Getting your questions ready
Getting your questions ready
Beat the crowd
10 questions No timer
50 free Boer War trivia questions with answers — history quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
The Second Boer War (1899–1902) pitted the British Empire against two small Boer republics, the Transvaal and the Orange Free State, over gold, the vote for Uitlanders and who would run southern Africa. It opened with Boer sieges of Ladysmith, Mafeking and Kimberley and a run of British defeats in Black Week, turned when Roberts and Kitchener arrived with the largest force Britain had ever sent overseas, and then dragged on for two years of guerrilla war, blockhouses, scorched earth and concentration camps in which tens of thousands of civilians died. This quiz covers the Jameson Raid and the Kruger telegram, the Mauser-armed commandos, Baden-Powell at Mafeking, Spion Kop, Paardeberg, the relief celebrations that gave English the word 'mafficking', Christiaan de Wet and Koos de la Rey, the khaki election, Gandhi's ambulance corps, the Breaker Morant court-martial, the volunteers from Australia, Canada and New Zealand, and the £3 million peace at Vereeniging that led to the Union of South Africa in 1910. Fifty questions, four options each, with a short explanation after every answer. Play on your phone or print it for a history quiz night.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Which two Boer republics fought the British Empire from 1899 to 1902?
Transvaal and Orange Free State
The Transvaal was formally the South African Republic; both were annexed in 1900 and became British colonies.
Q 02What does the word 'Boer' mean?
Farmer
It is the common name for Afrikaans-speaking white South Africans descended from Dutch East India Company settlers.
Q 03Which name for the conflict is official in the country where it was fought?
The South African War
Most scholars prefer the name because it acknowledges that black South Africans were affected and took part.
Q 04What term did the Boers use for the mostly British foreigners drawn to the gold fields?
Uitlanders
They could vote only after 14 years' residence, a grievance that became Britain's pretext for war.
Q 05The world's largest gold deposit was discovered in 1884 on which ridge near Pretoria?
Witwatersrand
The name means 'white water ridge'; Johannesburg sprang up as a shanty town almost overnight.
Q 06Which migration of 1836–1852 took roughly 15,000 Boers out of the British-ruled Cape?
The Great Trek
Many left in anger at Britain's 1834 abolition of slavery; they founded the two republics in 1852 and 1854.
Q 07Who led the failed 1895 raid that Jan Smuts later called 'the real declaration of war'?
Leander Starr Jameson
His 600 men were surrounded near Krugersdorp; he was jailed but later became Prime Minister of the Cape Colony.
Q 08Which Cape prime minister was forced to resign after the Jameson Raid exposed his involvement?
Cecil Rhodes
He dreamed of British Africa from the Cape to Cairo and paid the £2,000 fines of the Reform Committee members.
Q 09Who sent the 'Kruger telegram' congratulating the Transvaal on defeating the Jameson Raid?
The German Kaiser
Its publication in the British press set off a storm of anti-German feeling.
Q 10A tax and monopoly on which mining explosive became a casus belli?
Dynamite
A five-pound box carried five shillings of tax; the monopoly went to a non-British branch of the Nobel company.
Q 11Kruger re-armed the Transvaal with 37,000 of which German rifle?
Mauser Model 1895
When Mauser ammunition ran out, commandos relied mainly on captured British Lee-Metfords.
Q 12The Boers' large-calibre, belt-fed Maxim auto-cannon was nicknamed what?
Pom Pom
It fired explosive rounds at 450 per minute; 'Long Tom' was the name given to their Le Creusot siege guns.
Q 13The June 1899 conference at which negotiations with Kruger collapsed was held in which city?
Bloemfontein
President Steyn of the Orange Free State hosted it; Milner refused to accept Kruger's delaying tactics.
Q 21The three British defeats of 10–15 December 1899 are remembered as what?
Black Week
Stormberg, Magersfontein and Colenso fell in quick succession, forcing Britain to send two more divisions.
Q 22At Magersfontein, which formation was pinned down for nine hours in the heat before breaking?
The Highland Brigade
De la Rey and Cronjé had dug trenches in an unexpected spot, helping write the doctrine of defensive supremacy.
Q 23Buller's failed attempt to cross which river at Colenso was the low point of December 1899?
Tugela
He left ten field guns and many wounded behind; Louis Botha's 8,000 Boers lost just 40 men.
Q 14Kruger's ultimatum of 9 October 1899 gave Britain how long to pull troops off the border?
48 hours
The Times called it an 'extravagant farce'; the Daily Telegraph declared 'Kruger has asked for war and war he must have!'
Q 15What was the name of the local militia unit that Boer citizens formed when danger loomed?
Commando
Each man brought his own rifle and horse; the Veldkornet kept the muster rolls but had no disciplinary power.
Q 16Which was the only Boer unit to wear uniforms, in light green?
The State Artillery
The Staatsartillerie was the republics' sole regular force; everyone else fought in civilian clothes.
Q 17The first major clash of the war, on 20 October 1899, was fought on which high ground near Dundee?
Talana Hill
The British drove the Boers off but lost 446 men, including General Penn Symons.
Q 18Who commanded the 217-day defence of Mafeking?
Robert Baden-Powell
He had raised about 1,200 local troops; Piet Cronjé's 6,000 Boers settled in to starve the town.
Q 19Which diamond-mining city was besieged from November 1899, with a famous magnate inside it?
Kimberley
Rhodes at one point urged townspeople into the mine shafts for shelter; a relief cavalry charge lifted the siege after 124 days.
Q 20Sol Plaatje's siege diary noted which animal's flesh being eaten for the first time?
Horse
Plaatje was in Mafeking; the besieged towns also faced constant shelling that made the streets dangerous.
Q 24Which summit did British troops seize on 24 January 1900, only to be overlooked by Boer guns?
Spion Kop
Contradictory orders from Buller and his commanders cost 350 killed and nearly 1,000 wounded.
Q 25What nickname did some officers give General Buller after his repeated withdrawals?
Sir Reverse
He was replaced as commander-in-chief by Lord Roberts, with Kitchener as chief of staff.
Q 26Who replaced Buller as British commander-in-chief in South Africa?
Lord Roberts
He recruited the American scout Frederick Russell Burnham from the Klondike as his Chief of Scouts.
Q 27Which American, recruited from the Klondike, served as Roberts's Chief of Scouts?
Frederick Russell Burnham
He received the highest awards of any American in the war; American mercenaries fought on both sides.
Q 28Piet Cronjé surrendered with 4,000 men in February 1900 after being bombarded at which battle?
Paardeberg
British troops drinking from the polluted Modder River were then hit by a typhoid outbreak.
Q 29How long had Ladysmith been under siege when Buller's troops finally marched in on 28 February 1900?
118 days
It was his fourth attempt; he had adopted Boer tactics of short rushes and use of ground.
Q 30The wild celebrations at the relief of Mafeking gave English which slang word?
Mafficking
The relief on 18 May 1900 set off riotous scenes across Britain.