Boekomslag: Jonathan Ball
Milner – Last of the empire–builders
Richard Steyn
Jonathan Ball Publishers
ISBN: 9781776191789
Richard Steyn, well-known for his biography on the international South African statesman, JC Smuts, entitled Jan Smuts: unafraid of greatness (Jonathan Ball, 2015) as well as several other books, now adds Milner – Last of the empire–builders to his stable. As much as one would like to obliterate the memory of this controversial figure because of the atrocious actions and iniquitous legacy he left in South Africa during and after his work here in the late 19th century and into the first few years of the 20th century, unfortunately, the reality is that this is not possible.
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As much as one would like to obliterate the memory of this controversial figure because of the atrocious actions and iniquitous legacy he left in South Africa during and after his work here in the late 19th century and into the first few years of the 20th century, unfortunately, the reality is that this is not possible.
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Perhaps one day streets in South Africa bearing his name will change, and the relief memorial to him in St George’s Cathedral in Cape Town, immured in the wall of the St John’s Chapel, approximately twelve metres from the memorial stone of the Late Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Mpilo Tutu (1931–2021), will be removed, or Milnerton on the Atlantic Seaboard in Cape Town named after him, might get a name change as schools around the country bearing his name, one day surely will. The book provides the reader with an overall account of this period covering themes such as politics, socio-economic conditions, and the cultural life in a far-off British colony. Neither is Steyn professing to write academically, he writes for readers who read for pleasure but who want to be informed. The fact remains the book is an important text and adds richly to South African historiography for an understanding of an era. I always knew Milner as a bad piece of work, responsible for early apartheid and the fact that the horrific treatment of women and children in the concentration camps happened under his administration. However, after reading this book I now understand just how destructive his policies were, although he is not the only one to blame. There were worse ones if this can be believed, such as Kitchener, inextricably intertwined in this "evil empire".
Milner was born in Germany on 23 March 1854 to English parents. Already from an early stage he showed "exceptional promise" academically. His high school career was spent at King’s College in London, after which he went to Balliol College at Oxford (1872) becoming very interested in politics, religion and the merits of public service. It was not easy for him and his family, financially, to be at university, which meant that as a student Milner had to work hard to win scholarships to pay for his education. After his studies, he trained in law although he never practised in the field. Instead, he worked in journalism, writing for the prestigious Pall Mall Gazette. He stood as a candidate for Parliament for the Liberals in England but was defeated, after which he started working in public administration in the civil service in 1885. He filled various positions in this capacity; as the private secretary to the Chancellor of the Exchequer; followed by the Administrator of Egypt from 1889–1892; as chairman of the Board of Inland Revenue from 1892–1897, work for which he was knighted in 1895 by her Royal Highness Queen Victoria. Afterwards, he was appointed as the High Commissioner for South Africa and the Governor of the Cape Colony in 1897. He worked in South Africa until 1905 when he resigned from his position. His intention was to retire from public life and write. He was made a member of the House of Lords and was assigned to David Lloyd George’s War Cabinet from 1916–1921, during which time he worked to set up a unified Allied Command with the French military. He was then appointed Colonial Secretary at the end of WWI and was a member of the Paris Peace Conference. He resigned once again (in 1921) when he was not successful in his quest for a modified form of independence for Egypt. He continued with his writing, and died in 1925; he was married (he married late in life) and had no children.
The cover page of the book is of Milner, sourced from Hulton Deutsch/Getty Images, accompanied by the rubric: "English colonial administrator and statesman, Alfred Milner, 1st Viscount Milner (1834–1925). Milner served as a colonial administrator in Egypt and in South Africa during the Boer war." The photograph is from 1885, making Milner 31 years of age in the photo, at the time he was standing for Parliament in England. The Table of Contents consists of a Preface; a Prologue; 35 chapters, of which the 35th is a "summing up" (just under half the number of chapters cover Milner’s time spent in South Africa); an Afterword; Acknowledgements; Notes; Select Bibliography; and the book is Indexed. It is 380 pages long. The book is dedicated to Richard Steyn’s brother Christopher "for his unstinting support"; and in memory of Gordon Forbes and Jonathan Ball (all on the dedication page); followed by six quotes for context, by Deepak Lal, an Indian economist, Roy Foster an Irish historian, John M MacKenzie a British historian, Sir Alfred Milner himself (1899), and finally the former President of South Africa, FW de Klerk, who said: "We remembered with bitterness Lord Milner’s attempts to deprive us of our language and culture." The book contains relevant photographs which the reader will come across in the text, which are explained. The photographs all serve the text well.
The Preface provides a short literature survey (including Leo Amery, CW de Kiewiet, A Nutting, Piers Brendon, IR Smith, A Roberts, TH O’Brein, J Morris, J Buchan, R Rotberg and M Shore, D Denoon and others – some are biographies of Milner; see the "Notes" on p341 for further details). The Preface provides views from the author and context of Milner, such as "Milner’s reputation cannot be circumscribed by his association with South Africa alone" which is fair enough commentary, for which the writer means Milner’s other "significant" contributions, to the First World War. Yet, more than half of the number of chapters of the book covers the eight years when Milner was in South Africa, out of a life that spanned 72 years. If one is to call it a cradle-to-grave biography then it is in this sense, out of balance. The Preface explains that Milner "thought that mankind was organised hierarchically by race, with the Anglo-Saxons at or near the top of the pile" (Steyn). For this, according to Steyn, he proudly proclaimed himself as a British "race patriot" until his dying day (1925). Imperialists of the time, including Milner, believed that the English as chosen people were driven by the need to colonise people who were less fortunate than themselves. In this way they hoped for the material progress of mankind through free trade; to spread "enlightenment" and good governance around the world – and so "uplift people on the lowest rungs of civilization" (in Steyn, xiii). Steyn refers to the English poet Rudyard Kipling who talks about the "lesser breeds without the law", to explain Milner (perhaps the context for this quote needs to be checked).
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It cannot be argued away that Milner grew up in the age of imperialism and at the time of British cultural chauvinism; that England "must found colonies as fast and as far as she is able, formed of her most energetic and worthiest men".
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It cannot be argued away that Milner grew up in the age of imperialism and at the time of British cultural chauvinism; that England "must found colonies as fast and as far as she is able, formed of her most energetic and worthiest men". Steyn explains how some saw that Milner should not have been sent to South Africa; "lacking in the skills to envisage a world different from his own." Another commentator, the historian Jan Morris (Steyn says James Morris?) saw Milner as committed to systems rather than abstract ideas, as "a genuine imperial technocrat". According to the South African–born historian Donald Denoon, Milner was "a man of intense political vision, with a talent for analysing affairs in terms of a simple and static set of assumptions. Above all, he was an egotist who not only relished his crucial role in Anglo–Saxon relations, but indeed exaggerated it" (p xv).
