Chamberlain overrode Milner's objections to accept the proposal, arguing that the financial costs of continuing the war justified the expenditure to relieve the debts of the Boer republics. The Treaty of Vereeniging (31 May 1902) ended the Boer War. The conflict had not been as decisive at Chamberlain had hoped, for the British had put nearly 450,000 troops into the field and had spent nearly £200 million. Nevertheless, the end of war and the inclusion of Boer territory as part of the British Empire presented what Chamberlain viewed as an opportunity to remodel Britain's imperial system.