The Peace Negotiations Attempts at peace Several attempts at peace were made before the eventual signing of the Peace Treaty of Vereeniging. The first attempt at peace was made as early as March 1900 by Gen. Piet Joubert, Commandant-General of the Transvaal Forces. It was seen (by the Boers) as an opportune time for peace making. The Boer Republics had sent a deputation to Europe in March 1900 in an attempt to gain sympathy for their cause. The deputation was sent to Europe to ask for foreign intervention between the Boer Republics and Britain, and it travelled as far afield as Russia and the United States, but achieved little. Joubert sent a telegram to Lord Salisbury, the British Prime Minister, proposing peace on the condition that the Boer Republics maintain their independence. This was flatly rejected by the British Government. After the British occupation of Pretoria on 5 June 1900, the Boers held a Council of War at Hatherley, east of Pretoria. The members at the meeting showed little resolve for continuing the war but, after discussing the matter, eventually decided to continue with the fighting. In December 1900 Lord Kitchener took over from Lord Roberts as the Commander-in-Chief of the British Forces in South Africa. Kitchener met with Gen. Louis Botha, who had succeeded Gen. Piet Joubert, at Middelburg on 28 February 1901. On 7 March 1901 Kitchener presented Botha with the British Government's conditions for peace. The conditions, which Botha rejected, were as follows: an amnesty to all Burghers of the former Republics, while rebels (from the Cape Colony and Natal) would be required to appear in court crown colony management for the former Republics. This would later be replaced by a representative government and this would be followed by a responsible government Dutch would be used as a medium in schools, if parents requested it, as well as in the courts '1 million compensation would be paid to the former Republics and the franchise would not be given to Blacks before a representative government was established After the failed negotiations at Middelburg Kitchener and Milner were instructed not to negotiate any further with the Boers, but to subjugate them on the battlefield. This proved easier said than done. On 20 June 1901 the two Boer Governments met at Waterfal in the Standerton district. There they once again decided that there would be no peace unless their independence and the safety of the rebels was guaranteed. The final negotiations for peace On 25 January 1902 Dr. Abraham Kuyper, Prime Minister of the Netherlands, in a letter to Lord Salisbury offered to act as mediator between the Boers and the British to help end the War. Joseph Chamberlain (the British Colonial Secretary) declined Kuyper's offer saying that it was a matter between Kitchener and the Boers. Chamberlain did however send the correspondence between Salisbury and Kuyper to Kitchener. In March 1902 a copy of the correspondence was sent to Botha. After reviewing the correspondence, Botha agreed to a meeting of Boer leaders. With a letter giving them free passage, the Boer Governments met at Klerksdorp from 9 to 11 April 1902 to discuss a possible end to the War. The peace negotiations were now nearing the final stretch. In spite of a difference of opinion, it was decided at Klerksdorp that discussions between the Boer Governments and Kitchener should take place.