(1899-1902) War fought between Britain and the Afrikaaner republics of the Orange Free State and Transvaal. Despite their paucity of numbers (500,000 to 90,000), the Boers managed to wage a fairly effective guerilla campaign but were overwhelmed. The war was triggered by the refusal of President Kruger of Transvaal to grant political rights to foreigners, who had flooded into the country looking for gold... providing the British with an excuse to seize the largest gold fields in the world.