It behoves Steyn to cover the South African War and Milner’s instrumental role (in starting it). Milner, the so-called socialist autocrat which was Smuts’ term for him, not only was a major cause for the war itself, but he also played a significant role in "restructuring" the two republics with the emphasis on the policy of Anglicization to "enable South Africa’s four colonies to be joined together under the British Crown" (xv). It never worked out the way he wanted; we read how he failed in his objectives, yet, he tried to introduce modern farming methods after the war … this, after the barbaric destruction of the countryside that was rendered bare after the scorched earth policies. Steyn writes: "Nonetheless, the so-called kindergarten of brilliant would-be colonial administrators he left behind in the Transvaal contributed significantly to the unification of South Africa, a process that moved into a higher gear not long after his departure." How were they brilliant when the majority of South Africans were omitted from mainstream constitutionality? This is followed by descriptions of how Milner was disgusted by the fact that "the new Union of South Africa was to fall quickly into the lap of the very Boer–Afrikaners he had fought so bitterly to subjugate" (xvi).
Steyn gives an assessment of Milner, beyond South Africa, as a tax reformer, and standing in opposition to Home Rule in Ireland. He is called by this biographer as "one of Britain’s greatest public servants of his time, helping to reconstruct the economy of Egypt (and writing a primer on imperial administration), among other ventures" (xvii–xviii). Then there are other engagements – "active businessman"; "social reformer"; then he "returned to public prominence to help bring Lloyd George to power during the First World War, before becoming his most effective cabinet member as War Secretary and Colonial Secretary" (xviii). Milner finally married, at age 67 and died four years later at age 72. Steyn writes about his widow, Violet (formerly Lady Edward) Cecil: that she made it her mission to defend his controversial South African record by employing the journalist Cecil Headlam to compile two volumes of his correspondence and diary notes, "with an accompanying text" (xix). These are "The Milner Papers" published by Cassell & Co Ltd (London, Toronto, Melbourne & Sydney: 1933). Steyn explains how he avoids the historiographic approach – and that the book is not intended for an academic audience (as a word of caution). He then proceeds to sketch the character of Milner through his career as a government official, one of the most–high ranking in the history of modern British politics. Either way, it is historiography, a writer writing up history.
Chapter 1 traces Milner’s youth (1854 – 1879) explaining how it was that he came to be born in Germany; followed by his early schooling in England. He then went up to Oxford which influenced him to enter public life and public service: to become a "civilian soldier of the Empire". Steyn explains how at Oxford he married two rather unusual strands namely imperial advancement abroad, coupled with social reform at home. He describes this as an unusual political philosophy because of the way it combined "two seemingly conflicting ideals" (p 13). His academic record at university was nothing short of stellar, clearly Milner was academically gifted. Steyn says about him: "Although his party–political inclinations were Liberal, he was actually closer to Benjamin Disraeli’s brand of Conservatism, with its enthusiasm for The Empire, the extension of the franchise to the masses and concern for social upliftment."
Chapter 2 covers the period 1881–1889 when Milner wanted to enter a career in law, but then abandoned the idea (at age 28) after he "had suffered a bout of deep depression" (p 14) At that time, he moved into lodgings with Marianne Malcolm the daughter of a friend of the family, who had turned to the bottle and become mentally unstable (p 14). Gradually Milner turned to writing political articles as an apprenticeship for politics (p 15). He became the assistant to the editor of the Pall Mall Gazette, William T Stead, who "observed that his assistant felt the strain of his work and was easily exhausted" and further that "His physical energy was deficient. He often suffered from sleeplessness, and he needed to take care of himself". The writer John Buchan observed of him that "early in life he became aware that he had a limited stock of vitality, bodily and mental" (p 15). Steyn remarks: ‘Throughout his career, overwork would give rise to health problems".
Picture: https://pixabay.com/photos/pyramids-egypt-giza-archeology-2159286/
It was at that time (1881) that the Pall Mall Gazette had been critical of the government capitulating to the Boers in South Africa after the Battle of Majuba Hill (February 1881). Britain opted for peace and recognised the South African Republic of President Paul Kruger (p 15). Milner experienced a severe blow from the death of a mentor, Arnold Toynbee, the British economic historian from whom he had derived an understanding and sense of social responsibility (p 16). These events all sketch the young Milner, his character traits and his ups and downs.Chapter 3 sees Milner in Egypt in 1889 as the Director-General of Accounts. Britain was then the predominant influence in Egypt. Reading this chapter one can get an idea of Anglo-Egyptian affairs and the deep complexities (p 23). Milner lived in Cairo and set out to manage the finances, keeping to himself socially and enjoying only some of the living there. He found the challenge of working with finances in which "the connection of economics with politics and morality" was so apparent. It was in Cairo that Milner met Joseph Chamberlain, Britain’s influential Colonial Secretary. Chamberlain had recently travelled abroad and was more convinced than ever that Britain needed to retain control over pivotal Egypt for commercial and mercantile reasons. Chamberlain’s position had a few years earlier (1895) been strengthened with the Tory-Liberal imperialist coalition under Lord Salisbury (p28). Chamberlain was offered any position in the cabinet except Foreign Secretary and so chose Colonial Secretary (over the Chancellorship) which meant that he could have direct administrative influence and power over approximately 50 million people – talk about megalomania. It was Chamberlain who propagated the "New Imperialism" that was the antidote to direct involvement in large parts of the globe, that started "splendid isolation". Ironically, not of the same social order or stratification as Lord Salisbury, Chamberlain became known for his ‘irresistible appeal for the masses of the 1890s – who loved flash’. Working with Milner in Egypt was the Inspector General of Police, Colonel Horatio Herbert Kitchener, who had defeated the Mahdi in Sudan in 1898. Milner’s early comments of Kitchener, question him for being ‘on the right lines’; and say he was "ruthless in his treatment of other interests". (p28). Michelle Gordon of the Hugo Valentin Centre, at Uppsala University in Sweden, in an article entitled ‘Viewing Violence in the British Empire: Images of Atrocity from the Battle of Omdurman, 1898’, describes the violence and aftermath of the Battle of Omdurman, under Horatio Herbert Kitchener, thus: "This battle entailed a range of appalling acts on the part of the Anglo–Egyptian army, including the massacring of the enemy wounded."[1] She argues that the atrocious graphic and visual images that she includes in her paper “provide a counterbalance to the representation of Britain’s ‘small wars’ across the Empire as "colonial derring–do’". She argues further that "Such accounts contribute to masking the brutalities of British colonial warfare". Whilst Steyn discusses Kitchener further on (p29) mentioning Omdurman where the Mahdi were defeated in 1898, perhaps the reader should get a clear image of him and the atrocities he had committed in Sudan a year prior to the arrival of Milner in Africa, other than to see the man through the eyes of Milner (see p 28). For this, Michelle Gordon’s account would be apt, to be found here, should the reader wish to find out more about the person who was Kitchener. Chapter 3 also discusses Milner’s romance (Margot Tennant, see further down); his views on Cecil John Rhodes; and the offer he could not refuse which was to move back to Britain as its principal tax officer. Whilst he did so with mixed emotions as he had grown to like Egypt, the position would enable him to "paddle his own canoe" hardly a description of the kind of work a high–placed revenue official would be expected to do. Surely more like "steer my own ship", although Steyn’s comment was probably meant to sound like an antidote to the severity of the work that he knew would be in store for him.
