Recently, I have been looking into the history of the British in Africa, specifically from the 1880's and 1890's. In my reading I have inevitably come across the existence of the Boer Republics of the Transvaal and Orange Free State.
I was wondering what the differences between them were. The Free State didn't seem to have a Kruger type as leader, though it still had its run ins with native populations and other colonial powers.
With them being, to my understanding, independent of each other I was wondering what differences, if any, existed between them.
Thanks!
Historian of South Africa here.
I will rely off a text I highly reccomend you read: Herman Gilliomee's The Afrikaner's: biography of a people. I will also rely on Iris Berger's History of South Africa.
So the first thing is that Boer Republics were founded because of Anglo-scepticism. Now talking to some historians like Erich Louw, preservation of language and culture becomes a major driver. If you are Iris Berger, then the changes the British made to the legal political and social climate of the Cape become the driver, especially in regards to abolition and enfranchisement of Black and Coloured peoples.
The Boer Republics shared a founding myth. The Voertrek is a remarkable part of the national myth of South Africa and in many ways draws parallels to Zionism and Exodus. Kruger especially used this Myth to a great deal to foster nationalism in the Boer Republics.
What differences were there? Well Piet Retief and Hendrik Potgieter were behind the founding of the OSF, while Andries Pretorius takes credit for the ZAR(hence Pretoria).
They were far more the same and the OSF far more shortlived and less resilient as a political entity than the ZAR. Paul Kruger's model and political relevance and influence certainly permeated into the OSF.
Hwo were they different? The OSF is founded in the 1830s or 40s, but the British Annexation of Kimberley and Diamond fields really changes the history and it becomes significantly more anglicized, mainly because of the draw of diamonds. Bloemfontein is described by Gilliomee as a "british town"(p. 186) and the OSF had a far more Cape like society. It was more agricultural, it was more stable than the ZAR.
The Transvaal and the ZAR are a different story altogether, you are talking about extreme anti-British sentiment and Boer Nationalism. Up until the Boer War you have a ton of resentment and hostility, especially by the turn of century.