Cape Republic: Difference between revisions

The '''Cape Republic''', officially: '''The Republic of the Cape''', (''Afrikaans: Kaapse Republiek''), is a country located in southern Africa with territory extending from the southern point of Africa up to the Oranje River in the northwest, Umzimbuyu river in the southeast, and the Val river in the north. The country's official language is the Afrikaans dialect of Dutch though several native languages are recognized locally (the two largest languages by the number of speakers are Sesotho and Xhosa). The Cape Republic is notable as an African nation with a majority ethnically European and half European population. The nation is known for its large open spaces in the interior and its hills and mountains on the coastal areas; additionally, it is one of the largest agricultural exporters in Africa and has one of the largest & innovative economies in Africa.

A new era started when the Dutch ([[Netherlands|Kingdom of the Netherlands]]) returned to power and governance over the Cape Colony. As Europe was devastated by war, the Cape Colony experienced a rapid influx of new settlers, many of whom were urbanites. A newly chartered company called the Royal Cape Company (Dutch: ''Koninklijke Kaapkolonie, KK'') oversaw the development and management of the colony.

Leading up to the Dutch[[Wars warsof inDutch humiliationHumiliation]], tensions between the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the British Empire spilled over into the Cape colony with the Dutch fearing encroachment from the east by the Natal colony. In 1850 after the start of the [[Canton War]], the Dutch revoked the British right to use the Kaapstadt port and attempted to invade the Natal colony from the Cape. Local Cape colony authorities were wary of provoking the British and after the Spanish and French also declared war against the Dutch, believed that the Dutch could not win this war. They feared that a defeated Dutch Empire would be forced to relinquish the Cape Colony to the British; this along with increased taxes on the Cape citizenry and merchants to fund the war effort led to the 1852 Kaapstadt revolt where Dutch authorities were driven from the city and many local troops deserted the Dutch military and joined Republican militias. Only 3 months later the Dutch took back the city but by that time the Cape republican movement was well underway with republican militias and revolts happening all over the colony.

The Cape Republicans, in 1853 knowing that they would need allies in their fight against the Dutch Empire secretly met with officials from the British empire who agreed to support Cape independence financially in return for the Van Nimwegen agreement to be reinstated. Within months, hundreds of guns were being smuggled into the Cape colony from the British Natal and after a failed offensive against the Dutch position in Kaapstadt, the Cape Republicans were in control on nearly 60% of the colony. In 1854 the Cape Republicans negotiated with the Dutch protectorates of Xhosaland, Temboland and Pondoland to join their rebellion in exchange for becoming autonomous federal subjects of an eventual Cape Republican state and in 1855 the rebels with naval support from the British were able to take back Kaapstadt and push the remaining Dutch forces out of the nation. On November 1855 the 1st Cape Republic was declared in Kaapstadt as a federal state.