Chapter 4 discusses Milner the "Tax Gatherer" (1892 – 1897). He now found himself at Somerset House next to his old school, Kings. He was the Chairman of the Inland Revenue Board reporting directly to the Chancellor of the Exchequer who was a friend, George Goschen. That same year Milner’s book on Egypt appeared: England in Egypt. It reflected his sentiments of the "New Imperialism" and was a great success and brought Milner to prominence as an imperial figure. It captured the attention of Rhodes who wrote to Milner about it. With his plan of the telegraph line from Cape to Cairo, followed by a railway, it must have been poetry to his ears. The Egyptians saw through the propaganda knowing it was written to make British occupation of their country more certain, Milner the imperialist in the middle of it. Milner was to remain in a good position (he had been a favourite of Goschen) when the change of government in Britain came about with Lord Rosebury a friend, becoming the Foreign Secretary. The two were ad idem on strong social reform at home, as well as a strong defence, and the "vigorous advancement of Empire worldwide" (p 34). One might ask about Milner’s social position: he spent much of his time with aristocrats and had a "mistress", a little–known actress Cecile Duval. He stayed in touch with her until he died and left her some money in his will. He also at this time met Violet Maxse, the twenty–four–year–old daughter of Admiral Frederick Maxse, the radical Liberal and social activist. He was to marry her 30 years later (for now we are in the 1890s). It should also be mentioned that at the time of his duties in Egypt he had a relationship with Margo Tennant from England who subsequently informed him in 1894 that she would be marrying H.H. Asquith the Liberal Party politician who was then the Home Secretary, subsequently to become the British Prime Minister (1808 – 1916). Steyn paints Milner as an ambitious person; competent at administration and well–connected, as academically strong, with enough proof of that from his stellar performances at school and university.
Dining with a few people at a club in London in 1895, was to have a dire effect on the future political and constitutional path of South Africa. He was to dine with amongst others Albert Grey, Lord Lansdowne, Cecil Rhodes and Dr Leander Starr Jameson … "ardent imperialists". Steyn argues that "A topic under discussion would have been the decision by Lord Ripon, the Colonial Secretary, to send the superannuated Sir Hercules Robinson, later Lord Rosmead, back to South Africa for his second term as High Commissioner and Governor of the Cape" (p 37). It was also then that Milner renewed his friendship with Edmund Garrett, who was going to South Africa as the newly appointed editor of the pro–imperial morning daily, the Cape Times which would help him on his political path. All of this at a time when the British government had changed, with new directions and allegiances (p 38). Of importance for Milner was Lord Salisbury’s Unionist coalition, with Joseph Chamberlain the Colonial Secretary, and Milner now Lord Milner. Salisbury knew something about South Africa as he had visited there in the early 1850s, and in fact partook of Holy Communion at Diocesan College, under the Visitorship of Bishop Robert Gray of the Anglican Church on his visit. Milner meanwhile had his sights on great things in Egypt and Sudan. He thought of Egypt and Sudan together; this was the time that Kitchener was committing his acts of barbarism in the region ‘intent on avenging General Gordon’s death at the hands of the Mahdi’s army 13 years earlier’ (p 41). Quo vadis Milner? … who was still working in the tax department.Chapter 4 introduces "A New Challenge" (1896 – 1897). The post–Jameson Raid period in South Africa confirmed the designs of imperialism in South Africa; and to add more fuel to the fire, Chamberlain the Colonial Secretary’s ‘political philosophy’ included South Africa in a British federation which would stand up to any power in the world. Included would be the raised living standards of the British. The period coincided with the press raving about the far–situated places, and Rhodes’ plans, the lure of travel and wealth, especially in South Africa where diamonds and gold had been discovered a few years before. It was no longer just Egypt and India in the design for this, but also South Africa with its strategic port at Cape Town, enshrined in maritime glory for any economic power as it was so well positioned between East and West. However, it was a country divided up, and costly to administer (Bushman Wars, Khoi Wars, Xhosa Wars, Zulu Wars). Creating a federation of the various ‘nations’ in South Africa was proving harder as new power kegs arose and contestation grew (the Boers), and the Germans’ presence in South West Africa (Namibia) was becoming a strong rival. The only way forward, therefore, was British supremacy over the Boers, although Chamberlain knew that he needed to proceed with caution so as not to cause a prolonged conflict.
Who else but Milner to carry out these designs, thought Chamberlain, whom he knew well, but they were not close friends. Chamberlain thought Milner could come into the Colonial Office as under–secretary; Milner was looking for a posting abroad, as he was tiring of routine office work. Then came the offer he was hoping for; Governor of the Cape Colony and High Commissioner for Southern Africa. Meeting Rhodes and others at the London club in 1895, all of whom were associated with South Africa in one or another way, must also have played a role with Milner’s accord for the posting. In the way he describes events, Steyn provides the building blocks to gain an understanding of how and why Milner ended up in South Africa. He could just as easily have landed up in Egypt (again) or India. Strangely enough, Milner had a premonition that it would be an awful job and that there was no chance of success, as he confessed even before leaving … so why then did he take on this position? Events in South Africa were taking a new turn, the centre of it the belligerent President Kruger, amidst which Milner, on 17 April 1897 boarded the SS Norham Castle bound for Cape Town with a briefcase full of reading, including Olive Schreiner’s The Story of an African Farm, and Machiavelli’s The Prince (did he think of himself as another Borgia, ready to exercise his political expediency over his rivals?). Good literature was important to Milner, not forgetting the propagandistic press, crucial for British sentiment to shore up sufficient confidence to fight the mighty Boers. South Africa was to be an extension of the British Empire, distinctly British and not Boer, thought Milner. This was what he thought.
Picture: https://pixabay.com/photos/pioneer-statue-statue-bronze-woman-438112/
Steyn gave Chapter 6 the title "Playing Himself In" to explain how Milner starts conducting military operations without yet having set foot on South African soil! This to prevent the link in the imperial chain (South Africa) from snapping. The first impression of the inveterate South African politician John Xavier Merriman, of Milner, was that they were in for trouble (p 53). The two major role–players in South Africa at the time were Kruger and Rhodes, enemies of each other, and one might argue purely self–serving in their actions. Rhodes, set on his personal mission of the Cape to Cairo railway line; Kruger, on Boer autonomy. Enter Milner! There is a huge irony, however, around Rhodes, to whom Afrikaners gave their support hoping that he would forge the whites–only state they had hoped for. Thus, when the Jameson Raid occurred, someone such as Smuts changed sides, relinquished his British citizenship, and went North to join the Kruger administration. This was an era of very complex international relations in South Africa (the post–1895 era). The Transvaal (Gauteng) had risen to economic prominence through the discovery of gold (1886) on the Witwatersrand, shifting the balance of power from Cape Town to Pretoria. The German presence in South West Africa was present too; as was the British influence in other parts of Southern Africa. The newly built port at Delagoa Bay (Maputo) meant the railway line between the Cape and the Transvaal was no longer as essential for trade and exports. Kruger was plotting against foreigners (including the British), and the chance of Afrikaners in the Cape (supporting the British–led Cape Colony) might lead to them changing allegiances to the Boers. The war between the British and Boers in 1881, could not be repeated (especially not in 1897 being Queen Victoria’s Jubilee year!). Another war would be financially disastrous for Britain. The call to Milner was clear – do not entice the Boers! For now, he had things under control and in Steyn’s words, had played himself in … at least so he thought.
