South Africa was colonized by the Dutch East India Company and the British Empire. First it was occupied by Britain in 1795 as a strategic outpost against France so they could have a military advantage through sea and land. The Dutch came to make trading outposts and as a result Dutch settlements appeared. The British and Dutch exported wine and wool which Fueled the economy because of the vast amounts they were able to produce. When gold was discovered, British miners flowed in, angering the Dutch. The Dutch then reduced the status of british miners to secon class citizens, taking away their right to vote and instituting high taxes. The British rebelled, and when the army of the British Empire stepped in to help, the boer wars began.

The Boer wars were very unevenly matched, as it was farmers against the army of the powerful British empire. The native South Africans supported the British, because they believed they would be able to get more equal rights from their rule. In the end, the British put the Boers in concentration camps, and won the war. However, the South Africans did not immediately get their equality. 

South Africa remained under British rule until 1910, when they gained independence.