ABSTRACT
The war in South Africa and the annexation o f the Boer republics became a major cultural and political issue in Europe because the conflict was seen as a clash o f two worlds - a traditional peasant universe with firm hierarchical values confronted with an aggressive, levelling capitalist civilisation - an imagery that summed up important trends in contemporary debates on culture versus civilisation, and which was open to a wide range o f political interpretations. Siding with the English or with the Boers became synonymous with relating positively or negatively to modernity and capitalist progress. On the continent British capitalism and imperialist expansion was seen as the incarnation o f modernity, and criticism o f it - as represented by the various anti-war and pro-Boer movements - took three basic forms:
1 right wing nationalism: 2 ethical-liberal pacifism; and 3 socialist anti-imperialism.