The next two years in South Africa, are years the biographer denotes as "Widening Horizons" 1897 – 1898’ which is the title of Chapter 7. Steyn describes the great Jubilee celebrations in London and mentions that Her Royal Highness Queen Victoria was seated next to (her cousin!) Archduke Franz Ferdinand at a state banquet but this is not referenced. The time is June 1897. Celebrations were also held at the Cape, at St George’s Cathedral, the seat of the country’s Anglican Church (today the Anglican Church of South Africa). Amidst these events, Milner gradually started realizing the existence of the Anglo–Dutch friction that prevailed at the Cape; as well as the racial issues, as ‘the great S. African problem’ (p 62). Who was he to turn to in his new position, Merriman, a former Prime Minister, who was probably one of the first to detect a ‘fanaticism’ in Milner (p 63)? It was Merriman who later commented, after meetings between the two, that Milner despised Parliament; was a strong Rhodes man, and anti–Transvaal. A trio of ‘detests’ could only lead to one thing. Added to it all, when Milner proposed more pressure on the Transvaal (to implement British policies, and allow foreigners to vote …), Merriman warned of "another Ireland in South Africa"; that war would result; Milner wrote off Merriman as a crank. Steyn paints the intricate tapestry that prevailed, in South African politics.
Milner wrote to the Colonial Office, outlining one of the more subtle parts of the situation in South Africa; the position of the white inhabitants in the Cape Colony who as British citizens would side with the Boer republics if the two were at loggerheads. He undertook a journey inland and met many English– and Afrikaans–speaking people along the way. From this he could learn more about the issues that were present, that existed in the communities – particularly the Afrikaners who had moved away from the British administration to settle as far afield as the Cape countryside, and further north, to Natal, and to the Republics. He also undertook visits to Rhodes’ territory; Kimberley and Rhodesia (Zimbabwe today). From there, he returned to Cape Town through the Portuguese territory. Milner preferred to survey the land for himself. His reports to the Colonial Office included his views of the state of Rhodesia, particularly the social and financial side, which he was not complimentary about … which he felt could lead to grave issues for Britain although there was potential wealth from gold (not on the scale of the Transvaal). He saw the race question as a difficult one although his place here, he felt, was as a kind of saviour of the situation, the man for the Pax Britannica. Underneath it all he preferred the time in Egypt … neither was he getting on with the Afrikaners, such as Jan Hofmeyr. Important people such as Marie Koopmans–De Wet, a well–educated and cultured member of Cape society, suggested that Milner should make the effort to "come in touch with them" (the Afrikaners and other important Capetonians).
Chapter 8, "Choosing Sides – 1898", is anathema for Milner; how could he if he was this race patriot? Kruger’s enormous victory at the 1898 Transvaal presidential elections resulted in the slogan: "Beware of Rhodes and keep your powder dry" … the old president was getting ready for a fight. These developments were alarming for Milner. Either there had to be reforms (more lenient requirements for foreigners to vote; the abolition of the dynamite monopoly), or war. Milner’s reading of Machiavelli’s The Prince might have moved him into wanting action, but he was warned by the Colonial Office to exercise constraint. How could he when Natal, a British colony, congratulated the President on his re–election? This infuriated Milner and with Rudyard Kipling having recently visited the Cape, the two were ad idem on the fact that no one should be nice to Kruger! Steyn reveals criticism of Milner in the affairs of South Africa at the time – Milner did not know about Kruger first–hand. He should have gone to visit Kruger himself but chose not to (p 73) until much later, almost when it was too late. At Graaff–Reinet, Milner was surprised at the support by Cape Afrikaners for the Empire – but they were also sympathetic towards the Afrikaner–republicans! His speech to the residents of the town slammed the unprogressiveness of the Transvaal. His words from his speech were as if they were precipitating war with the Transvaal. As Steyn explains, it is as if he had proclaimed that people should take sides. Sometime after he visited the Orange Free State and whilst he seemed to get on well with President Steyn, the latter was critical of Milner for not surveying the Transvaal for himself, first–hand (p 76). Kruger’s opposite, the Orange Free State president, seemed to think that Milner should have tried to ‘understand the peculiar difficulties under which President Kruger labours’ (p 76). One imagines at the forefront of all of this, is the contingency of foreigners trying as hard as possible to derive the greatest amount of economic benefit from the region’s rich mineral deposits, not excluding British businessmen. The closing pages of the chapter will give the reader a rare insight into the relationship between FitzPatrick in the Transvaal, and Milner and perhaps an understanding of why Milner thought the way he did of the Transvaal issue against his British citizens living there. Someone such as FitzPatrick as an Uitlander, was not permitted to vote even though he was a resident of the region and still had to pay taxes.
Chapter 9 explains the years 1898 and 1899. It was frustrating for Milner especially as the political landscape was erratic, which meant that a solution in South Africa was less likely. He saw the Boers as a mediaeval race oligarchy facing a modern industrial state. Meanwhile, Kitchener’s victory in Sudan just made the case for a British South Africa stronger … even though Smuts would decry any fight as being against the principles of British liberalism. Milner had meanwhile taken a holiday in Britain but had spent time getting Uitlander support inside his country. Steyn is no newcomer to J. C. Smuts. His Jan Smuts – Unafraid of Greatness (Cape Town & Johannesburg: Jonathan Ball, 2015), makes him well positioned to comment on Smuts’ role in the whole Milner saga and South African politics of that time. One–and–a–half pages of analysis of Smuts’ role, concludes with the point that Smuts was in opposition to the policies of Chamberlain and Milner over South Africa; instead, he was to become, in the words of Steyn, ‘the leading voice for reform in the Kruger government’. His interpretation of the constitutional position of the Uitlanders gives a totally different perspective on the question, which dispels it as a leading cause of the war. He further analyses the factors of the late 1890s, particularly the roles of South Africa’s neighbours, Portugal and Germany, each with its own motives … none of which (officially in terms of foreign policy) eventually put a stop to British claims over the Transvaal which Steyn argues left the Transvaal on its own to face the British in the event of a war. Chapter 9 ends with Milner back home on holiday, although the way he went about drumming up support for his cause, through his connection with the press – and Kitchener’s capture of Omdurman – brought the two countries closer to war.
The period 1898–1899 covered in Chapter 10 entitled "Tensions Rise", further discusses his active time propagating his cause in South Africa, to get the Uitlander vote in the Transvaal. However, Chamberlain was still hoping that Kruger would capitulate, and war would be averted but was proved wrong when Kruger perpetuated the dynamite monopoly. Steyn remarks however that it took a three–year war and the toppling of the Kruger government, to end the dynamite–making franchise held by the Transvaal (p 93). The chapter ends with further reference to the Uitlander question and Milner awaiting a response from Chamberlain about a communication that he had sent lamenting what he termed the ‘helot’ status of British citizens as far as the franchise was concerned (they paid taxes but could not vote).
