Boere-Afrikaner
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Boervolk (also Boere-Afrikaner Volk) is an ethnic group in South Africa living mainly in the Free State and Transvaal provinces of South Africa. The Boervolk is descended mainly from Dutch Calvinist, Flemish and Frisian Calvinist as well as French Huguenot, and German Protestant origins dating from the 1650s and into the 1700s. Minor numbers of Scandinavians, Portuguese, Italian, Spanish, Polish, Scots, English, Irish and Welsh people were absorbed as well.
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[edit] History
[edit] Great Trek
- Main article: Great Trek
The origin of the Boervolk can be found in the early 19th century, when a segment of the Europeans in the Cape Colony moved north-eastward. While most settlers who lived in the Western Cape did not move eastward, a small number did, they became known as Voortrekkers. Historians have identified various contributing factors to the migrations of an estimated 12,000 Voortrekkers to the future Natal, Orange Free State and Transvaal regions. The primary motivations included discontent with the recently imposed British rule, its Anglicisation policies and the perceived indifference of British authorities to border conflicts along the Cape Colony's eastern frontier. Other possible factors included the desire to escape from relentless border wars with the Xhosa-speaking groups along the eastern frontier of the Cape colony. The migrants also sought fertile farmland, as good land was becoming scarce within the colony's frontier. The Great Trek also resulted from increasing population pressures, as Trekboer migrations eastward had come to a virtual stop for at least three decades (though some Trekboers did migrate beyond the Orange River prior to the Great Trek). During the Trek a group of Voortrekkers also made a covenant with God on 16 December 1838, prior to the Battle of Blood River with the Zulu! This battle is seen by many as the spiritual birth of the Boervolk and made the Boers a covenant people. 16 December is still celebrated today as Covenant Day by the Boervolk. The Boers also founded three Boer Republics, the Natalia Republic (1838-1843), the Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek (Transvaal) (1852-1902) and the Orange Free State (1854-1902).
[edit] Anglo-Boer wars
The Boers fought two wars in the late 19th century in order to defend their internationally recognized independent countries, the republics of the Transvaal (the Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek, or ZAR), and the Orange Free State (OFS) against the threat of annexation by the British Crown. The Boervolk lost the Second Anglo-Boer war, which lasted from 1899-1902 and conceded their independence to Great Britain. See British imperialism.
[edit] Boer War diaspora
After the second Anglo-Boer War, a Boer diaspora occurred. Starting in 1903 the largest group emigrated to the Patagonia region of Argentina. Another group emigrated to British-ruled Kenya, from where most returned to South Africa during the 1930s, while a third group under the leadership of General Ben Viljoen emigrated to Mexico and to New Mexico and Texas in south-western USA.
[edit] Boer Revolt
The Maritz Rebellion or the Boer Revolt or the Five Shilling Rebellion, occurred in South Africa in 1914 at the start of World War I, in which men who supported the recreation of the old Boer republics rose up against the government of the Union of South Africa. Many members of the government were themselves former Boers who had fought with the Maritz rebels against the British in the Second Boer War, which had ended twelve years earlier. The rebellion failed, and the ringleaders received heavy fines and terms of imprisonment.
[edit] Characteristics
[edit] Nationalism
The Boer nation was well-known for their strong nationalistic characteristics. Their nationalism was born of hundreds of years of fighting against imperialism, a continuing struggle for independence battling the harsh African climate, a strong sense of nationhood, as well as an often conservative Christian belief. As with any other ethnic group that has come from troubled land to troubled land, many of them see it as their duty to educate future generations on their people's past.
[edit] Calvinism
The Boer nation is mainly descended from Dutch, German and French Calvinists, who migrated to South Africa during the 17th, 18th and early 19th centuries. The Boer nation has revealed a distinct Calvinist culture and the majority of Boers today are still members of a Reformed Church. The Nederdeutsch Hervormde Kerk was the national Church of the South African Republic (1852-1902). Also note the "Orange" in Orange Free State (1854-1902) was named after the Protestant House of Orange in the Netherlands. Recently, however, many Boers have found a spiritual home in the Christian Identity Movement. The Calvinist influence, however, remains, in that some fundamental Calvinist doctrines such as unconditional predestination and divine providence remains present in many of these Identity Churches. A small number of Boers may also be members of Baptist, Pentecostal or Lutheran Churches.
[edit] The Boervolk today
Since the Anglo-Boer war the term "Boervolk" was rarely used in the twentieth century because of an attempt to assimilate the Boervolk with the Afrikaners (both ethnic groups speak Afrikaans). This is the reason why some Boers still refer to themselves as "Afrikaners". The supporters of the "Boer" designation view the term "Afrikaner" an artificial political label which usurped their history and culture, turning "Boer" achievements into "Afrikaner" achievements. They feel that the Western-Cape based Afrikaners — whose ancestors did not trek eastwards or northwards — took advantage of the republican Boers' destitution following the Anglo-Boer War and later attempted to assimilate the Boers into a new politically based cultural label as "Afrikaners." Recently, however, it became increasingly clear to many Boers that the differences between the two ethnic groups are unbridgeable for the foreseeable future and that the Boervolk has remained a distinct cultural group. The term Boere-Afrikaner is used both to accommodate those who prefer the term "Afrikaner" and to indicate that many former Cape Afrikaner have assimilated with the descendants of the Voortrekkers to become Boere-Afrikaners. The Boere-Afrikaners have their own private school system, the BCVO and a Federal Boerevolk Council, looking after their political interests.
[edit] Differences between Boere-Afrikaners and Afrikaners
Although the main difference between the two peoples are that only Boers seek independence and self-determination in their own Homeland, many Boer nationalists often point out the following differences between the Boer nation and the Afrikaner nation:
- Only the Boers participated in the Great Trek, fought in the Anglo-Boer Warand see the Covenant made with God by the Voortrekkers before the Battle of Blood River as binding and celebrate the Day of the Vow, 16 December as a Sabbath.
- Boers are strictly republican and democratic in their political views. They support the ideas of Neo-Calvinism and also embrace only capitalism as their economic policy and are strongly opposed to communism. Afrikaners may have different political and economic views.
- The Boers use only the 1933/53 translation of the Afrikaans Bible, while most Afrikaners use the 1983 translation or the "New Living Translation".
- Liberal ideas are almost entirely absent in Boer culture, while they are very prominent in Afrikaner culture. Boers can best be described as cultural conservatives, while Afrikaners have many different political views and are mainly classical liberals, neoconservatives or libertarians.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
Kemp, Arthur, Wie is die Afrikaner-Boerevolk?, 2003
