Jameson Raid

The Jameson Raid (Afrikaans: Jameson-inval, lit. ''Jameson's Invasion'', 29 December 1895 – 2 January 1896) was a botched raid against the South African Republic (commonly known as the Transvaal) carried out by British colonial administrator Leander Starr Jameson, under the employment of Cecil Rhodes. It involved 500 British South Africa Company police and was launched from Rhodesia over the New Year weekend of 1895–96. Paul Kruger, for whom Rhodes had great personal hatred, was president of the South African Republic at the time. The raid was intended to trigger an uprising by the primarily British expatriate and settler workers (known as Uitlanders) in the Transvaal, but it failed. The workers were referred to as the Johannesburg Conspirators. They were expected to recruit an army and prepare for an insurrection; however, the raid was ineffective, and no uprising took place. The results included embarrassment of the British government; the replacement of Cecil Rhodes as prime minister of the Cape Colony; and the strengthening of Boer dominance of the Transvaal and its gold mines. Also, the withdrawal of so many fighting men left Rhodesia vulnerable, one factor that led just a couple of months later to the Second Matabele War. The raid was a contributory cause of the Second Boer War.