Chapter 11 entitled ‘Bloemfontein and Beyond’ (1899) is when Kruger and Milner finally met, the only time ever. One can speculate they should have met before; even better, perhaps Milner and Smuts should have met to be better briefed. Smuts’ academic record at Cambridge one could argue was on a par with Milner’s at Oxford. One wonders how much of the saga in South Africa at the time was perhaps not more between these two personalities, than anything else. The broker for the meeting was Free State’s President Steyn, at Bloemfontein on 31 May 1899. Steyn writes that Kruger was fifteen minutes early and Milner twenty minutes late (p 98). The venue was the official residence of the President of the Orange Free State in Bloemfontein. The scene is sketched further by Steyn … Milner proceeded to his hosts, the Free State couple; Kruger had risen to his feet when Milner came to greet him. Whilst cordial, the meeting was stiff. Smuts, present, saw in Milner a dangerous man. Smuts had strong views on the Uitlander question, one of the sticky issues and factors in the fight between Milner and the Transvaal. When the biographer writes: "As the detail of the proceedings in Bloemfontein have been recounted in every history of the Anglo–Boer War (he surely means to say the South African War!), it is not necessary to give more than a broad outline here". Yet the Uitlander question which Milner wanted resolved would lead to the Kruger government’s downfall, as Steyn explains: "If the franchise were to be extended to temporary sojourners hoping to share in the Transvaal’s mineral wealth, he believed, British numbers and capitalist interests would simply overwhelm the Boer people and put paid to their long struggle to rule themselves and be free from British domination" (p 99). Steyn asked Kruger to make concessions; he did show a willingness to negotiate but Milner was not interested. He cabled Chamberlain to say the conference was likely to flounder over the issue of citizenship The rest of the chapter is spent explaining the unfolding of the events that would lead to war; outlining the roles of the many players, the different sections of British politics, and the different players at the Cape – either side of Milner and Kruger/Smuts.
These factors are further analysed in Chapter 12 which sketches the start of one of the dark moments in South Africa’s history: ‘Build–Up to War’, in 1899. There are two clear sides to the way Steyn presents the chapter – those who knew Kruger would never capitulate over the franchise issue (how could he, he would be out of power); and those in Britain who believed he might. Incurring huge military expenses at this time was not unknown to Britain’s treasury or war office – Sudan and India were good examples. However, with Milner having troops sent from other areas where Britain had them stationed, to South Africa (in the case of war), and with Kruger and the Free State also preparing themselves in the event of a war, whatever was decided at home, would be irrelevant. However, new proposals were made through Smuts which came very close to a total accession to British demands for Uitlander citizenship, but Milner remained suspicious and resisted the overture (p 110). The Colonial Office in Britain was eager to accept the new Kruger proposals if they were genuine, in return, Kruger’s government demanded certain conditions which would safeguard its position. The so–called manoeuvring however started to irritate Chamberlain who was however still hoping for no war at all costs. What Britain was seeking as part of its world policy was some voice in the affairs of the Transvaal, and the Kruger factor would not disappear. Thus, each side was riding on the horns of its own moral dilemma. Chamberlain made a speech in Birmingham on 26 August 1899 berating Kruger for his tactics (it would have been worthwhile here to learn more about how Smuts came up with the so–called ‘reforms like water from a squeezed sponge …’). After all, Smuts was highly qualified in Law which he read at Cambridge in the late 1880s achieving the highest marks ever registered by a student sitting for those exams.
Whilst on the one hand there is this obsession with including the Transvaal in a British imperialist federation; on the other hand, the first half of 1899 had produced unprecedented profits from the mining industry … offset by uncertainty due to the stand–off between Kruger and Milner. This meant the mine owners started showing more interest in the proceedings, most of them believing Kruger would capitulate … even Rhodes thought that. Perhaps they could solve it all by having another conference? Then Kruger retracted his latest softer proposals; so, more troops were to be sent to South Africa. Then came the ‘pen–ultimatum’ to Kruger, a five–year franchise for Uitlanders with no pre–conditions. Chamberlain informed that a final notice would arrive by sea (which played for time … and troops could be sent in that time). Meanwhile, Smuts drew up a plan to send troops to Natal in anticipation of the arrival of another 10 000 British troops in Natal. From 28 September 1899 the Transvaal called up its commandos, Steyn followed suit on 2 October. On 3 October British troops started arriving in Durban, sent to the Transvaal border from the Natal side. On 9 October the Transvaal issued an ultimatum that the British withdraw its troops from the border or else there would be war (a declaration of war). Britain was finalising its ultimatum but when Chamberlain saw Kruger’s ultimatum, that was it. The British no longer had to tell their citizens that they would go to war as the perfect pretext had been created by Kruger’s actions. On 12 October 1899, Boer forces crossed over into British territory, Natal and the Cape. Milner had got his way … although, as he knew, a tough time lay before them.
Chapter 13 discusses strategic blunders. The prospect of war and war itself between Britain and the Transvaal caused a different kind of ‘great trek’ as hundreds of thousands of residents from the north came to Cape Town to a seemingly safe space. As this was happening Boer commandos ranged against incoming British forces from Natal … Talana Hill, Elandslaagte, all wrong strategies according to Smuts, who advised the Boers should head first to the coast. Instead, they got stuck garrisoning Ladysmith, Kimberley, and Mafikeng. As Steyn suggests, the Boers anticipated the British would sue for peace after being surrounded – like at Majuba (p 118). What subsequently happened is that the British could introduce their forces more and more and in large numbers, with the Boers occupied (stuck) inland. As Steyn sketches the situation – Kruger had a mistrust of the Uitlanders as Milner had of the Colony’s white inhabitants (p 119). Split allegiance was a theme of the war because many families from the Cape had relatives living in the Transvaal. Martial Law was introduced to force Cape Colonist loyalty to Britain and any action against it could result in death by hanging. This made the Cape Boers change their allegiance to the Republics. Rebellion by Afrikaners in the Cape Colony remained a source of concern to Milner, as did a string of defeats at the hands of the Boers in November and December of 1899 (Black Week). He always thought however Britain would emerge victorious (p 122). Amidst all of this strife, Steyn includes an interlude discussing the visits to Cape Town of prominent women: "what could be a more worthy social endeavour for a young woman seeking excitement than a voyage to the fairest Cape to assist the war effort?" (p 123). After the disastrous Buller had left, so arrived Lords Roberts and Kitchener. There was to be a turnaround of events, but not until the humiliating defeat of the British at the Battle of Colenso and then Spioenkop, where Botha had led his men to victory, and present there, were Churchill and Gandhi. Meanwhile, back home in Britain, pro–Boer liberals were calling for Milner’s head (p126). We see here how it is William T Stead that most influential of British journalists who would contribute to British sentiment against the war (Britain’s Vietnam!).
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It was not long before the tide turned against the Boers, still in with a fight … but one that could not lead to victory due to numbers. This is the title of Chapter 14, "Numbers Count", it contains descriptions of the new military tactics Roberts and Kitchener adopted compared to the slow–moving infantry battalions under Buller. Steyn’s research explains the war and how the British forces liberated the towns along the way, (and Rhodes), as they approached Bloemfontein.
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It was not long before the tide turned against the Boers, still in with a fight … but one that could not lead to victory due to numbers. This is the title of Chapter 14, "Numbers Count", it contains descriptions of the new military tactics Roberts and Kitchener adopted compared to the slow–moving infantry battalions under Buller. Steyn’s research explains the war and how the British forces liberated the towns along the way, (and Rhodes), as they approached Bloemfontein. Possibly the trophy for the British was Paardeberg, where Cronjé was captured on 27 February 1900, the same day the British had capitulated to the Boers at Majuba Hill in 1881. The shoe now was on the other foot. Whilst the news of the turnaround was music to Milner’s ears, his concern remained the threat of an Afrikaner rebellion, for which he was proved to be correct. His fears were not shared by the military generals, who were not going to leave troops behind to mop up agitation by the Boers in some of the Cape towns such as De Aar and Prieska; Milner called this incompetence. The decisions of the generals cost Milner as the rebellion became a much bigger issue than they had ever thought (except Milner).
