European settlement expanded during the 1820s as the Boers (original Dutch, German and French settlers) and the British 1820 Settlers claimed land in the north and east of the country. Conflicts arose between the original inhabitants of the land, the Xhosa and Zulu, and the new European settlers. The British waged eight campaigns against the Xhosa before 1854 and a particularly bloody conflict with the Zulus in 1879. However, the discovery of diamonds and later gold triggered the conflict known as the Anglo-Boer War as the Boers and the British fought for the control of South Africa's mineral wealth.

      There were actually two Boer Wars fought between the British Empire and the two independent Boer republics, the Orange Free State and the South African Republic (Transvaal Republic), founded by settlers who made the Great Trek from the Cape Colony to the east and north. The First Boer War (1880‚1881) was a relatively brief conflict in which Boer settlers successfully resisted a British attempt to annex the Transvaal, and re-established an independent republic.

      The Second Boer War (1899‚1902), by contrast, was a lengthy war involving large numbers of troops from many British possessions. It ended with the republics becoming British colonies, with a promise of limited self-government. These colonies became part of the Union of South Africa when it was formed in 1910.