30 May 1899
On 30 May 1899 President Paul Kruger and the British High Commissioner for South Africa, Sir Alfred Milner, met at a conference in Bloemfontein to talk about the franchise question. Six days later, on 5 June 1899, the conference ended without any resolution. In September the Parliament of the Orange Free State (now known as Free State) resolved, in accordance with a previous secret agreement between the two presidents, to assist the Transvaal in the event of a war with England.
The South African War, or Anglo-Boer War, broke out on 11 October 1899, and Kruger, now 74, remained in Pretoria as a result of poor health until 1900. He left the capital only a few days before Lord Roberts occupied it in May of the same year. On 21 October 1899, Kruger boarded the Dutch warship, Die Gelderland, sent by Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands, at Lorenço Marques, Mozambique, and left for Europe.
References:
Anon, (n.d.), ‘The history of the War,’ from Paperspast, [online] Available at http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz , [Last accessed: 5 May 2011]
Anon, (n.d.), Stephanus Johannes Paulus "Paul" Kruger, from South African History Online, [online] Available at www.sahistory.org.za , [Last accessed: 5 May 2011]