1910-1918 History of Southern Africa 1939-1948




The Union of South Africa, 1918-1939



Prime Minister LOUIS BOTHA died in 1919. was succeeded by J. SMUTS. Labour unrest, caused by inflation, was repeatedly suppressed by force. In 1924, Smuts was succeeded by J.B.M. HERTZOG, the leader of the NATIONAL PARTY. Under him, legislation enforcing racial segregation was intensified. In 1930 WOMANHOOD SUFFRAGE was introduced.
The Statute of Westminster (1931) even further reduced the dependency of the Dominion of South Africa from Britain. South Africa, like other countries, was affected by the Great Depression. In 1933, HERTZOG and SMUTS formed a coalition cabinet, in 1934 they merged their parties to form the UNITED PARTY. It's policy was to promote the interest of their voters, that is South Africa's white population - often enough at the expense of the non-whites.






EXTERNAL
FILES
South Africa, History of, from Infoplease
DOCUMENTS Flag of South Africa 1910-1994, from FOTW
REFERENCE Robert Ross, A Concise History of South Africa, Cambridge Concise Histories, 1999, 219 pp.
M.S. Geen, The Making of the Union of South Africa, a brief history 1487-1939, London : Longmans 1946 [G]
D.W. Krüger, The Age of the Generals, A Short Political History of the Union of South Africa 1910-1948, n.pl. : Dagbreek 1958 [G]
Eric Rosenthal, Die Verbygande Jare. Die verhaal van General Motors in Suid-Afrika 1926-1976, n.pl., n.yr., in Afrikaans [G]
Article : Union of South Africa, in : Statesman's Yearbook 1919 pp.207-234, 1924 pp.216-242, 1925 pp.220-248, 1926 pp.224-248, 1928 pp.222-248, 1929 pp.224-249, 1932 pp.227-251, 1937 pp.247-243 [G]
Article : South Africa, Union of, in : Americana Annual 1927 pp.794-798, 1928 pp.726-728, 1930 pp.713-716, 1931 pp.710-711, 1932 pp.663-665, 1933 pp.717-719, 1934 pp.550-552, 1935 pp.662-665, 1936 pp.676-678, 1937 pp.651-652, 1938 pp.644-645, 1939 pp.707-709, 1940 pp.717-719 [G]



This page is part of World History at KMLA
First posted in 2001, last revised on August 27th 2007

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