Who were boers?

The Boers, or Afrikaners, were the white descendants of Dutch settlers in South Africa. Their significance in this book relates to the war which raged between the Boers and the British Empire over control of the South African territory while Mr Chips was a teacher. The Boer War broke out in 1899, propelled by Boer discomfort about the increased numbers of British imperial fortified settlements and armament in the region. It continued until 1902 and was very significant in Britain. It presaged the First World War in that it was tracked more closely by the media than any previous war had been, due to technological advances, and soldiers of that war were among the first to be widely commemorated in war memorials in towns and villages. A vast number of soldiers were lost, resulting in a sustained and ongoing anti-Boer sentiment.