ABSTRACT
Kimberley spoke of two wars in South Africa: one involving the Basuto and Cape Colonists, another the rebellious Boers of the Transvaal. Coercion was the dominant theme of the important Cabinet of 30 December, when the decision was taken to apply a heavy hand in Ireland and the Transvaal. The Irish and Transvaal crises were in fact both pursued at two levels. There were the outward and visible signs of a Government dealing firmly with two sets of unrest in Her Majesty's domains. The whole back-stage affair is excellently illustrated by the handling of the Transvaal rebellion. The accumulation of the local reports, in conjunction with the Irish disorder, gradually sapped the confidence of those advocates of coercion in the Transvaal. Only with great difficulty had Kimberley prevented the Whigs from making it a dual triumph, and reversing the decision to press for peace in the Transvaal.
