 As well as these forces within, Kruger was also fighting against external forces that he saw as threatening the Transvaal's independence.Kruger, who as a twelve-year-old boy had participated in the Great Trek, was profoundly distrustful of British regional power.He had played a key part in resisting the British annexation of 1877 both; efforts culminating in the 1881 Pretoria Convention and later the 1884 London Convention.