Kruger and his colleague Steyn appealed for peace; Britain would not restore their independence as they had violated the right of British citizens to vote. The British were hoping for a quick end to the war, and one flag, one citizenship, that is what the fight was about (and for economic reasons). Travelling through the Cape Colony, Milner saw the extent to which treason was rife (rebellion). By now the British garrison in South Africa stood at 170 000 and was growing whilst the Boer commandoes stood at 30 000 and was shrinking. It was on 28 May 1900 that the Orange Free State lost its name to become the Orange River Colony, thus a suzerain state of Britain. The question of loyalty in South Africa at that time affected the country very significantly even to the extent that Schreiner had to resign (June 1900) because of the continued hostilities rather than negotiation. C Louis Leipoldt’s Stormwrack the middle of his The Valley trilogy sketches the situation where inhabitants in the Cape had to choose their allegiances … leading to great tragedy in towns such as Swellendam and Clanwilliam where rebels who were caught were shot by firing squad for their actions. It would not be long before the next step to the creation of Milner’s empire, the capture of the Boer capital, Pretoria, would result. It capitulated to the British on 5 June 1900. Milner and British officials were ready to assume the administration of the two former republics, little did they know what lay ahead (Chapter 15).
The whole question of the way the Boers fought a guerrilla war is covered in Deneys Reitz’s Commando, an account of his experiences during the South African War specifically the period from 1901 when the next front of the war opened. Steyn refers to the scorched earth policy which led to great areas of destruction of the countryside where Boers farmed, which he does on p 142. He was in favour of "discriminating destruction" as a "deterrent and punishment" but "did not approve of the indiscriminate burning of all homes in a particular district simply to make it untenable for the enemy" (Kitchener). He believed that this indiscriminate destruction would eventually affect the country’s economy. In this section, Steyn explains the condition of Rhodes, who was now ill, and Kruger who went into exile. Basically, two major players in the saga were now no longer effectively present in the debacle. Back at home, the Unionist government of Salisbury was elected back into power, but the cracks would show later, from the Liberals, sympathetic to the Boer cause. Meanwhile, Roberts whose son had fallen at Colenso, went home having said the war was over … not knowing about the devastation that would set in from Kitchener’s scorched earth tactics.
Chapter 16 discusses the guerrilla war of 1901 – 1902 also known as "Scorched Earth", due to the strategy that the British followed. As already stated, the chance of an Afrikaner uprising with the commandoes from the Free State coming into the North East Cape was always something that bothered Milner (a second rebellion) … which meant the proclamation of martial law gave someone such as Kitchener absolute power as in his system of blockhouses and scorched earth policy, and the terrible concentration camps. This just deepened the Boers’ resolve to fight on. On p 153 we see from Steyn’s writing how the issue of the fighting might have come to an end … except that the civil servant who had never been in battle, would not hear of it (referring to Milner). He saw it as a war of attrition when the Boers’ fighting would eventually die out. Chapter 17 entitled "Miracles are expected of me", on p 157, reverts to a theme discussed before, the duality in Milner … on the one hand a charming person on the other, his unswerving single–mindedness. It was on a return visit to the home country, with the title of Baron conferred on him by King Edward VII, that he was met with a hero’s welcome... Some thought he had gone to England because they had recalled him due to his difference of view with Kitchener. He was reminded of his duties in South Africa: to create a unified country (of English and Afrikaans speakers), and to bring the country into a federation, prosperous and loyal as was the case with Canada and Australia (p 157). Never mind the local inhabitants! Descriptions of the man such as by The Times of Natal were as a kind person … kind to who? Certainly not to the majority of South Africans. Here was a man, not just on, but also with a mission! He tried to counter Kitchener’s barbaric plans of ‘total destruction’ of the countryside in his scorched earth policy, by using the constabulary to occupy the so–called protected districts around the towns garrisoned by British troops. This would allow property owners to return to their homes and farms and would get farming activity and the economy up and running.
Further honour was bestowed on Milner in London, as a Privy Councillor and therefore eligible for a seat in the House of Lords, and given the Freedom of the City of London. Yet the division in British society grew wider; the Liberal Party saw the war driven by profiteering businessmen rather than by the so–called noble cause of Pax Britannica. Voices from South Africa called for Milner not to be allowed to continue with his programme of reconstruction (building up the country after the war, as British subjects); they also questioned the British politicians as to why, if the war was over, was the barbarism continuing (the concentration camps)? The Unionists began having their idea that all was fine in South Africa, shattered. There were conciliatory views towards the Boers from none other than Churchill who had experienced the war first–hand; as opposed to Milner wanting no leniency shown to the Boers (p 160). More news of the barbarous acts against the civilian population started getting back to the British nation. This was Kitchener’s doing, who was given instructions to end the war and for this employed these barbaric means.
It was time to return to South Africa and take over from the gung–ho Kitchener who was deputising for him (Chapter 18). Milner arrived in Cape Town on 27 August 1901, soon to fall out with Kitchener. Kitchener’s reasoning to apply such harsh means was to end the war lest it drag on (as stated above). This against Milner’s constant plea to get the economy going. For instance, in the mining industry, less than 10% of the workforce operated. The fact that the British had 200 000 troops and 300 guns to face 10 000 Boers with no guns, just showed how out of kilter the whole operation was. On top of it all, was the inhumane issue of the concentration camps which greatly harmed the British government’s image. As Steyn explains the war became more of an issue between Kitchener and Milner than the Boers fighting the Brits, although such a statement is more anecdotal than true as soldiers fight wars, not generals or civil servants. Hundreds of thousands of Boer families were displaced, impoverished, and subject to one of the greatest moments of utter inhumanness in the world. The only way out of it was peace (Chapter 19). How this was to be achieved given the fact that the Boers were engaged in guerrilla warfare against the British, would need to be determined. The problem was exacerbated by so–called volunteers going over to the British side. Peace eventually came with the signing of the treaty on 31 May 1902. `The vote for it was overwhelming, 54 to 6 (three Transvalers and three Free Staters against). With this treaty, South Africans became British subjects. Milner got yet another award; he was now called Viscount of the United Kingdom. This, amidst the terrible suffering and deaths of 100 000s of South Africans. Kitchener too was promoted, to the rank of full general and also made a Viscount. Ironically, he purchased gold shares with the ex gratia payment that accompanied his promotion.
In Chapter 20 entitled ‘Going North’ (the years 1902–3), Steyn explains the lengths Milner was to go to, to get his way for his policies of imperialism, placing South Africa under British authority even if the Cape’s 1872 constitution had to be violated – and have it run along the lines of a British suzerainty over the two republics. This was a setback for Milner now quite worn out from the deliberations over the years of the war. However, he still had reconstruction lying ahead, and became Governor of the Transvaal (1902) followed by Governor of the Orange River Colony as well (1902). With him in the seat he could start making these former Boer republics attractive to British settlers, who would be able to participate in the economic recovery of these regions … and so pursue his policies. There were many challenges, getting the mines going, the farms as well and bringing back the prisoners of war. The ravaged country proved a lot costlier to reconstruct (ten times) than ever imagined (damages, grants, resettlement loans and loans to rebuild the whole country) (p 191). There lies a huge irony in the fact that the returning Uitlanders expected to be favoured now that Milner was there (their position, over which the war had been fought), but nothing could have been further from the truth – he was just too autocratic and controlling, and had other priorities … for instance, the essential move to get draught animals for agriculture. On top of it all, the Colonial Secretary, Chamberlain himself, was scheduled to pay a visit to South Africa (Chapter 21). His propaganda was that the British Empire had been strengthened as a result of the war (how?). His further words of rhetoric were the union and conciliation of the English speakers and the Boers (an idealistic thought). The Treaty of Vereeniging which had stipulated the terms of the peace needed to be applied and not extra demands like those made by Smuts. He found the British Colonial Secretary to have been insulting for what he was prepared to offer the Boers: ‘drop your language and become English’. A lot to expect after the ravages of war!
