably assisted by the ever-helpful Christa Eksteen. I also
wishtoexpressmysincerethanksandappreciationtoFrancoisde
Jager,afriendof longstanding,whogenerouslyconsentedtolend