The war in Heidelberg : a case study on the effects of the South African War on Cape Afrikaner identity

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This dissertation examines the effects of the South African War on the rural community of Heidelberg in the Southern Cape. It investigates the complexities of wartime allegiance among Cape Afrikaners that arose as a result of a century of British influence. Intermarriage, cultural cross-pollination, and shared frontierexperience combined to create a hybrid Cape Colonial culture characterised by complex allegiances, composite identities, and culturally constructed structures of power. This study explores the local history of Heidelberg and the surrounding region within the context of the historical development of the Cape Colony, and demonstrates the formation of a localised hybrid cultural identity and hierarchical power structures built on the vestiges of the old Dutch system of legal distinctions,which had been transmuted by British rule. As many of the colonial inhabitants had familial ties and sympathies to the Boer Republics, the pressures of the war challenged the complexity that characterised Cape Colonial identity and allegiance.Despite deep connections to those living in the Boer Republics, their status as British citizens made them liable to treason charges which prevented any action of supporttowards the republican cause.Although most disapproved of the war and the way in which it was conducted,very few renounced their citizenship to take up arms against the British Empire. Cape Afrikaners had a vested interest in the Cape Colony, and had grown accustomed to thecivil liberties and access to Imperial markets which sustained their livelihoods. This study investigates the people of Heidelberg's loyalty to British citizenship and sympathy with the republics by exploring their connections to the republics, incidents of loyalty or sympathy, as well as identifying possible motivations behind such displays. Martial law was the primary point of contention during the war and becamethe vehicle of change in Cape Colonial society, having both ideological and material effects on the population.This thesis details how the application of martial law impacted the community of Heidelberg both from outside and within. Externally, this was through the introduction of seemingly foreign ideas on Imperial hegemony and British citizenship which created great animosity between the military and local government. Internally, it was through the challenges to existing hierarchies and civil liberties by the new institutions and practices created for the express purpose of enforcing martial law and safeguarding the Colony from invasion. This work also highlights how the spectacleof battle and destructiveness of republican invasion shaped the attitudes and inclinations of Cape Afrikaners by exploring the skirmish at Heidelberg as well as its aftermath. Martial law and the battle in town created a climate of civil war andparanoia within the community. This thesis concludes with an examination into how community divisions resulting from the war were addressed by reporting on incidents of reconciliation and retribution in the post-war period, as well as in identifying long term changes in the community. It highlights how the South African War became a critical juncture in formation of ethnic identity among Cape Afrikaners, and how the war in the Cape Colony contributed to the evolution of Afrikaner Nationalism.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University