Towards A Military History Of Botswana

In any comprehensive treatment of our nation’s history, such a focus is inevitable. Notwithstanding our post-independence status as one of the world’s most peaceful jurisdictions, armed struggles have played a significant role in our country’s historical evolution. This can be said to have been especially true during the 19th century, an era characterised by external invasions and violent local conflicts that, notwithstanding the severity of their resulting dislocations, arguably laid the foundations of our modern nation-state.

Although the subsequent Protectorate era of British-imposed overrule coincided with a general reduction in domestic strife, it also led to the territory’s engagement in a number of colonial conflicts, namely: the overthrow of Lobegula’s AmaNdebele Kingdom (1893), the Anglo-Boer (South African) War (1899-1902), the First (1914-18) and Second (1939-45) World Wars and the British Palestine insurgency (1945-48).