Chapter 22 entitled "Reconstruction" (1903) shows how Chamberlain had to tread wearily in the land–mine–infested Cape Colony amid Afrikaner rebels, the Bond (Afrikaner) whom he favoured, and the Progressives (English); by now Rhodes had died. Chamberlain had worked hard on his South African tour; visiting 29 towns and making 64 speeches! However, his work was seen back home as a revival of his prime ministerial ambitions (p 200), a professional politician of the first order, "set on a course that would polarise British politics for the second time in his career". He had left South Africa with a polarised nation from the war, with the Progressives against the Afrikaner Bond and with the South African Party under John X Merriman unhappy, thus with a three–way contest in any forthcoming elections. This, in the midst of a post–war economic depression in South Africa. Added to it were the rising racial issues, the native franchise and political inequality. The very unfortunate Lagden Commission which was established in 1903 to "arrive at a common understanding of native policy in the four colonies", was initiated by Milner to prepare for a South African federation of the four areas. The idea was to create so–called native reserves in the African ancestral areas in order to make administration easier. Lagden argued that the tribal chiefs were in effect transferring their sovereign rights which included the powers of administration over communal lands to the British Crown through a process of "peaceful annexation" (p 207). In turn, it was argued that the Crown had a duty to administer the native reserves in accordance with the tribal way of governance (p 207). The proposals by Lagden were implemented in 1906 and moved away from the British declared mission to "civilise" its colonies, in favour of re–tribalising the black proletariat. These measures were to lead directly to legislation later on known as the Land Act, to the Herzog Bills, and eventually to the blueprint for apartheid under Verwoerd when he was the Minister of Native Affairs in the early 1950s. Verwoerdian ideology, therefore, lies embedded in earlier moves to create an apartheid state, that had its origin directly as a result of Milner and Lagden.
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Chapter 23 describes Milner taking a holiday in Britain; and getting the news that his boss Chamberlain had resigned. Milner was earmarked as his successor but declined, a bold decision, but he wanted to stay and finish his work in South Africa.
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Chapter 23 describes Milner taking a holiday in Britain; and getting the news that his boss Chamberlain had resigned. Milner was earmarked as his successor but declined, a bold decision, but he wanted to stay and finish his work in South Africa. He took the time whilst he was overseas to visit his parents in Germany. He soon was back on South African soil where he seemed to love residing in the plush suburb of Parktown North and visiting his club (the Wanderers Club). Much controversy was to follow over his administration such as the question of introducing indentured labour (from China and India) which would have far–reaching results for the British government. This issue is the subject of Chapter 24 entitled "The Chinese" (1904). In the next two years the economy of the country started recovering gradually and black mineworkers began returning to work because of higher wages (p 218). The Chinese labour question however was starting to become a divisive issue between the Liberals in Britain and the Unionists (also in South Africa). Milner had been clear that the importation of labour from outside South Africa was to promote economic recovery. He was now concentrating on the Transvaal, to give them self–government. He also furthered the anglicization of the former republic that straddled all walks of society, educational as well as ecclesiastical. Reading about these projects in Chapter 25 reveals the "Successes and Failures" for the period 1904 – 1905. One project was the establishment of schools such as King Edward VII School in Johannesburg, as well as Jeppe Boys High and Potchefstroom Boys’. The idea was to bring in English teachers as part of the policy of anglicisation.
Chapter 26 explains Milner going home in 1905, but remaining concerned about the empire and fearful that his work in South Africa would be worthless (p 233). He was subsequently replaced by Lord Selborne. There were all the goodbyes, Milner was 51 years old at the time; he was looking forward to exiting political administration, to be released from "this dungeon" (p 241). Before arriving on British soil, he sojourned in Italy on his Grand Tour. He did in fact return to South Africa, once more, twenty years later and in the interim, kept up correspondence with those whom he had met in South Africa, not least JC Smuts, with whom he was to work during the First World War.
Chapter 27 explains the so–called "Kindergarten" which covers the period 1905 – 1909. There are well–known names in South African history, such as Richard Feetham, Lionel Curtis, Patrick Duncan and the renowned architect Herbert Baker. Milner’s plan was to populate the Transvaal with British immigrants, with the Transvaal and the Orange River Colony under the British flag and some future imperial federation (it did not end up that way as a Union was proclaimed instead). A change of government (see below) in Britain scuppered Milner’s plans, as Smuts and his party, Het Volk, were pressing for self–rule …with the responsible government for both the former Boer republics. One wonders how South African history would have turned out if this had not happened. Chapter 28 (1905 – 1907) describes how Milner’s policies of Chinese labour turned around the politics in Britain, giving the Liberals a victory because of their opposition to the treatment of Chinese labour in South Africa. Basically, the new Prime Minister Henry Campbell–Bannerman was utterly appalled at what Milner had attempted to do in South Africa and the way he had treated the Boers (p 257). Campbell–Bannerman thought that the sooner one could give the Boers self–government, the sooner they would become citizens of a liberal empire. Did he really believe this so soon after the tragedy of the Boer War and the harsh treatment of the women and children in the concentration camps; and the way rebels were treated and impoverished? Agreed, the Botha and Smuts government from 1910 might have followed a more conciliatory approach but in the following decade the first signs of race absolutism emerged under the so–called Hertzog Bills. Meanwhile, Milner resorted to a life out of politics, living in the house he was to have for the rest of his life, Sturry Court in Kent. The former republics were given self–government in 1907, something Milner had worked against. The Afrikaners were back in control. The British tide had turned, with the British government ‘throwing their whole weight into the scale in favour of the Boers …’ (p 263). Milner continued his friendship with Violet Cecil and Rudyard Kipling … and amidst it all, still felt personally responsible for organising many British people to take up residence in South Africa.
Back in Britain, Milner took up freelancing (political journalism), in the period 1907 – 1910 (Chapter 29) emphasizing that due to his experience, and as a loyal imperialist, he was well positioned to be involved in the British politics of the time. Fears that Milner might get involved in politics were dispelled by the fact that he had taken up this freelancing. However, he was not looking for political power – some might argue that he was not really seeking to become a political heavyweight, but rather, enjoying the shielded life of a civil servant. His visit to Canada saw him propagate the value of empire … almost as if he was making up for his failed attempt to do so in South Africa. With his strong views against the increase in taxes in Britain which was the hot topic there in the latter half of the first decade of the 1900s, the question of the union of the four "provinces" in South Africa was underway leading to this becoming a reality in 1910; at the same time the so–called "Irish Troubles" (Chapter 30, p 274), started. The Irish nationalists wanted their own parliament (in Dublin), whilst the Protestants (scared of the Catholics at home and with close ties to the British gentry), were not keen for that to happen. In the northeast where the Protestants far outnumbered the Catholics, they wanted to keep their ties with London. Just like he was against independence for the South African republics, Milner was against independence for Ireland as it would mean yet another potential area for the empire breaking away, thus further scuppering his life’s ambition, the unification of British possessions under one roof (federation of states). That is why he was for tariff reform rather than increased taxes, to bind Ireland to the United Kingdom with some form of autonomy. Several of his connections in politics tried to bring him into the fray but he still wanted to paddle his own canoe as he had once declared although this still meant working towards the empire. The Irish issue was now corresponding with another massive debacle, the advent of WWI and the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand.
