Everything about Paul Kruger totally explained
Stephanus Johannes Paulus Kruger (
October 10,
1825 –
July 14,
1904), better known as
Paul Kruger and fondly known as
Oom Paul (
Afrikaans for "Uncle Paul") was
State President of the
South African Republic (
Transvaal). He gained international renown as the face of
Boer resistance against the
British during the
South African or
Second Boer War (1899-1902).
Youth
Kruger was born at
Bulhoek, his grandfather's farm in the
Steynsburg district near the town of
Cradock, and grew up on the farm Vaalbank. He received only three months' formal education, his master being one
Tielman Roos, but supposedly became knowledgeable from life on the
veld. His father,
Casper Kruger, joined the trek party of
Hendrik Potgieter when the
Great Trek started in
1836.
The trekkers crossed the
Vaal River in
1838, and at first stayed in the area that's known today as
Potchefstroom. Kruger's father later decided to settle in the district now known as
Rustenburg. At the age of 16, Kruger was entitled to choose a farm for himself at the foot of the
Magaliesberg, where he settled in
1841.
The following year he married
Maria du Plessis, and the young couple accompanied his father to live in the Eastern Transvaal for a while. After the family had returned to Rustenburg, Kruger's wife and infant son died, probably from
malaria. He then married
Gezina du Plessis, who was his constant and devoted companion until her death in
1901. Seven daughters and nine sons were born of the marriage, some dying in infancy.
Leadership
In time, Kruger emerged as a leader. He started as a
field cornet in the
commandos, eventually becoming Commandant-General of the
South African Republic. He was appointed member of a commission of the
Volksraad, the republican parliament that was to draw up a
constitution. People began to take notice of the young man and he played a prominent part in ending the quarrel between the Transvaal leader,
Stephanus Schoeman, and
M.W. Pretorius.
In
1873, Kruger resigned as Commandant-General, and for a time he held no office and retired to his farm,
Boekenhoutfontein. However, in
1874 he was elected to the Executive Council and shortly after that became Vice-President of the Transvaal.
Following the annexation of the Transvaal by
Britain in
1877, Kruger became the leader of the resistance movement. During the same year, he visited Britain for the first time as leader of a deputation. In
1878, he was part of a second deputation. A highlight of his visit to
Europe was when he ascended in a
hot air balloon and saw
Paris from the air.
The
First Boer War, also known as the "First War of Independence", started in
1880, and the British forces were defeated in the decisive battle at
Majuba in
1881. Once again, Kruger played an important role in the negotiations with the British, which led to the restoration of the Transvaal's independence under British suzerainty.
On
30 December 1880, at the age of 55, Kruger was elected President of the Transvaal. One of his first aims was the revision of the
Pretoria Convention of 1881, the agreement between the Boers and the British that ended the First Boer War. Therefore, he again left for Britain in 1883, empowered to negotiate with
Lord Derby. Kruger and his companions also visited the Continent and this visit became a triumph in countries such as
Germany,
Belgium, the
Netherlands,
France and
Spain. In Germany, he attended an imperial banquet at which he was presented to the Emperor,
Wilhelm I, and spoke at length with
Bismarck.
In the Transvaal, things changed rapidly after the discovery of
gold on the
Witwatersrand. This momentous discovery was to have far-reaching political repercussions and to give rise to the
uitlander, or foreigner, problem, which was eventually to cause the fall of the Republic. Kruger acknowledged in his memiors that General Joubert predicted the events that were to follow afterwards, declaring that instead of rejoicing for the discovery of
gold, they should be weeping because it'll "cause our land to be soaked in blood."
At the end of 1895, the failed
Jameson raid took place;
Jameson was forced to surrender, taken to Pretoria and handed over to his British countrymen for punishment.
Kruger believed that the
Earth is flat; in 1897 he said to a sailor sailing round the world "You don't mean round the world, it's impossible! You mean in the world. Impossible!"
(External Link
).
In 1898, Kruger was elected President for the fourth and last time.
Exile
On
11 October 1899, the
Second Boer War broke out. On
7 May the following year, Kruger attended the last session of the Volksraad, and left Pretoria on
29 May as
Lord Roberts was advancing on the town. For weeks he either stayed in a house at
Waterval Onder or in his railway carriage at
Machadodorp in the then Eastern Transvaal, now
Mpumalanga. In October, he left South Africa on the
Dutch warship
De Gelderland, sent by the
Queen of the Netherlands Wilhelmina, which had simply ignored the British
naval blockade of South Africa. His wife was too ill to travel and remained in South Africa; she died on
20 July 1901.
Kruger went to
Marseille and stayed for a while in The Netherlands, before moving to
Clarens,
Switzerland, where he died on
14 July 1904. He was buried on
16 December 1904 in the Church Street cemetery,
Pretoria.
Physical appearance
Kruger was a large squarely built man, with dark brown hair and brown eyes. In later years his hair went snowy white. He wore a beard, but never a mustache. He mostly went dressed in a black
frock coat with a
top hat. Never far from his
pipe, he was a
chain smoker. The image of Kruger in his top hat and frock coat, smoking his pipe was used to great effect in the
Anglo-Boer war by
British cartoonists.
According to legend, he was named
Mamelodi'a Tshwane (
Tswana for "whistler of the
Apies River") by the inhabitants of the surrounding area for his ability to whistle and imitate bird calls.
Legacy
His former Pretoria residence is now the
Kruger House Museum.
In Church Square, Pretoria, stands a statue of Kruger in formal dress.
The
Kruger National Park is named after him, as is the
Krugerrand coin, which features his face on the obverse.
Pipe manufacturers still produce a style named an "Oom Paul," the characteristic large-bowled full-bent shape often seen in photographs of Paul Kruger and believed to have been custom designed for him.
In
2004 he was voted 27th in the
SABC3's Great South Africans poll conducted by the
South African Broadcasting Corporation.
The Nazis used his biography (Kruger had German ancestors) for one of their anti-British propaganda films, the lavish adventure
Ohm Krüger shot by director
Hans Steinhoff in 1940–41. The role of Kruger in this movie was played by
Emil Jannings.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Paul Kruger'.
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