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To What Extent Was the Tariff Reform Act Issue the Main Reason That Lost the Tories the 1906 Election?

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To What Extent Was the Tariff Reform Act Issue the Main Reason That Lost the Tories the 1906 Election?
It is clear that there were a number of reasons that caused the Tories to loose the 1906 election. One reason was the tariff reform act but there were many others such as the Boer war which went on from 1899 to 1902. The Boer War took place In South Africa under the command of the then Prime minister Lord Salisbury and was mainly started to gain access to South Africa’s cheap raw materials, especially gold and to add another colony to the empire as the conservatives who were in control were all for the British empire and very patriotic. Before the War England was in control of cape colony in South Africa which was below the two Boer colonies (Rhodesia and the Orange Free State) and was also in control of Zimbabwe which was above the two. These two colonies were once controlled by the Dutch but they had pulled out and given the two colonies independence. This was even more of a reason for England to take over as now the colonies were independent the Dutch would not come to their aid. The take over was expected to be quick and fast and take no longer than 5 months seeing as the colonies were made up of villages and farmers against the might of the British army. The war did not go to plan and these so called farmers put up a strong fight by using guerrilla warfare. A war that was expected to last 5 months ended up lasting 3 years and along with it came a huge loss of life with around 20,000 British soldiers dying. This news was not taken well back in England and the war was classed as a huge disaster. Also the way in which the war was won was treated with disgust too. With desperation setting in, in order to stomp out this guerrilla warfare Lord Kitchener burned down villages and put all Boers in prison camps. The conditions in these camps were awful and many people caught diseases such as cholera and typhoid and many died of malnutrition. This news got back to England and many voters were angered in the way at which the Boers were being
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