XIXᵉ siècle – XXᵉ siècle
Southern Africa
Traduction non disponible · Original (anglais) · français indisponible
The South African Mineral Revolution was the rapid transformation triggered by diamond discoveries in Griqualand and Kimberley and gold discovery in the Transvaal. It attracted international capital and technical expertise, expanded mining, railways and urban centres, and reshaped South African politics. Mineral wealth contributed to annexations, the Anglo-Boer conflicts and the creation of the Union of South Africa in 1910. The revolution also intensified racial labour control, land dispossession and dependence on migrant African workers.
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Le récit
The mineral revolution began with diamonds. Diamonds were discovered in Griqualand in 1867 and at Kimberley in 1870, turning a sparsely populated and economically marginal area into a centre of international attention. Within five years of the Griqualand discovery, annual diamond exports exceeded £1.6 million, and by 1880 they surpassed £5 million, exceeding the combined value of South Africa’s other exports.
Gold discovery in the Transvaal in 1886 produced an even more extensive transformation. Gold exports reached £10 million by 1890, £25 million by 1905 and between £45 million and £50 million by 1910. Mining drew capital and technical personnel from Britain, Europe and the United States and made Southern Africa the principal destination for investment in colonial Africa.
The concentration of mining capital was symbolized by De Beers Consolidated Mines Ltd, which emerged by 1899 to reorganize diamond mining as a highly capitalized and concentrated industry. It used modern scientific techniques and established a world sales monopoly through the London Diamond Syndicates. Gold mining similarly drove the expansion of infrastructure, labour recruitment and urban settlement.
Mineral wealth altered the political geography of southern Africa. Diamond discovery was followed by the annexation of the Kimberley area, the annexation of the Transvaal in 1877 and the conquest of Zululand in 1879 after the British defeat at Isandhlwana. Diamonds also contributed to the First Anglo-Boer War of 1881, which was won by the Boers.
Gold discovery produced further territorial and political consequences. It contributed to the annexation of African states south of the Limpopo, the Jameson Raid of 1896 and the Second Boer War of 1899. That conflict ultimately resulted in the creation of the Union of South Africa in 1910, linking mineral wealth to the consolidation of a new political order.
XIXᵉ siècle – XXᵉ siècle
Southern Africa
Traduction non disponible · Original (anglais) · français indisponible
The South African Mineral Revolution was the rapid transformation triggered by diamond discoveries in Griqualand and Kimberley and gold discovery in the Transvaal. It attracted international capital and technical expertise, expanded mining, railways and urban centres, and reshaped South African politics. Mineral wealth contributed to annexations, the Anglo-Boer conflicts and the creation of the Union of South Africa in 1910. The revolution also intensified racial labour control, land dispossession and dependence on migrant African workers.
Poursuivre l’exploration
Le récit
The mineral revolution began with diamonds. Diamonds were discovered in Griqualand in 1867 and at Kimberley in 1870, turning a sparsely populated and economically marginal area into a centre of international attention. Within five years of the Griqualand discovery, annual diamond exports exceeded £1.6 million, and by 1880 they surpassed £5 million, exceeding the combined value of South Africa’s other exports.
Gold discovery in the Transvaal in 1886 produced an even more extensive transformation. Gold exports reached £10 million by 1890, £25 million by 1905 and between £45 million and £50 million by 1910. Mining drew capital and technical personnel from Britain, Europe and the United States and made Southern Africa the principal destination for investment in colonial Africa.
The concentration of mining capital was symbolized by De Beers Consolidated Mines Ltd, which emerged by 1899 to reorganize diamond mining as a highly capitalized and concentrated industry. It used modern scientific techniques and established a world sales monopoly through the London Diamond Syndicates. Gold mining similarly drove the expansion of infrastructure, labour recruitment and urban settlement.
Mineral wealth altered the political geography of southern Africa. Diamond discovery was followed by the annexation of the Kimberley area, the annexation of the Transvaal in 1877 and the conquest of Zululand in 1879 after the British defeat at Isandhlwana. Diamonds also contributed to the First Anglo-Boer War of 1881, which was won by the Boers.
Gold discovery produced further territorial and political consequences. It contributed to the annexation of African states south of the Limpopo, the Jameson Raid of 1896 and the Second Boer War of 1899. That conflict ultimately resulted in the creation of the Union of South Africa in 1910, linking mineral wealth to the consolidation of a new political order.
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