Paul Kruger, President of the Transvaal Republic beginning in 1883, opened hostilities against Great Britain in 1899, triggering the Boer War. Faced with the numerical superiority of the British troops, the Boers were defeated and Kruger was forced into exile in 1900. His home in Pretoria has been turned into a museum containing the former president's personal effects and documents pertaining to the Boer War. The wagon he lived in while travelling is on display in the garden.