Quote Originally Posted by Steve Blair View Post
I don't know if the Boer War had as much to do with the Commonwealth falling apart (Peter Weir's version aside) as the did the bloodletting in World War I. Marc can comment to Canadian attitudes here, but if memory serves they revised their entire military system (requiring that only volunteers be sent overseas) as a direct result of World War I.
I concur. I think , as we say here in Massachusetts, "the light started to dawn on Marblehead" during the 2d Boer War, but actions like the Gallipoli Campaign had much greater impact on the larger colonies' views of their place in the Empire.

I wonder what we ought to make of the German colonial presence in Africa. From my reading, it seems that they had more popular support in the WWI campaigns in East Africa than the British did. Anyone have any insights about the principles employed by German colonial rulers?