1906 was a year of sweeping upheaval. The Russo-Japanese War was still raging fiercely, while the Boer War had already drawn to a close!
With the Russian Pacific Fleet completely wiped out, the Boers' hope of preserving themselves by waiting for an Anglo-Russian war and exploiting shifts in the international situation came to nothing. They had no choice but to compromise with the British.
Likewise, the Boer War, which had lasted nearly nine years, had left the London government in misery. Thus, they did not press the Boers too hard. The armistice terms were broadly similar to those of history, and in some respects even more generous!
In fact, the Boer War had not been continuous. After breaking out in 1896, the British Army, insufficiently prepared, was defeated in 1897, and the two sides entered a three-year truce.
It was not until 1901, when the British used diplomatic means to settle the Boers' supporters on the European continent, that they launched the war anew and the true bloody struggle between the two sides began!
By 1904, major fighting between Britain and the Boers had basically ceased. The two sides held a series of negotiations and had already reached agreements on the major issues. Just as the war was about to end, the Russo-Japanese War broke out.
The Boers saw hope once again. They hoped the Russo-Japanese War would drag the British down; once a great war erupted between the two sides, the British would have no choice but to abandon South Africa.
Unwilling to accept defeat, the Boers took up arms again and played a game of guerrilla hide-and-seek with the British across South Africa.
It dragged on until the Russian Navy's defeat in 1905, when the two sides finally returned to the negotiating table.
These negotiations went smoothly. The