Switserland en die beginsel van nie-inmenging in die internasionale reg tydens die Anglo-Boereoorlog, 1899-1902

Abstract

Switzerland and the principle of non-intervention in international law during the Anglo-Boer War, 1899-1902

The outbreak of the Anglo-Boer War on 11 October 1899 hit the world like a bomb blast. The news of the war produced strong anti-British sentiments in certain quarters: not only did poets, writers and politicians of international stature, as well as the press, exert strong influence on the public, nations also pressurised their governments to side against Britain. This article investigates the complex position of Switzerland in terms of its official policy of non-intervention in the international world. The following concomitant aspects are also investigated: the pressure exerted on Swiss authorities to express sympathy with the Boer Republics; the growing awareness of the humanitarian implications of Britain’s scorched-earth policy of massing together the civil population of the Boer Republics, and the resultant pleas to stop these methods of warfare. The Swiss position of non-intervention in international affairs was severely tested in its efforts to remain legally neutral in the international arena. Switzerland’s decision to remain neutral in the war, was finally determined by various factors in the sphere of inter-national law and politics. The developments in Switzerland during the war reflect the transition from positivism towards a stronger humanitarian spirit in international law and politics.