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Group: Georgia, Republic of
People: Ellen Terry
Topic: Mafeking, Siege of

Mafeking, Siege of

Years: 1899 - 1900

The Siege of Mafeking is a two hundred and seventeen-day siege battle for the town of Mafeking (now called Mahikeng) in South Africa during the Second Boer War from October 1899 to May 1900.

The siege receives considerable attention as Lord Edward Cecil, the son of the British prime minister, is in the besieged town, as also is Lady Sarah Wilson, a daughter of the Duke of Marlborough and aunt of Winston Churchill.

The siege turns the British commander, Colonel Robert Baden-Powell (often referred to as "B-P"), into a national hero.

The Relief of Mafeking (the lifting of the siege), while of little military significance, is a morale boost for the struggling British.

"Who controls the past controls the future: who controls the present controls the past...Every record has been destroyed or falsified, every book has been rewritten, every picture has been repainted, every statue and street and building has been renamed, every date has been altered."

― George Orwell, 1984 (1948)