Do you agree with the view presented in Source 9 that critics of the second Boer war ‘were wrong to say that the concentration camps were part of the deliberate use of the “methods of barbarism”’?
Explain your answer, using Sources 7, 8 and 9 and your own knowledge. (40)

The concentration camps during the second Boer War were set up in 1900 after several policies were introduced by Kitchener in response to the Guerrilla warfare, and were not intended as places of punishment. In fact, they were set up to provide food, water, entertainment and most of all protection for families during this time. Over the years many opinions have risen on the conditions in these concentration camps and although, as stated by Andrew Roberts, they were not deliberately set up as ‘part of the deliberate use of “methods of barbarism”, this theory has been challenged by many. Robert Ensor, who wrote that the camps ‘were grossly mismanaged’ and Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman who stated that war is unfair ‘when it is carried on by methods of barbarism’, are both prime examples of how there are extremely diverse views on the purpose of the concentration camps during the Second Boer War. It is apparent that concentration camps during the Second Boer War were set up to protect individuals and families rather than punish them. In many ways the concentration camps were places of safety and hope for the Boers affected by this war, and to an extent attendance was not compulsory. Andrew Roberts, who wrote ‘Salisbury: Victorian Titan’ seems to support this view stating that ‘food, shelter, clothing and above all, protection’ were offered and that ‘attendance was normally voluntary’, and as he was a historian who was specialized, knowledgeable and educated in this subject, it is likely that this information is correct to an extent.

As a fact it could be argued that the concentration camps within the Second World War were not at all a use and method of barbarism but merely a place of safety (protection) and shelter, due to the warfare of the guerilla wars and the likely hood of being caught in a firing line. This is supported in source 9 when stated that it was ‘wrong of critics to say that they were methods of barbarism’ when this was not at all the case and that it was simply a place for ‘refugee Boers’ and were provided necessities which would not have been provided to them elsewhere. Also, the authorities let the people of Britain raise sufficient funds for the Boers in order to get them the provisions that they needed and to share them among the camps. This was seen in the works of Emily Hobhouse, who also set up funds to support the relief of South Africa and also tried her best in supporting the needs of the Boers and providing with extra provision, not only this but she also visited the concentration camps, Emily was a great example of British assistance for the Boers. Furthermore Source 9 not only suggests that ‘there was no alternative accommodation’ but also that it was voluntary to attend the camp and was not forced by the British. Correspondingly concentration camps were not a method of barbarism because the Government, when told that there were complications within the camps as mentioned in source 7 ‘these camps were grossly mismanaged’ When these problems became alerted up to the British Government they immediately set up a commission to go and look into the following problems and see what the camps were like. Although their findings supported what they have been told and they found that the conditions were extremely horrible and poor and corroborated with Emily Hobhouse and agreed with what her report said – that there was extreme overcrowding, provisions were not always provided or supplied and that the Boers were dying from diseases such as typhoid, dysentery and measles and also from semi-starvation.

On the other hand it could be argued that the critics were indeed right in saying that the concentration camps were a method of barbarism. Emily Hobhouse, who could agree with this as she visited the South African camps with first-hand knowledge, brang attention to everyone about their horror of the concentration camps. She explained that they were ‘deprived of clothes’ there was ‘starvation in the camps’ ‘children lying upon bare earth’ this is enough to support the fact that this was a method of barbarism. She also reported that they were not provided with the provisions that they needed with challenges source 9 were stated that they were provided with all sorts of provisions. Hobhouse also tried to state that ‘children have been the hardest hit’ And in source 8 we see it supports this argument, as it says ‘when is war not a war? When it is carried on by the methods of barbarism’ the fact that ‘murdering children’ happened within the camps fully supports the ideology that concentration camps were a method of barbarism. In her report she stated that she was appalled by the conditions that they lived in and even though this shows British were trying to give aid by helping it does not take away the fact that the conditions were barbaric and that they were not suitable to live in as she mentions ‘ largely overcrowded….disease ridden’ it worsens when
She asked for soap to give to the Boers, they just laughed and ignored her – this suggests that the military did not care for the Boers or their welfare for that matter and were not trying to provide protection or shelter for them. The authorities timelessly showed that they did not care about Hobhouse’s reports and ignored her and branded her ‘hysterical women’ showing she was being over dramatic and that concentration camps were not an issue to them which implies that the camps were deliberate methods of barbarism. It was only until the public demanded and persuaded them to take action did they start to investigate anything, which again could suggest that they don’t have much care for the mater unless it makes them look bad in front of the public and so only then do they take action.

Overall taking both perspectives into account, I believe that the critics were correct in saying that the concentration camps within the second Boer war were a deliberate use of the methods of barbarism. The British government showed no interest or care at all for the way that the Boers were being treated and ignored reports and finding even though the mentioned endlessly a list of the awful conditions, and due to their lack of care their actions led to thousands of deaths and illnesses to the Boers. Therefore, critics are right to describe the British handle on the concentration camps as a “method of barbarism”.