Chapter 31 deals with the first two years of the Great War (WWI), and we see a Milner without any formal party affiliation, but not for the war effort. The chapter explains Britain’s early start in the war and gradually how Milner’s advice for conscription is taken up, to him clearly a without–which situation if Britain was to win the war. He now was working with ministerial committees responsible for the distribution of coal supplies to the Allied nations. A visit to the Western Front provided him with convincing evidence that Britain would not win the war (after defeats at battle sites like the Somme) unless air power became the decisive factor in the whole war effort (p 290). An amazing turn of events in British politics suddenly saw Milner rise to great prominence (1916) with his appointment to Lloyd George’s War Cabinet. He was now 63. This is the topic of Chapter 32, an important period in Milner’s life (1916 – 1918). Milner at that stage had great respect for Lloyd George and the feeling was mutual. Milner was soon to be able to analyse situations, yet he was not a politician, nor was he a military man. He seemed to have that property that one needed for then … a good sense of judgment. Milner was instrumental in the formation of the Imperial War Cabinet with Smuts the sixth member of Britain’s War Cabinet (a massive accolade, no doubt!). Previously on the opposite sides when Milner was in South Africa, now there was Smuts calling his former opponent "Oom Alfred". It is as if the two minds, Oxford and Cambridge graduates, had finally met. What a strange irony. However, there must have been something between them for Milner to persuade Lloyd–George to make Smuts exactly that, the sixth member of Britain’s War Cabinet (p 295).
An interesting period in Milner’s life must have been his mission to Russia just prior to the outbreak of the 1917 Revolution. Writing eight years after Milner’s death, in his War Memoirs, Lloyd George described Milner "by training and temperament, a bureaucrat" … knowing "nothing of the populace that trod the streets outside the bureau" (p 298). Lloyd George continues: (as for the rest of the mission to Russia), "having regard to the warnings which were blaring at them from every direction, it is incomprehensible that they should have been so deaf and blind. It is one more proof of the way in which the most intelligent human judgement has always been misled by the tapestries of an established order without paying sufficient regard to the conditions of the walls they hide and on which they hang." Is the biographer protecting his subject when he suggests: "Such scathing judgements, never uttered at the time, are always much easier in hindsight"? Perhaps it was the huge amount of responsibility that Milner was given in the war effort that makes Steyn disappointed at Lloyd George’s remarks – Milner had overall charge over ship–building, and the convoy system, and bringing Edward Carson the leader of the Irish Unionist Party onto the War Cabinet and taking charge of the Royal Navy. Furthermore, Milner persuaded the War Cabinet to appoint a four–person war policy committee to override the military if necessary (Milner had little faith in General Haig), which included South Africa’s, General Smuts. It was through this committee that General Foch was appointed Supreme Allied Commander on the Western Front which according to Steyn was a far–reaching decision for the events that were to follow. This was a vital time (1917) as the Germans were capable of advancing – by 1918, the Germans were advancing through the British line near the Belgian border. Milner’s clear head and vision resulted in him getting to be appointed Secretary of State for War, the second most important post after Lloyd George himself (p 300). Steyn explains Milner’s position in 1918 conferring with the French and mediating among the fractious generals, then gradually the Germans began suffering followed by the armistice on 11 November 1918.
The book ends by describing the soured relationship between Lloyd George and Milner (over several issues such as the army’s slow release of miners from army service, hard to believe after such sterling service in the war effort). Obviously, Lloyd George had his next election (December 1918, with women over the age of 30 being able to vote for the first time) to consider (votes! – such is politics) … and there was this new Bolshevik radicalism that was surfacing (which was commented on earlier, by the way, Lloyd George was surprised Milner did not see it coming). Milner had a new position, that of Secretary of State for the Colonies (turned down fifteen years earlier). Milner was not altogether in favour of the harsh "Diktat" placed on Germany; he played a significant role at Versailles notwithstanding. Here he saw a lot of Smuts and Botha, whom he knew from his time in South Africa. His new position demanded long stretches away from home, as in Egypt, where he had been before. It was, however, time to retire (Chapter 34), and he and his new wife Lady Cecil whom he married on 26 February 1921 would enjoy their time together. They travelled to the Middle East together in April 1922, returning via Paris to see Clemenceau. He continued writing as he had always loved to do; in 1924 he turned 70 in his countryside house with his wife fending off newspaper reporters. He returned to South Africa in 1924, touring many parts of the country (turning down an offer to become the chairman of De Beers!).
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He was home for his 71st birthday and many honorary awards were bestowed on him from all quarters, including being elected Chancellor of Oxford University in 1925. He died peacefully on 13 May 1925. He always wanted to be known as a citizen of the Empire.
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He was home for his 71st birthday and many honorary awards were bestowed on him from all quarters, including being elected Chancellor of Oxford University in 1925. He died peacefully on 13 May 1925. He always wanted to be known as a citizen of the Empire. As we have heard several times now, he was a self–confessed race patriot (p322). Steyn’s summing up in Chapter 32 lets the reader see what is said and lets us see what she/he makes of it. It ends with the words of Shakespeare, from Julius Caesar: "The evil that men do lives after them; the good is oft interred with their bones". Chapter 33 is the Afterword sharing ideas, and explaining that Violet (previously married to Lord Cecil) his wife outlived him for 33 years. Her legacy was to leave behind the Violet Milner Papers covering a rich history of that time which can be found in a "Milner Room", New College, Oxford. It contains material relating to 19th and 20th century British and Imperial history, in particular the Boer War which makes it an important repository for students of that period of history who wish to research the past. After the "Afterword" are the "Acknowledgements" (p 339). Steyn explains there, the logic for the Milner text, almost as the final in a trilogy of Botha, Smuts and Milner. As Steyn explains, it was not easy penning this book at a torrid time in the History of our Country, COVID–19, in 2020. Herein lies the bitterest of ironies. This book on Milner, an equally torrid time in the history of our country.
There is that truism that we must remember the past or be condemned to repeat it. However, in the words of David Reiff, the non–fiction American political analyst, "But there are times when some things are best forgotten."
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If it had not been Milner in South Africa at that time, it would probably have been someone similar, another bureaucrat implementing policies of empire. He was the product of a system of economic exploitation and racial discrimination the effects of which a century and more later, are still with us.
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If it had not been Milner in South Africa at that time, it would probably have been someone similar, another bureaucrat implementing policies of empire. He was the product of a system of economic exploitation and racial discrimination the effects of which a century and more later, are still with us.
[1] In Journal of Perpetrator Research, 2.2 (2019).
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