Maritz Rebellion

The Maritz Rebellion or the Boer Revolt or the Five Shilling Rebellion or the Afrikaner Rebellion, occurred in South Africa in 1914 at the start of World War I, in which men who supported the recreation of a Boer South African Republic rose up against the government of the Union of South Africa. Many members of the government were themselves former Boers who had fought with the Maritz rebels against the British in the Second Boer War, which had ended twelve years earlier. The rebellion failed, and the ringleaders received heavy fines and terms of imprisonment.

Lead-up

At the end of the Boer War twelve years earlier, all Boer soldiers had been asked to sign a pledge that they would abide by the peace terms. Some, like Deneys Reitz, refused and were exiled from South Africa. Over the following decade many returned home, and not all of them signed the pledge upon returning. At the end of the second Boer War, those Boers who had fought to the end were known as "bittereinders" ("bitter enders"); by the time of the rebellion, those who had not taken the pledge and wanted to start a new war had also become known as the "bitter enders."