1914–1915
Afrikaner or Maritz Rebellion
Afrikaner republican opposition to the Union government's decision to invade German South West Africa developed into an armed rebellion involving former Boer commanders, serving officers and supporters of a renewed independent republic.
View in timelineWhen the Union government decided to invade German South West Africa at the start of the First World War, some former Boer commanders and officers opposed fighting on behalf of the British Empire so soon after the South African War. Manie Maritz rejected Union orders in the Northern Cape and sought German support, while Christiaan de Wet, Christiaan Beyers and other former commanders became associated with the wider movement.
The rebellion drew on republican nationalism, resentment of imperial ties and opposition to the government's wartime policy, but it was not a unified uprising supported by all Afrikaners. Union forces defeated the rebel commandos by early 1915. The government then prosecuted or pardoned participants unevenly, while continuing the campaign in German South West Africa.
Significance
The rebellion was the most serious armed challenge to the Union government before the apartheid era. Its defeat confirmed the Union's wartime alignment with Britain, but the memory of defeat, treason trials and imperial loyalty became important to the later growth of Afrikaner nationalist politics.
Why it matters
The rebellion exposed unresolved divisions after the South African War over imperial loyalty, republican independence and Afrikaner political identity. Its defeat strengthened the Union government but helped fuel the later growth of the National Party.
Disputed interpretations
The uprising is variously described as the Afrikaner Rebellion, Maritz Rebellion, Boer Revolt or Third Boer War. Its causes included opposition to fighting for the British Empire, republican nationalism, personal and political rivalries, and anger over the government's handling of the German South West Africa campaign; no single motive explains all participants.
Perspective notes
The Union government treated the movement as armed treason during wartime and defended the invasion of German South West Africa as a national and strategic obligation. Rebels presented themselves as resisting imperial subordination and defending Afrikaner self-determination, while the wider Afrikaner population did not uniformly support the rising.