My Italy

The transformation of regions into provinces is in full swing across the country, which is bound to be a good thing for the development of Italy.

Of course, apart from Italy, the world situation is still changing.

Among them, in the Far East, Russia had promised to withdraw its troops from the Northeast, but the British, who had already seen through the Russians' unfaithful nature, did not believe a word of it, so they turned around and found a thug for themselves, and the Anglo-Japanese Alliance Treaty was officially signed. This treaty is aimed at Russia at first glance, because the treaty stipulates that if the interests of both parties in China and North Korea are invaded by other countries or caused losses due to internal disturbances, either party can take necessary measures. If one of the contracting states is at war with another state, the other party shall strictly maintain neutrality. This is very telling.

Of course, for Japan, being able to form an alliance with the world's most powerful country is a major diplomatic victory worth celebrating.

They have long been dissatisfied with Russia occupying the Northeast and peeking at North Korea. Now that they have the full support of the British Empire, they have nothing to fear. They should prepare for a war with the Russians.

Well, the Japanese are now cheering to be the dogs of the British Empire. As for the British side, they can also be satisfied with finding a thug to curb Russia's expansion in the Far East. Overall, the benefits outweigh the disadvantages for both countries.

The Russians in the Far East and the British Empire could find thugs, but in another war, the British Empire would have to rely on itself.

In the South African colony, the security war between the British Empire and the Boers continued. Faced with the elusive Boer guerrillas, the majestic British Empire was devastated. The power of modern guerrilla warfare is difficult for even the world's largest British Empire to withstand. In addition, European countries are increasingly criticizing and criticizing Britain.

As for the Boer guerrillas, due to lack of supplies, the militia soldiers were malnourished, ragged, and morale was low. Their supplies were depleted and they had to rely on the spoils of war to survive.

So in 1902, the two parties were finally willing to sit down and talk.

In June 1902, Boer representatives representing the two Boer republics, 32 local militia groups and 165 guerrilla groups met in Vereeniging to discuss the future of war.

On June 24, the British representative Lord Milner came to Vereeniging and met with the Boer representative General Smuts.

During the meeting, Milner proposed twelve conditions for peace talks. Its content is:

The Boer field troops and armed citizens lay down their arms, hand over all guns and war materiel in their possession or under their control, terminate any further attempt to resist the Government of His Majesty King Edward VII, and acknowledge His Majesty the King as their lawful sovereign.

Boer prisoners of war who had sworn allegiance to the British Crown were to be released immediately.

The personal freedom and property of the Boers were guaranteed to be inviolable.

General amnesty is granted except for certain violations of the customs of war.

English is the official language, but Afrikaans is spoken in schools and courts.

The Boers were allowed to keep firearms for self-defense, but they had to apply for a license.

To replace military rule in the Transvaal and Orange with civil rule as soon as possible.

To establish a system of representative self-government in South Africa when conditions are ripe.

Any taxes levied to defray the costs of the war were not imposed on the two newly conquered territories.

The British assisted the Boers in rebuilding their farms.

Compensation of three million pounds was provided to the farmers and Boer citizens who suffered losses.

The main commanders of the Boer army were deprived of their citizenship rights, but they were not sentenced to death.

Faced with the British conditions, on June 30, 60 Boer representatives held a vote on whether to give up maintaining independence. The result was 54 votes to 6, and they decided to accept the most critical first article of the peace treaty. On June 31, the British and Burundi officially signed a peace treaty in Vereeniging.

The Anglo-Boer War, which lasted for 32 months, came to an end.

The Boer War, which brought great shame to the British Empire, was finally over.

In this war, the United Kingdom spent a total of 240 million pounds, which was equivalent to the total financial revenue of the British Empire for more than two years, and was enough to build one hundred of the most powerful Elizabeth-class battleships.

In addition, Britain also mobilized 450,000 troops for the two Boer countries, of which 256,000 were British regular troops, 109,000 British volunteers, 53,000 British colonial troops in South Africa, and 31,000 from Canada, Australia and New Zealand. A total of 380,000 British troops were transported to South Africa by sea. In addition, 350,000 horses, 100,000 mules, 1.34 million tons of military equipment and other supplies were transported, and 1,027 ships were used. A total of more than 33,600 officers and soldiers from the British, Australian, New Zealand and Canadian troops participating in the war were killed, and even more were injured.

After the Anglo-Boer War, Britain connected its colonies in southern Africa and controlled the corridor leading to the Great Lakes region in the heart of Africa. The Cape of Good Hope region, backed by the vast interior of South Africa, became one of the most important outposts of the British Overseas Empire.

In terms of economy, with the world's largest Rand gold mine controlled by the United Kingdom, the United Kingdom has been able to control the lifeline of the global economy. Gold from South Africa quickly made London the center of global finance and gold trading.

However, the Second Anglo-Boer War also marked the end of Britain's history of overseas expansion. British politicians found that due to the high cost of modern war, it was economically and strategically unfeasible to defend the overseas territories of the British Empire and the British mainland at the same time.

The UK should therefore no longer maintain a policy of isolation. After the Boer War, Britain began its strategic contraction on a global scale, transferring part of its overseas sphere of influence to white dominions such as Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, while its own strategic focus shifted back to Europe.

However, at this time, the war between the British Empire and the Boers was an inspiration to all European countries. In this war, many important modern combat theories first emerged, or played an important role for the first time.

During the Boer War, the German General Staff sent military advisers to the Transvaal and Orange, and Switzerland, the Netherlands, France and other countries also sent military observers to South Africa.

Facing the British army's large-scale rapid corps mobilization with the help of railways and the overwhelming advantage of large corps in frontal combat, the German General Staff deepened its trust in the "total war" doctrine. Switzerland, on the other hand, has established its own unique national defense system based on the Boer military thought of "all people as soldiers".

In terms of combat theory, the Boer War once again put forward the theory of "popular war": every civilian who meets the service conditions is a soldier to be recruited, usually engaged in his own business on farms and towns, and at a certain time of the year They received short-term military training for a period of time. After the war broke out, they quickly gathered and reported by region to form militia groups to participate in the war. For small countries with relatively poor population and resources, since the military does not engage in production in peacetime and military expenditures are very high, it is impossible to always maintain a standing army of a certain size. Therefore, it adopts the policy of mobilizing the whole people, integrating peacetime and wartime, and integrating military and civilians. , which can solve certain difficulties.

The Italian Army also has its own opinions on the Boer War, such as modifying Italy's mobilization system and striving to allow Italy to have more mobilization forces after the war.