The Kruger telegram was a message sent by Germany's Kaiser Wilhelm II to Stephanus Johannes Paulus Kruger, president of the Transvaal on 3 January 1896. The Kaiser congratulated the president on repelling the Jameson Raid, a sortie by 600 irregulars from Cape Colony into the Transvaal under the command of Leander Starr Jameson. The raid was intended to trigger an uprising by the primarily British expatriate workers but was a fiasco with around 30 raiders killed and the rest surrendering.
Translated, the telegram read "I express to you my sincere congratulations that, without asking for the help of friendly powers, you and your people succeeded in repelling with your own forces the armed bands which had invaded your country, and in maintaining its independence against foreign aggression."
It was applauded by the German press, but caused huge indignation in Great Britain and led to a further deterioration in relations between the two countries. The telegram was taken to mean that the Kaiser endorsed the Transvaal's independence in what was seen by the British as their own sphere of influence, and the reference to "friendly powers" interpreted by them as meaning that assistance would have been available from Germany if asked for — and might in future.
The Times newspaper proclaimed that "England will concede nothing to menaces and will not lie down under insult." The windows of German shops were broken, and German sailors attacked in London. The German diplomatic response was essentially concilitory, with the Kaiser responding to a letter from Queen Victoria (his grandmother) with "Never was the Telegram intended as a step against England or your Government...".
The Kruger Telegram is often seen as marking the point at which Anglo-German antagonism became firmly established [1]. This antagonism and the naval arms race which it promoted were important factors behind the outbreak of the First World War.
References
- Massie, Robert K. Dreadnought: Britain, Germany, and the Coming of the Great War. New York: Random House, 1991.
- German Wikipedia article
