A war with a silver lining: Canadian Protestant churches and the South African War, 1899--1902 (Great Britain).

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On 11 October 1899, Britain was officially at war in South Africa against the Transvaal Republic and the Orange Free State. While the war was thousands of kilometres away from the shores of Canada, and Canada's contribution of over 7,000 troops to the imperial cause was relatively small, the war is considered to be one of the critical events in the nation-building process of the young dominion.From the onset of the conflict between Britain and the Boer republics in 1899 to the final peace settlement in 1902, one cannot find an anti-war statement pronounced by any of the four largest English Canadian Protestant denominations. In fact, all of the official publications and statements of these denominations consistently defended Britain's cause in the war, and supported the sending of Canadian soldiers to fight alongside British and colonial troops.This dissertation will show that the support for the war expressed in the Canadian Protestant churches was rooted in the conviction that the war (to use the words of Thomas Brown) had a "silver lining." War was lamented by all denominations. But this war, it will be argued, was seen as one that would ultimately bring blessings for all involved. A British victory, it was felt, would also lead ultimately to a furthering of the churches' own aims. Central to the ministry of the churches was a concern for justice, nation, empire and missions. The application of justice, the development of the new nation Canada, the unifying and strengthening of the empire, and the spreading of missions were shared goals. A British victory in South Africa would help to accomplish all four of these at once. These four aims had been pursued by the churches before the war began, but the war brought them into sharper focus and provided a unique context for their expression. Underlying this support for the British cause was the belief in the providential establishing of the empire for the spreading of civilization and Christianity. Consequently, concomitant with these four aims was the idea that a British victory would benefit all involved; it would be good for Canadians, good for Britons, good for the empire, good for the entire world, and even good for the Boers. How could one not support the imperial effort, it was believed, with the interests of church and missions, nation and empire, the secular and the sacred, so intertwined? It was a war with a "silver lining."

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